Element Four of the Unpreventable Employee Misconduct Defense: Enforcement of Work Rules Through Disciplinary Action When Violations are Discovered

In the final part of this four-part series, we examine the fourth element an employer must establish to successfully raise the “unpreventable employee misconduct” affirmative defense in response to an OSHA citation: that the employer effectively enforces its safety rules upon discovering any violations. Simply stated, this last element requires that an employer discipline its employees for violating any company safety rules. As with the other elements of this affirmative defense, documentation is critical. The fourth element of this defense goes to the very core…
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OSHA Penalty Increases About to Take Effect

Near the end of 2015, the Department of Labor announced that OSHA would be making  numerous changes to its enforcement and policies for the year 2016 and beyond. Included amongst these changes is a dramatic increase in its monetary penalties for violations. OSHA’s penalties had previously remained unchanged since 1990. Pursuant to the federal budget signed into law on November 2, 2015, however, OSHA was authorized to increase its penalties by 78 percent. Additionally, OSHA will now continue to adjust its penalties for inflation on…
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The Informal Conference: To Settle or Not To Settle

An important right upon receipt of an OSHA citation is to request an informal conference with the OSHA area director. Notably, an informal conference must be held within 15 working days of your receipt of the citation. (This is the same deadline as for contesting the citation. It is also important to keep in mind that requesting and/or appearing at an informal conference will not extend the time you have to contest the citation.) Informal conferences are popular and may be extremely useful because they…
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You’ve Received an OSHA Citation: Step One

If you receive an OSHA citation, one of the things you certainly should not do is put the citation on the corner of your desk and tell yourself that you will take care of it “later.” Essentially, this is the equivalent of doing nothing and contrary to wishful thinking the citation is not going to vanish on its own with the passage of time. Often, after getting consumed by something else, “later” winds up being much later. This is not advisable. It is important to…
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