Best Practices For Handling an OSHA Inspection

This program will discuss who should be involved in an OSHA inspection, strategies when dealing with OSHA during an inspection including document production and important considerations on how OSHA citations and settlements can be used in collateral litigation and/or as a basis for future repeat and willful citations.

 

John Ho exclusively represents employers in all labor and employment matters and regularly handles wage and hour matters involving federal and state laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, the New York Labor Law, New York’s Miscellaneous Industries Wage Order, and New York’s Hospitality Wage Order, which includes numerous cases involving New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act, tip credits and pooling, deduction from wages, and regular rate issues. 

 

John also routinely works with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, in addition to handling Title VII discrimination and retaliation claims, ADA public accommodation and website accommodation cases, drafting employee handbook policies and executive employment contracts, non-competes, and conducting workplace harassment and discrimination investigations. John has defended a wide range of employers against hybrid class and collective actions under the FLSA and the New York Labor Law with exemption misclassification and off-the-clock claims. He also frequently assists companies with internal wage and hour audits, as well as Department of Labor audits, including those generated by the misclassification of independent contractors. John also has extensive experience with assisting businesses with internal safety and health audits, responding to OSHA and state-sponsored OSHA complaints of workplace safety and health and retaliation, hazard alert letters, and resolving and contesting OSHA citations, including but not limited to fatality investigations as well as defending against claims of retaliation under various OSHA statutes and New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law. John also routinely appears before the EEOC, the New York State Division of Human Rights, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. In addition, John regularly assists businesses with audits New York State Unemployment Insurance audits.

 

As a former trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, John prosecuted numerous FLSA and OSHA cases and was part of a litigation team that recovered approximately $4 million under the FLSA on behalf of New York State Environmental Conservation Officers. While at the Department of Labor, he also received a commendation from OSHA’s regional administrator for his prosecution of a discrimination complaint under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act. 

 

John serves as the co-chair of Cozen O'Connor's OSHA-Workplace Safety Practice and is also the author of its safety and health blog, the OSHA Chronicle. 

 

John is a founding member of the Wage and Hour Defense Institute, and he frequently lectures on FLSA, OSHA, and Labor Department audits. He has also taught business and employment law at the Pratt Institute and the New School.

 

John writes extensively on labor and employment law. He served as the co-editor of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section (Section) electronic newsletter from 2015-2019 and is the former vice-chair of the Member Engagement Committee of the section. He was a contributing editor to The Fair Labor Standards Act, 2002-2005, Cumulative Supplement, published by BNA Books, and has served on its editorial board since 2006. John is also a chapter editor for the Occupational Safety and Health Law, Fourth Edition published by the ABA and Bloomberg Law.