May 21, 2026

MEMORANDUM FOR:
REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS
THROUGH:
Amanda Wood Laihow
Deputy Assistant Secretary
FROM:
Erin Gilmore, Acting Director
Directorate of Enforcement Programs
SUBJECT:
2026 OSHA Civil Penalties Update: No Inflation Adjustment and Updated Minimum Penalties
  1. Purpose.

    This memorandum provides the civil penalty amounts for calendar year 2026 and supplements the penalties and debt-collection guidance in Chapter 6 of the Field Operations Manual (FOM), revised effective July 14, 2025. The penalty amounts listed in this memorandum correspond to the amounts in the OSHA Information System (OIS).

    There are no inflation-based increases to OSHA civil penalties for 2026, so 2025 penalty amounts remain in effect for 2026. The minimum penalty amounts have been updated to reflect policy revisions in FOM Chapter 6.

  2. Background.

    The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 requires federal agencies to make annual inflation adjustments to civil monetary penalties using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). These adjustments must be published no later than January 15 of each year.

    In Memorandum M-26-11, Cancellation of Penalty Inflation Adjustments for 2026, Regarding the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) explained that the Bureau of Labor Statistics was unable to produce the required October 2025 CPI-U data due to the government shutdown. The 2015 statute specifically requires the use of the October CPI-U figure from the prior year and does not provide an alternative calculation method in the unusual event that there is no October CPI-U data. As a result, the annual civil monetary penalties cost-of-living adjustment cannot be made this year, and OSHA will continue using the 2025 civil monetary penalty levels for 2026.

    Additionally, revisions to Chapter 6 of the FOM became effective July 14, 2025. For general size reductions, the category of employers eligible to receive the maximum penalty reduction was expanded from employers with 1-10 employees to those with 1-25 employees, increasing the reduction available to employers with 11-25 employees from 60 percent to 70 percent. For serious willful violations, the category eligible for an 80 percent reduction was expanded from 10 or fewer employees to 20 or fewer employees. In addition, the history reduction was increased from an allowable 10 percent to 20 percent. Accordingly, this memorandum updates certain minimum proposed penalty amounts to reflect the revised penalty reduction policies in FOM Chapter 6.

  3. Minimum and Maximum Penalty Amounts.

    Table 1 summarizes the actual minimum and maximum proposed civil penalty amounts for 2026:

    Table 1: Maximum and Minimum Amounts for Civil Penalties
    Type of Violation Penalty Minimum1 Penalty Maximum2
    Serious $1,085 per violation $16,550 per violation
    Other-Than-Serious $0 per violation $16,550 per violation
    Repeat $4,2563 per violation $165,514 per violation
    Willful $11,823 per violation $165,514 per violation
    Posting Requirements $0 per violation $16,550 per violation
    Failure to Abate N/A $16,550 per day unabated beyond the abatement date (generally limited to 30 days maximum)
  4. Gravity Based Penalty Amounts.

    Gravity Based Penalties (GBP) are assigned according to the gravity of the violation.

    • A high gravity violation is one with a GBP of $16,550.
    • A moderate gravity violation is one with the GBP ranging from $9,457 to $14,187.
    • A low gravity violation is one with a GBP of $7,093.
     

    For serious violations, the GBP is determined using the following scale:

     

    Severity + Probability = GBP

     

    Table 2: Serious Violations GBP Scale
    Severity Probability GBP Gravity OIS/GRAVITY Code
    High Greater $16,550 High 10
    Medium Greater $14,187 Moderate 5
    Low Greater $11,823 Moderate 5
    High Lesser $11,823 Moderate 5
    Medium Lesser $9,457 Moderate 5
    Low Lesser $7,093 Low 1

    For other-than-serious violations, only minimal severity is assigned. If the Area Director determines that it is appropriate to achieve the necessary deterrent effect, a maximum penalty of $16,550 may be proposed.

    If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact Directorate of Enforcement Programs at (202) 693-1850.

1 "Minimum" denotes the minimum penalty amount established by statute for willful violations and, with respect to serious, repeat, and OTS violations, the minimum penalty amount derived under OSHA penalty policy, based on the Gravity-Based Penalty at the lowest gravity level and application of the maximum permissible reduction factors.

2 "Maximum" denotes the maximum penalty amount established by statute, as adjusted pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which required a catch-up adjustment in 2015 and annual inflation adjustments thereafter.

3 For a repeated other-than-serious violation that otherwise would have no initial penalty, a gravity-based penalty of $472 shall be proposed for the first repeat violation, $1,182 for the second repeated violation, and $2,364 for a third repetition.