March 5, 2014
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently published an interim final rule protecting workers who report violations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), according to an article by Connie N. Bertram and Amy Blackwood published in Mondaq, available here. Food Safety News also reported on the story here. The Federal Register notice is available here.
The interim final rule became effective Thursday, February 13, 2014 and comments must be received by April 14, 2014.
The FSMA amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to protect whistleblowers from retaliation when they engage in protected activity. A whistleblower includes “current and former employees, individuals applying for work, and any individual ‘whose employment could be affected by a covered entity.” The rule applies to any entity that “engages in the manufacture, processing, packing, transporting, distribution, reception, holding or importation of food.”
Under the new rule, whistleblowers are protected from retaliation when they provide or are about to provide, “to their employer, the Federal Government or a State attorney general, information relating to any act they reasonably believe violates the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.” As with other whistleblower statutes, the FSMA requires that the whistleblower have a “reasonable belief” that a violation has occurred, will occur, or is occurring.
Complaints must be filed within 180 days of the alleged retaliation. The rule establishes additional specific procedures and timeframes for complaints.
For more information on the FSMA and food safety, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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