Disciplining employees for violating safety and health rules is a critical component of any good safety and health program.
OSHA's recent policy on employee discipline for violating safety and health rules undercuts the use of such discipline and encourages employees to consider possible claims for retaliation. This policy states that employers should only enforce “legitimate safety and health rules" and sets forth a series of possible claims for employees challenging the discipline to consider. The claims provided include: (1) whether the discipline was proportional to the infraction; (2) whether it was consistently applied to other employees ;and (3) whether it was based on a vague rule.