DOL adjusts civil penalty amounts for inflation
Washington — The Department of Labor has increased civil penalty amounts for violations to adjust for inflation, effective Jan. 15.
The increase is 1.01764% for DOL agencies, including OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, according to a final rule published in the Jan. 15 Federal Register.
For OSHA, the maximum penalty for “willful” or “repeat” violations is $134,937 – up from $132,598. The minimum fine for a willful violation is $9,639. The maximum fines for serious, other-than-serious, failure-to-correct and posting-requirement violations increase to $13,494 from $13,260.
MSHA’s maximum penalty for a “flagrant” violation increases to $270,972 from $266,275.
Under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, DOL is required to adjust civil penalty levels for inflation by Jan. 15 each year. DOL determines yearly adjustment rates via the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
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