OSHA Update

On July 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its OSHA penalty and debt collection guidance to reduce the burden on small businesses and encourage quicker hazard correction. This update is immediately effective and applies to all open OSHA investigations that have not yet resulted in a penalty. 

Key Changes:

1. Increased Penalty Reductions for Small Employers

• Employers with:

• • 1–25 employees: 70% reduction
  • 26–100 employees: 30% reduction
  • 101–250 employees: 10% reduction
  • 251+ employees: No reduction 

2. Good Faith Reductions (15%)

• Available to employers with a documented and effective safety and health program. Exceptions may be made for employers with one to 25 employees on a case-by-case basis.   

 
3. Penalty Reduction (20%)

• Eligibility applies to:
  • Employers never inspected by OSHA or a State Plan.
  • Employers inspected in the past 5 years with no serious, willful, or failure-to-abate violations. 

4. Quick-Fix Reduction (15%)

• For non-serious or lower-gravity violations that are immediately corrected.
• Not available for high-gravity, repeated, willful, fatal-related violations. 

5. Repeated Violation Penalty Multipliers

• The amount of any increase is based on employer size, for greater than or less than 250 employees. 

Next Steps for Employers: 

• Review the new guidance to determine applicable reductions.
• Continue complying with OSHA rules despite penalty relief.
• Be aware that OSHA may withhold reductions if they don’t align with safety objectives. 

 For more information, read the full news release here.