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March
2002 |
 |
Business Tips
Labor Department warns about OSHA impostors
In
Sanford, the owner of a small child-care center was approached
by a woman flashing a badge and selling a kit for the
prevention of blood-borne pathogens in the workplace—a kit
the owner bought for $226. In Rutherfordton, small shop
owners complained they were being charged $35 to have their
air compressors checked by a man claiming to be an inspector
for the N.C. Department of Labor.
In both cases, the phony inspectors twisted the letter
of the law to scare people into paying hard-earned money for
scams. “What makes me the maddest
is that these people are picking on the small businesses that
can least afford to lose money to crooks,” Labor
Commissioner Cherie K. Berry said. “That the phony
inspectors accepted money on the spot should have been the
first sign that they were bogus.”
N.C. Department of Labor inspectors are forbidden from
accepting cash or checks for services rendered. Besides the bogus
inspectors, the Labor Department has been engaged in a long
struggle against some companies that bait businesses into
buying labor law posters for which they charge as much as $99. Although
required by law to be posted in the workplace, the posters are
provided free of charge by the Labor Department. Some private poster
companies push their sales by warning that failure to provide
the posters at the workplace can result in fines up to $7,000.
“Our inspectors carry these free posters in the back
of their cars to give away to every business they visit,”
Berry said. “If they’ve run out, all you have to do
is contact us and we’ll send it to you absolutely free.”
The spate of complaints about salesmen taking advantage
of unsuspecting businesses has state labor officials
considering aggressive steps to stop dishonest practices in
the name of labor law. Berry said the department is
considering the production of public service announcements
that will be distributed in areas particularly hard hit by
labor law scams.
Berry said DOL in the last few weeks has prepared a
comprehensive database of business associations that in turn
can alert their members to scam trends that DOL discerns.
“Businesses have
complained that some companies use clever language to pose as
official watchdogs whose sole aim is to protect business from
heavy fines for noncompliance,” Barbara Jackson, a Labor
Department attorney, said. “And while these ads do not
break the law, they are certainly misleading.”
DOL offers a wide range of services to businesses and
employees and can be reached toll-free at 1-800-522-6762
(800-LABOR-NC).
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