The U.S. Department of Labor announced changes to Occupational Safety and Health Administration civil penalty amounts based on cost-of-living adjustments for 2024.
In 2015, Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act to advance civil monetary penalties' effectiveness and maintain their deterrent effect. Under the Act, agencies must publish "catch-up" rules that adjust the level of civil financial penalties and make subsequent annual adjustments for inflation no later than January 15 of each year. Since January 15 fell on a federal holiday, the new OSHA penalty amounts became effective on January 16, 2024.
OSHA's maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations will increase from $15,625 per violation to $16,131 per violation. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations will increase from $156,259 per violation to $161,323 per violation.
Visit the OSHA Penalties page and read the final rule for more information.
