Linda Jennings’ Post

Employers: the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Final Rule amending workplace investigation regulations takes effect next month, in May 2024. Are you in compliance? The rule allows workers to have employees and certain third-party non-employees act as their representatives and accompany OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHO) during physical workplace inspections. Learn more in our new blog: https://lnkd.in/guE2zCGN By Amanda Tzivas #Employers #DOL #WorkersRights #EmploymentLaw #LaborLaw

The U.S. Department of Labor today published a final rule clarifying the rights of employees to authorize a representative to accompany an Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance officer during an inspection of their workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Act gives the employer and employees the right to authorize a representative to accompany OSHA officials during a workplace inspection. The final rule clarifies that, consistent with the law, workers may authorize another employee to serve as their representative or select a non-employee. For a non-employee representative to accompany the compliance officer in a workplace, they must be reasonably necessary to conduct an effective and thorough inspection. #OSHAinspectionrights #employeefreedomofchoice #workplaceinspections

As noted in prior PERKS posts, 2023 has been a busy year for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as it has mounted an increasingly aggressive campaign to regulate employer-employee relations. As part of these efforts, the NLRB has teamed up with other federal agencies to address areas of enforcement overlap. The NLRB’s most recent team-up comes via its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency overseeing workplace safety. The MOU’s stated purpose focuses on anti-retaliation and whistleblowers, but that list is expressly non-exhaustive. The substance of the MOU covers a broad array of contemplated cooperation and coordination, including agreements to (1) share information and data, including complaint referrals ad information contained in complaint or investigative files; (2) coordinate investigations and enforcement; (3) provide reciprocal ongoing training, education, and public outreach; and (4) engage with states that operate their own state OSHA plans to refer potential violations and encourage them to participate in all training and information-activities established under the MOU. In light of this development, now is a good time for employers to review and update policies relating to health, safety, and labor. Employers should also scrutinize the information they share with the NLRB and health and safety agencies (at both the state and federal level) and prepare for potential joint enforcement, as this information may be shared across multiple agencies and serve as the basis or multiple inquires or actions. Check out thr MOU here: https://lnkd.in/eMxH5jSW #NLRB #OSHA #MOU #DGPERKS

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a Memorandum of Understanding (2023 MOU) to facilitate interagency cooperation and strengthen the agencies' partnership to promote safe and healthy workplaces. Both the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protect employees' efforts to improve or bring about change to their workplaces with respect to health and safety, including specifically an employee's right to complain to management about unhealthy or unsafe work conditions. Of course, the NLRA protects employees' right to form a union, among other things. While OSHA and the NLRB have historically engaged in cooperative efforts and have entered into prior MOUs, the 2023 MOU expands that cooperation and "strengthen[s] the agencies' partnership to promote safe and healthy workplaces through protecting worker voice." Read more: https://lnkd.in/g7WgaDP7 By Louis Cannon, Erika L. Hughes, and Ashley MeredithStrittmatter

The U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule clarifying the rights of employees to authorize a representative to accompany an Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance officer during an inspection of their workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Act gives the employer and employees the right to authorize a representative to accompany OSHA officials during a workplace inspection. The final rule clarifies that, consistent with the law, workers may authorize another employee to serve as their representative or select a non-employee. For a non-employee representative to accompany the compliance officer in a workplace, they must be reasonably necessary to conduct an effective and thorough inspection. #safetyfirst #OSHAfinalrule #workplacerepresentation

On March 29, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule related to employee representation during workplace Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections. Specifically, the final rule clarifies the previous regulation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). https://lnkd.in/gt8QTkdN #osha #employer #humanresources #employmentlaw #workplacesafety #safety #inspections

NLRB AND OSHA JOIN FORCES FOR INVESTIGATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS Posted on Dec 21, 2023 on Employment, Labor Management Issues, Legislative Updates by Brody and Associates, Robert G. Brody and Mark J. Taglia The Occupational Safety Health Administration (“OSHA”) and the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) recently joined forces through a new Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”). Their goal, to further enhance collaboration between the two agencies during investigations and enforcement actions against employers. The move is expected to further blur the lines between the two agencies and the laws they look to enforce. The likely result is increased unfair labor practice charges filed with the NLRB and citations from OSHA. In a joint press release, the agencies hailed the MOU because many worker efforts to improve safety and health in their workplaces are protected under both the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OSH Act”) and the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”, the NLRA and OSH Act, collectively referred to as the “Acts”). The NLRB and OSHA have historically engaged in cooperative efforts and have entered into formal Memoranda of Understandings to engage in interagency coordination since 1975. Last month’s MOU allows the agencies to more broadly share information, conduct cross-training for staff at each agency, partner on investigative efforts within each agency’s authority, and enforce anti-retaliation provisions. https://lnkd.in/eYH-Fntk

October 31, 2023 Today, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer A. Abruzzo and Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the U.S. Department of Labor Douglas L. Parker executed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the agencies’ partnership to promote safe and healthy workplaces through protecting worker voice.  Because many worker efforts to improve safety and health in their workplaces are protected under both the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSH Act) and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the NLRB and OSHA have historically engaged in cooperative efforts and have entered into formal Memoranda of Understandings to engage in interagency coordination since 1975.  Today’s agreement expands on the historic interagency coordination by enabling the NLRB and OSHA to closely collaborate by more broadly sharing information, conducting cross-training for staff at each agency, partnering on investigative efforts within each agency’s authority, and enforcing anti-retaliation provisions.  The agencies also released a resource on “Building Safe & Healthy Workplaces by Promoting Worker Voice” which provides tools and key references for employers and workers on working collaboratively to create and maintain safe workplaces, including resources on collective bargaining and compliance.  “Workplace safety can be a matter of life and death for workers and so the ability to report workplace hazards without fear of retaliation is critically important,” said General Counsel Abruzzo. “Today’s MOU will bolster protections for workers to speak out about unsafe working conditions by strengthening coordination between OSHA and the NLRB on our enforcement efforts.” “Everyone should be able to exercise their legal rights in the workplace without fear of losing their job or other forms of punishment,” explained Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “This partnership with the National Labor Relations Board will expand both of our agencies’ impact and effectiveness in protecting workers who raise concerns about workplace violations or retaliation.” The MOU is part of the NLRB General Counsel’s interagency coordination initiative to take a whole of government approach to enforcement. As part of the initiative, the NLRB is working closely with worker protection and consumer protection agencies to ensure that the government is coacting and co-enforcing all related laws in the most effective and efficient way, which will ensure workers are fully protected while minimizing employers’ compliance burdens. 

Workplace safety can be a matter of life and death for workers, and so the ability to report workplace hazards without fear of retaliation is critically important. https://lnkd.in/ejYJvx7m #OSHA #WarehouseSafety #WorkersRights

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced on October 31 that they entered an agreement to enhance information sharing and cross-agency consultations, training, outreach, and education. The agencies aim to promote safe and healthy workplaces and protect workers who speak out about unsafe working conditions....Which means employers may find themselves subject to even more scrutiny from multiple agencies. Learn more about what this recent agreement between #OSHA and the #NLRB means for employers in this article. https://lnkd.in/gtWmef3x