The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Dollar General Corp. have reached a wide-ranging settlement agreement over the retailer’s federal workplace safety violations that includes the payment of a $12 million penalty.
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The terms of the agreement are aimed at ensuring worker safety—and those of customers—at Dollar General stores. Corporate-wide changes include a new expanded safety structure and robust safety and health management system that includes hiring additional safety managers and encourages employee participation.
Dollar General has been plagued by federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations, many going back to 2017 . OSHA is a DOL division.
The value retail chain also agreed to ensure prompt abatement of any future violations related to blocked exits, access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels, and improper storage at its stores. Inventory levels are expected to be reduced so goods are no longer piled up in the store aisles, a complaint that had plagued the retailer.
DOL said the hazards must be corrected within 48 hours and submit proof of the corrections. “Failure to do so subjects Dollar General to monetary assessments of $100,000 per day of violation, up to $500,000, as well as OSHA inspection and enforcement actions,” DOL said on Friday.
DOL also noted that Dollar General hired a third-party consultant to identify hazards, as well as a third-party auditor to perform unannounced compliance audits. The retailer is additionally maintaining an anonymous hotline for employees and the public to report safety concerns.
“This agreement commits Dollar General to making worker safety a priority by implementing significant and systematic changes in its operations to improve accountability and compliance, and it gives Dollar General employees essential input on ensuring their own health and safety,” assistant secretary for OSHA Douglas L. Parker said. “These changes help give peace of mind to thousands of workers, knowing that they are not risking their safety in their workplaces and that they will come home healthy at the end of each day.”
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DOL said the settlement agreement resolves existing contested and open federal OSHA inspections connected to alleged violations.
Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., operates over 19,000 stores nationwide. The dollar store chain has often been cited for operating locations where exit routes are obstructed by boxes of merchandise stacked unsafely.
Back in 2022, OSHA proposed penalties reached more than $9.6 million following inspections at Dollar General doors nationwide since 2017. Repeat unsafe conditions were noted by inspectors as risks that could put both workers and customers in jeopardy that could lead to disaster in an emergency. OSHA citations include fire and entrapment hazards from failure to keep exit routes and electrical panels clear and unobstructed. The company also received citations for failing to mount and label fire extinguishers, and for having a locked exit door that required a key to open.
By January 2023, OSHA issued more than $15 million in fines since 2017 for “willful, repeat and serious” workplace safety violations. This past May, the workers’ right organization Step Up Louisiana carried out a series of worker-led and customer-led actions throughout New Orleans during the month to protest unsafe work conditions at dollar stores. The actions followed a report Step Up released in April on the health and safety conditions at the stores throughout New Orleans. A worker-led protest on May 15 also called for fair pay of at least $15 an hour.
While Dollar General appears to have the most egregious track record involving alleged OSHA violations, it’s not the only retailer that has caught the eye of OSHA inspectors. Last year, a T.J.Maxx store in Pooler, Ga., and Amazon warehouses in three locations were cited for OSHA violations.
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