More than one year after Dollar General shareholders voted to implement an independent audit of in-store employee safety, the retailer has agreed to pay $12 million in penalties and make several workforce changes.
In its settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Dollar General confirmed that it will make several efforts to improve workforce safety, including:
- Establishing and maintaining an expanded safety structure and health management system;
- Hiring additional safety managers;
- Developing a safety and health committee that is also open to employees;
- Reducing inventory and improving stocking efficiency to prevent blocked exits and unsafe material storage; and
- Providing safety and health training to leadership and non-managerial employees.
“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,” said Douglas L. Parker, Assistant Secretary for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a statement. “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.”
According to the DOL, this settlement agreement resolves all existing contested and open federal OSHA inspections revolving around several safety claims, including that stores were blocking emergency exits, electrical panels and fire extinguishers. Dollar General is required to submit proof that all hazards are corrected; if the company doesn’t, it will be subjected to additional fines of up to $100,000 per day of violation (up to $500,000), as well as OSHA inspection and enforcement actions.
Long-Term Issues with Employee Safety
It has been a tough few years for Dollar General, which has been on the receiving end of harsh criticism and steep fines for its workforce conditions as well as the quality of its stores. OSHA hit the retailer with more than $1 million in penalties for workforce safety violations in four Florida stores in April 2023, bringing its total fines for safety hazards to $15 million since 2017.
Dollar General hired a third-party consultant to objectively identify hazards and contributing factors across the organization. The retailer also onboarded a third-party auditor to perform unannounced compliance audits annually at all covered stores. Through the creation of a new Safety Operations Center, the retailer will be able to detect store hazards and support safety performance, and an anonymous hotline will allow employees and the public to report safety concerns. These actions were required as part of the settlement agreement, and Dollar General will continue to monitor outcomes and provide quarterly reports to OSHA to maintain compliance.
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