OSHA Penalties Will Increase In 2016

In a move that took businesses and employers by surprise, the recent bipartisan Federal Budget Agreement authorized (the "Authorization") the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") to increase penalties for OSHA violations for the first time in a quarter of a century. The Authorization strikes a 1990 exemption that prevented OSHA from increasing its penalties to account for inflation. A one-time "catch-up" increase initially adjusts the civil monetary penalties to account for inflation. Additionally, future annual penalty limit adjustments will keep up with inflation. The resulting OSHA penalties could exceed current penalty amounts by more than 80%. Assuming an 80% increase, however, maximum OSHA penalties will increase as follows: