If you are aware of a health and safety violation at your workplace and your employer fails to take action to remove the hazard, you should file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). If you are worried about retaliation from your employer, there are options for filing your complaint anonymously.
At Duddy, Goodwin & Pollard, we can ensure you are protected if you choose to give your name when filing an OSHA complaint. Our experienced team of Boston employment and labor lawyers will use every resource at our disposal to ensure you don’t suffer any adverse effects from reporting a health and safety hazard. Contact us today to schedule a free case review.
Filing an Anonymous Complaint With OSHA
OSHA allows anonymous complaints to encourage workers who might otherwise be reluctant to come forward. OSHA understands that many people fear retaliation from their employers, which makes them hesitant to attach their names to the complaints.
However, it is important to understand that it is unlawful for employers to take any action against employers for filing a complaint with OSHA. Workers have a variety of protections in place to protect them from retaliatory action and to help encourage others to come forward to report safety concerns. If your employer violates your rights, our experienced legal team can help.
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Providing Your Name and Contact Details to OSHA Is Preferrable
While you can file an anonymous complaint with OSHA, it is always better to provide them with your name and contact information. OSHA may need further information to take action, and being able to speak with you further can be critical.
While your employer can find out who filed the complaint if you choose not to file anonymously, they are prohibited from taking any type of action against you as a result.
Protection Against Retaliation
There are federal and state laws that protect workers against retaliation from their employers for filing a complaint with OSHA or taking a variety of other protected actions. Your employer will not be permitted to fire you, demote you, cut your salary, or take any other negative action against you in response.
If your employer does retaliate, you have legal options for recovering compensation and returning to your previous work status. An experienced Boston OSHA workplace health and safety claims lawyer can help you file a lawsuit against your employer for any retaliatory actions they may take.
Retaliation cases are taken very seriously, and in addition to being restored to your previous work status and recovering money for any lost wages, you could collect far more money in punitive damages.
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Ensure a Violation Occurred Before Contacting OSHA
When considering filing a complaint with OSHA, it is critical that you verify that a violation actually occurred. You need to understand that not all safety hazards are covered by OSHA. Some industries have unavoidable hazards.
For example, construction jobs often involve working at great heights and with heavy machinery. These dangers are unavoidable, but they can be minimized. Proper safety equipment and training are critical to decreasing dangers. Your employer must provide a reasonably safe workplace. That means eliminating unnecessary dangers and providing safety training and equipment.
Your employer should remove any unnecessary dangers as soon as reasonably possible and ensure that anyone on the job site is aware of the hazard until it can be fixed. If your employer fails to address this type of hazard, you should call OSHA as soon as possible to report the violation.
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File Your Complaint With OSHA Promptly
It is critical to ensure that you contact OSHA to report any violation within 30 days of discovering the health and safety hazard to ensure that OSHA can take care of the problem in a timely manner.
What Happens After You File a Complaint With OSHA?
When you file an OSHA complaint, OSHA will schedule an inspection of your workplace. If they discover any violations, they will order your employer to remove the hazards found and provide training for employees who were exposed to those hazards.
OSHA may also end up issuing citations against your employer for any violations depending on a variety of factors, including:
- The number of violations
- The severity of the hazards
- If your employer has any past violations
When you file a report with OSHA, you are not required to be present during the inspection. However, you can participate in the inspection if you desire. Your participation can be helpful to inspectors as you can help show them the specific violations that you noticed and give them background on any action that has been taken in connection with the violations.
An Experienced Employment and Labor Lawyer Can Help if Your Employer Retaliates Against You for Filing an OSHA Complaint
If your employer fires you or takes any other retaliatory action against you for filing an OSHA complaint, you should contact an experienced employment attorney as soon as possible.
At Duddy, Goodwin & Pollard, we can help you get reinstated to your previous position and collect damages related to the retaliatory action taken by your employer.
Contact us today by phone or through our website to set up a free case evaluation with a member of our legal team. We’ll review your case, answer all your questions, and inform you of your legal options.
Call or text (860) 999-9394 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form