We are two months into the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a handful of states are starting to ease restrictions. With relaxation of the rules, employers are developing plans to re-open and bring employees back to the workplace. As this flurry of planning takes place, the focus (rightfully so) will be on keeping employees
My Safety Complaint Was Unsafe for My Continued Employment
OSHA Safety Retaliation – What Is It?
Virtually every employee protection law, federal or state, has some sort of anti-retaliation provision. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act is no exception. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces the anti-retaliation provision in this federal law and also the anti-retaliation provisions contained in many other
DOH! Nuclear Safety Regs Trump ADA Accommodation Request (Thankfully)
In a battle between a mentally ill employee seeking accommodation for his job at a nuclear plant and federal nuclear safety codes—-which wins out? The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ended up going with safety codes.
Looking Out for an Erratic Employee
Mr. Daryle McNelis was an armed security guard at Pennsylvania Power and Light’s
Don’t Report Yet! OSHA Holds Off on Electronic Posting Requirements
Last July, we wrote about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new electronic reporting requirements, which will require certain employers (those with 250 or more employees, or those with 20-249 employees in specific industries) to electronically submit injury and illness data. When OSHA announced the new reporting requirements, it gave a deadline of July
100 Percent Tie Off: New OSHA Fall Protection Standard for General Industry Employers
For our general industry employers, you have new fall protection standards. As the Occupational Safety and Health Administration uses the term, “general industry” means all employers not in construction, agriculture, or maritime industries.
The new rule goes into effect soon – on January 17, 2017 – and employers were given only 60 days of notice
Taking a Bite Out of Crime…and Maybe the Employer? OSHA Fines Company Following Criminal Assault on Employee
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently reminded us that every employer needs a violence in the workplace policy or risk citation for third party criminal actions. The OSH Act’s general duty clause requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees. OSHA
UPDATE: Deadline for OSHA Anti-Retaliation Provisions delayed to November 1, 2016
As an update to last week’s blog post [Mark Your Calendar! Deadline on New OSHA Recordkeeping Rule is Around the Corner], the initial deadline to comply with OSHA’s new anti-retaliation provisions has been pushed back from August 10, 2010, to November 1, 2016.
Several industry groups filed a complaint in federal court in
Mark Your Calendar! Deadline on New OSHA Recordkeeping Rule is Around the Corner
Employers should note the August 10, 2016, deadline for compliance with the anti-retaliation provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) new electronic recordkeeping and reporting rules. Other sections of the new rule, including those which require qualifying employers to submit injury and illness data electronically to OSHA, go into effect on January
OSHA Penalties Are About to Get A Lot More Expensive
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an interim final rule on July 1, 2016, that increases the maximum penalties for citations by more than 75 percent. This is the first increase in OSHA penalties since 1990. Why now, you ask? Well, in November 2015 the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act
Employer Liability for the Lone Wolf
Shocking acts of violence are reported in the press every day. Reading about bombers, gunmen, and rapists in schools and homes and nightclubs is almost unbearable. For us labor lawyers, workplace violence is particularly disturbing. This question always comes immediately to mind – what could have been done? Often, everything that could have been done