The denial of the shift swap is an adverse action. In addition, she was the only employee denied the ability to swap shifts. Her employer denied her shift swap only a few days after being notified that she called OSHA. She informed her employer that she called OSHA. By calling OSHA to complain about the fire hazard, the worker engaged in protected activity under one of the whistleblower laws administered by OSHA.

Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act protects workers who file complaints with OSHA. Workers have a right to call OSHA to report an unsafe condition. However, the other employees were still allowed to swap shifts. The worker tried to swap shifts a few days after she told her employer that she called OSHA, but her employer did not allow her to swap. A workplace practice existed which allowed all employees to swap shifts if they needed to take time off. The worker had reported the fire hazard previously to her employer. What is an example of retaliation?Ī worker informed her employer that she called OSHA because she believed there was a fire hazard that her employer refused to fix. For additional information on whistleblower protection rights of temporary workers, please see OSHA's Temporary Worker Initiative Bulletin No. When a staffing agency supplies temporary workers to a business, both the staffing agency and its client (commonly referred to as the host employer) may be held legally responsible for retaliating against workers. Reporting or threatening to report an employee to the police or immigration authoritiesĪre temporary workers protected from retaliation?.Constructive discharge (quitting when an employer makes working conditions intolerable due to the employee's protected activity).Blacklisting (intentionally interfering with an employee’s ability to obtain future employment).More subtle actions, such as isolating, ostracizing, mocking, or falsely accusing the employee of poor performance.Reassignment to a less desirable position or actions affecting prospects for promotion (such as excluding an employee from training meetings).Because an adverse action can be subtle, such as excluding employees from important meetings, it may not always be easy to recognize.Īdverse actions may include actions such as: Retaliation harms individual employees and can have a negative impact on overall employee morale. What is an adverse action?Īn adverse action is an action which would dissuade a reasonable employee from raising a concern about a possible violation or engaging in other related protected activity. Retaliation occurs when an employer (through a manager, supervisor, or administrator) fires an employee or takes any other type of adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected activity. The whistleblower laws that OSHA enforces prohibit employers from retaliating against employees for engaging in activities protected under those laws.

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