The Federal Civil Penalties Adjustment Act of 1990 as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act) requires the Department to annually adjust its civil monetary penalty levels for inflation no later than January 15th of each year. Adjustments are made by issuing a final rule that is effective on its date of publication in the Federal Register.

The cost-of-living adjustment multiplier for 2020, based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the month of October 2019 (not seasonally adjusted), is 1.01764. The adjustment factor of 1.01764 will remain consistent across the minimum and maximum penalties set forth in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of the FOM. You can view the 2020 memo, which was released on January 10, 2020, by clicking here.