September 27, 2004—The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published in the August 24 Federal Register a final rule establishing procedures for the handling of whistleblower complaints under the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, also known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which is one of 14 laws with whistleblower protections administered by OSHA.
The law was enacted July 30, 2002, to protect employees in publicly traded companies and their contractors, subcontractors, or agents from retaliation for providing information that an employee believes is a violation of a Securities and Exchange Commission rule or other federal law relating to fraud against shareholders. OSHA has received a total of 307 employee complaints filed under the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act since its inception.
OSHA also published a fact sheet (.pdf file) last year describing whistleblower protections for workers employed by publicly traded companies or their contractors, subcontractors, or agents. The fact sheet details a worker’s rights as a whistleblower as well as instructions on how to file complaints.
