OSHA Revises Regulations to Streamline Handling of Sarbanes-Oxley Retaliation Complaints | Practical Law
https://content.next.westlaw.com/practical-law/document/Ibc866313c73711e498db8b09b4f043e0/OSHA-Revises-Regulations-to-Streamline-Handling-of-Sarbanes-Oxley-Retaliation-Complaints?viewType=FullText&transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)
The US Department of Labor's (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Final Rule revising the procedures for handling retaliation and whistleblower claims brought under Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). The Rule establishes time frames for the entire complaint process for SOX whistleblower claims, including the initial employee complaint to OSHA, the investigation conducted by OSHA, appealing OSHA's investigatory determination at a hearing de novo presided over by an Administrative Law (ALJ), review of the ALJ decision by the Administrative Review Board (ARB) (acting on behalf of the Secretary of Labor), and judicial review of the ARB's decision. The rules revise the procedures for handling whistleblower complaints and implement statutory changes to SOX made by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) that widened the scope of whistleblower protections. The rule also makes a number of non-substantive changes to terminology to create consistency with the procedural rules of other whistleblower statutes.