Dollar General has 48 hours to make stores safe or face more penalties after $12m workplace fine

Dollar General has 48 hours to make stores safe for its workers - or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration could fine the discount retailer up to half a million dollars, on top of the $12m the company already has paid in fines.

The company, which operates more than 19,000 discount stores worldwide, agreed to pay the $12m fine and to improve its worker safety in its stores, according to the Department of Labor. The clock started ticking after the government and the retailer signed the agreement on Thursday.

OSHA has been inspecting Dollar General stores since at least 2010, and has frequently found the company commiting the same safety violations - blocked, locked, or unmarked emergency exits, inaccessible electrical panels, and improper use of electrical cords that can cause fire hazards.

The company has been cited for hundreds of safety violations and has been fined tens of millions of dollars.

Last year, OSHA expanded its “Severe Violator Enforcement Program” to include companies that willfully or repeatedly violate safety regulations. Dollar General was the first company to be added to the expanded program, the New York Times reports.

Dollar General workers have reported numerous complaints about conditions inside stores.

One manager, David Williams, told Bloomberg in 2020 about building a pyramid of boxes in front of an emergency exit to deter shoplifting. The store caught fire in 2021 but thankfully no one was injured.

Another former manager, Josh Tinker, told the outlet that birds entered his store in Apache, Oklahoma and left droppings on products but that Dollar General would not permit him to thow away the soiled items. Instead, his team was directed to clean them and keep them available for purchase.

Dollar General employees make less than $12 an hour, and nearly a quarter make less than $10 an hour, according to a 2021 study by the Economic Police Institute. In March, Dollar General announced that its 2023 fiscal year operating profit was $2.4bn.

In May 2023, Dollar General’s investors began paying attention to the numerous OSHA violations and employee complaints. With 67.7 percent support, the shareholders approved a measure asking the company to audit worker safety. However, further OSHA inspections found there had been little improvement, which lead to the recent fine and settlement, Business Insider reports.

In addition to the fine, Dollar General and its subsidiaries have also entered into a settlement with the federal workplace safety agency, which has demanded sweeping changes to company operations. OSHA has required Dollar General to recruit additional safety managers; to expand its already existing safety structure; and to establish a comprehensive safety and health management system for workers.

The company has also agreed to provide its leadership and non-managerial staff with health and safety training.

OHSA also required Dollar General to adjust its stocking practices, which have resulted in overstock being piled on the floor, sometimes blocking exits and cutting off access to fire extinguishers and electric panels.

The work safety agency said those hazards had to be dealt with within 48 hours or Dollar General would face more significant fines.

If Dollar General fails to comply, it may be fined up to $500,000 and be subject to further OSHA inspection and enforcement.

In an effort to avoid future OSHA crackdowns, Dollar General has hired a third party consultant to conduct unannounced audits each year to ensure the company is still in line with its safety agreements.

The company has also established an anonymous hotline specifically for the reporting of unaddressed workplace hazards.

OSHA assistant secretary Douglas Parker said in a statement that the agreement "commits Dollar General to making worker safety a priority" and that it allows the company's employees to have "input on ensuring their own health and safety."

“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,” he said.