The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) includes many regulations affecting employers, and in February of this year, one of these regulations took on a new definition to allow union representatives to participate in a non-union employer’s walk-through during a physical inspection.
The regulation states that during a physical inspection, the employer, and an employee representative may accompany the compliance officer. The old interpretation stated that the employee representative “shall be a representative of the employees” and the new interpretation states “authorized by the employees.”
Read here for more technical information on the regulation.
Employers of non-union employees will need to add this to the growing list of concerns of opportunities for unions to come into the workplace and encourage union participation, in addition to reminding you the importance of staying on top of regulations affecting your business – and your bottom line.