Retaliation Against Workers Who Exercise Their Rights
Retaliation occurs when an employer (through a manager, supervisor, or administrator) fires an employee or takes any other type of adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected activity. OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program enforces protections for employees who suffer retaliation for engaging in protected activities under more than 20 federal laws.
Adverse actions may include actions such as:
- Firing or laying off
- Demoting
- Denying overtime or promotion
- Disciplining
- Denying benefits
- Failing to hire or rehire
- Intimidation or harassment
- Making threats
- Reassignment to a less desirable position or actions affecting prospects for promotion (such as excluding an employee from training meetings)
- Reducing or changing pay or hours
- More subtle actions, such as isolating, ostracizing, mocking, or falsely accusing the employee of poor performance
- Blacklisting (intentionally interfering with an employee’s ability to obtain future employment)
- Constructive discharge (quitting when an employer makes working conditions intolerable due to the employee's protected activity)
- Reporting or threatening to report an employee to the police or immigration authorities
If you believe your employer has discriminated against you because you exercised your safety and health rights under the OSH Act, contact your local OSHA Office within 30 days from the date the adverse action was communicated to the employee.
Real-life Scenario
Situation: A worker informed her employer that she called OSHA because she believed there was a fire hazard that her employer refused to fix. The worker had reported the fire hazard previously to her employer. A workplace practice existed which allowed all employees to swap shifts if they needed to take time off. The worker tried to swap shifts a few days after she told her employer that she called OSHA, but her employer did not allow her to swap. However, the other employees were still allowed to swap shifts.
Example analysis: Workers have a right to call OSHA to report an unsafe condition. Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act protects workers who file complaints with OSHA. By calling OSHA to complain about the fire hazard, the worker engaged in protected activity under one of the whistleblower laws administered by OSHA. She informed her employer that she called OSHA. Her employer denied her shift swap only a few days after being notified that she called OSHA. In addition, she was the only employee denied the ability to swap shifts. The denial of the shift swap is an adverse action. And, in this case, it appears that her employer denied her shift swap because she engaged in the protected activity. If the employer denied her request to swap because she called OSHA, then retaliation has occurred and the employer’s actions violated section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
3-7. The OSH Act gives an employee ______ to file a retaliation complaint.
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