Proposed Legislation Will Allow Whistle-Blowers to Blow the Whistle Electronically on Retaliation

September 30, 2013- In their recent article, "Whistle-Blowers Will Soon Be Able to File Complaints Online," Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports on a pending proposal that would allow for whistle-blowers to file retaliation complaints electronically.

The online retaliation complaint form passed a significant hurdle when it was approved by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Currently, under any of the 22 whistle-blower statutes overseen by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), whistle-blower retaliation grievances are only accepted from workers orally or in writing.

OSHA initially proposed the form in the Federal Register back on January 13, 2013, saying it "will enable workers to electronically submit whistleblower complaints directly to OSHA 24-hours a day, which will provide workers with greater flexibility for meeting statutory filing deadlines."

The SHRM article quotes David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, at a recent public meeting, "I shudder to think of how many complaints we’d receive if more people knew their rights and had more time to file their grievance."

OSHA also says the online form will streamline the agency's complaint filing process, reduce complaint-processing time and improve the quality of customer service, according to the SHRM article.

OSHA has not yet said when the online form will be available on its website.

Read the full post here

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