US OSHA adds to employee whistleblower protections

As reported in prior alerts, US OSHA enforces whistleblower provisions in 25 federal statutory schemes protecting employees from retaliation for reporting workplace health and safety problems. These statutes address protected employee activities across virtually every industry segment and are addressed in OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program.

On March 8, 2022, OSHA published an interim final rule concerning employee retaliation complaints under the Taxpayer First Act (TFA). Enacted on July 1, 2019, TFA protects employees who report underpayment of taxes or other potential federal tax law violations.

Since this is an interim rule, OSHA is soliciting public comments by May 6, 2022 (submit comments online, identified by Docket No. OSHA–2020–0006) via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Additional details about the statute and instructions on filing a TFA complaint with OSHA are outlined in Whistleblower Protection for Employees Who Report Federal Tax Law Violations.