OSHA Increases Violation Fees

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that employers with workplace violations will be charged more for civil penalty amounts. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will be increasing the penalties based on cost-of-living adjustments for 2021.

OSHA’s penalty for serious and other-than-serious violations will increase from US$13,494 per violation to $13,653 per violation. The punishment for willful or repeated violations will increase from $134,937 per violation to $136,532 per violation.

Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act in 2015 to advance the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties. Agencies are required to publish catch-up rules to adjust the level of fines and make annual adjustments for inflation by January 15 each year.

The final rule became effective last Friday, so the increased penalty levels apply to any fines after this date.