The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching an alternative dispute resolution program in its Chicago and San Francisco regional offices for complaints filed with its Whistleblower Protection Program, the DOL said Tuesday.
The program will offer two voluntary methods of alternative dispute resolution: early resolution and mediation. When a whistle-blower complaint is filed with OSHA in one of the pilot regions, the parties will be notified of their alternative dispute resolution options and may work through an OSHA regional alternative dispute resolution coordinator to use these methods, the DOL said in its statement.
“OSHA is committed to fair, effective and timely enforcement of the whistle-blower laws delegated to us by Congress. Alternative dispute resolution can provide immediate relief and finality to both parties,” Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels said in the statement.
The Chicago regional office is responsible for whistle-blower investigations filed with OSHA in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio.
The San Francisco office is responsible for investigations filed in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada, as well as various Pacific islands, including the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and American Samoa.