Most employers understandably dread the possibility of a workplace investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. However, many of these same companies fail to pay appropriate attention to notices of...more
Last month, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued updated guidance on penalty and debt collection procedures. According to OSHA, the policy revisions are intended to assist small businesses with...more
8/21/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Guidance Update ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Safety Violations ,
Small Business ,
Workplace Safety
How should employers react to employee complaints of harassment or threats of physical violence from a former coworker? Once the company has terminated the coworker, concerns about retaliation against an employee by the fired...more
On July 24, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced several self-audit and voluntary compliance programs across six of its agencies aimed at what the agency describes as helping employers, unions, and benefit plan...more
8/1/2025
/ Audits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
OSHA ,
USERRA ,
Voluntary Correction Program ,
Voluntary Self-Audit ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
In 2010, a trainer at SeaWorld was grabbed and drowned by an orca during a live show. Following an investigation, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer under the General...more
As part of its deregulatory initiative on July 1, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed deleting requirements for medical evaluations before employees are permitted to use certain classes of...more
7/25/2025
/ Certification Requirements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deregulation ,
Employees ,
Masks ,
Medical Devices ,
Medical Examinations ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Workplace Safety
In its released budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, the Trump administration plans to zero out funding for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (commonly abbreviated as CSB)....more
For employers, workers' compensation laws act as both a sword and a shield. While injured employees do not have to prove negligence resulting in the injury, they cannot sue the employer for personal injury outside of the...more
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration shows few signs of progress in finalizing proposed regulations intended to address risks associated with employee exposure to hot working conditions....more
After an employer has received a citation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the informal conference process offers a path for potential settlement of the dispute. The informal conference can result in...more
Nature supposedly abhors a vacuum, but does this principle apply to workplace discrimination, worker safety, and other areas of employment and labor law?...more
A broad executive order issued in the first days of the Trump administration has indefinitely delayed a number of changes to safety standards proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration....more
Over the past several months, we have seen an increasing number of new artificial intelligence (AI) products aimed at increasing worker safety in the manufacturing context. Many of these products use real-time data to...more
Last week, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a final rule amending its safety standards for the construction industry to require assurance of the proper fitting of personal protective equipment....more
Lawsuits challenging employers' authority to require measures intended to prevent COVID-19 infections continue to wend their way through the federal judiciary. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim...more
12/6/2024
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
For years, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has identified fall protection among its top compliance priorities. Falls have been a continuing leading cause of employee injuries and deaths, especially in the...more
As part of the backlash against employer-mandated COVID-19 vaccinations, Montana amended its antidiscrimination law to add vaccination status as a protected category. This means that employers are prohibited from inquiring or...more
On August 30, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its long-anticipated proposed regulation requiring affected employers to plan for and address heat exposure risks in the workplace. The proposed...more
The vast majority of citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration involve accidents or negligent behavior that result in injury or illness resulting from inanimate objects, hazardous materials, or...more
After years of development, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued proposed regulations last week intended to address employee exposure to dangerous heat and humidity while at work. Affected...more
For several years, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been working on a safety standard intended to address worker exposure to heat stress and related medical issues. With summer temperatures...more
In recent years, we have had a number of clients report suspected employee overdoses at their facilities. The growing availability and potency of fentanyl and other opiates has resulted in an epidemic of overdoses and deaths....more
Disputes between employees and employers over COVID-19-era vaccination and masking policies continue to work their way through the legal system. Earlier this month, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes...more
5/17/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Masks ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Most affected employers understand their obligations to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s control of hazardous energy (commonly called “lockout/tagout”) rules found at 29 C.F.R. §1910.147. These...more
On March 18, the U.S. Supreme Court denied petition for review of an appellate court decision addressing an important question for many employers. In Chancey v. BASF Corp., the Supreme Court declined review of a Fifth Circuit...more