Total Articles: 3
OSHA's Interim Final Regulations Clarify the Whistleblower Complaint Investigation Process and Define Available Remedies
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued interim final regulations governing its procedures for receiving and investigating complaints under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), as amended by sections 922 and 929A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.1 As noted in a recent Littler blog post, the revisions are intended to clarify and improve OSHA's procedures for handling SOX whistleblower complaints and create uniformity with other whistleblower claims that are administered by OSHA. While the regulations are not radically different from those issued after SOX, they are clearly focused on defining and reinforcing three critical aspects of OSHA's handling of whistleblower complaints: (1) filing a retaliation claim; (2) the investigation process, including the burden of proof; and (3) remedies.
OSHA Issues Interim Regulations and Request for Comment on Certain Whistleblower Protections Added by Dodd-Frank Act
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued interim final regulations (pdf) governing its procedures for processing retaliation/whistleblower complaints under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley” or “SOX”). The SOX whistleblower provisions were amended by Sections 922 and 929A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, enacted on July 21, 2010.
OSHA Issues Revised Whistleblower Investigations Manual
Continuing its efforts to strengthen the enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Whistleblower Protection Program, OSHA has released an updated Whistleblower Investigations Manual (pdf) containing revised case handling procedures and information on new laws enacted since the last manual was issued. The agency is responsible for enforcing the whistleblower provisions contained in 21 separate statutes, including Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). In August, OSHA announced its plans to improve its efforts to investigate and enforce whistleblower complaints under these statutes in response to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessment of the agency’s Whistleblower Protection Program, which the GAO found lacking.
