NCJ Number
227154
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 46 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2009 Pages: 429-470
Date Published
2009
Length
41 pages
Annotation
This article analyzes criminal statutes that specify and punish employer violations of occupational safety and employment provisions.
Abstract
Such laws underlie a regulatory scheme enacted to ensure worker safety on the job, eliminate labor conditions detrimental to the Nation’s commerce and the general welfare of workers, and provide labor unions with greater protection from the abuses of corrupt union and management officials. One section of the article discusses criminal sanctions that pertain to worker safety under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act (FMSHA). The OSH Act provides for criminal sanctions in three circumstances: when an employer’s willful violation of a standard, rule, order, or regulation causes the death of an employee; when an individual falsely represents OSH Act compliance; and when any person gives advance notice of an inspection. The FMSHA protects mine worker health and safety through a combination of civil, criminal, and administrative enforcement mechanisms. The next section of the article analyzes criminal sanctions applicable to employment practices under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA of 1938 was enacted to eliminate labor conditions detrimental to the Nation’s commerce and the general welfare of workers. It prohibits an employer from failing to pay the Federal minimum wage or overtime compensation to an employee; failing to keep individual work records for each employee; discriminating on the basis of sex by paying different wages for equal work; or using oppressive child labor. This is followed by a discussion of the Labor Management Relations Act, which prohibits employers from making payments and loans to employees or labor organizations. The concluding section of the article reviews section 501(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, which prohibits appropriations of union funds for nonunion purposes. 251 notes