Dollar Tree, Family Dollar sign wide-ranging worker-safety settlement

Dollar Tree and its banner Family Dollar must pay $1.35 million in penalties and undertake a nationwide safety assessment at all stores, part of a settlement agreement announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Chesapeake, Virginia-based Dollar Tree, which operates more than 16,000 locations, has long run afoul of safety standards set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), racking up millions of dollars in fines in recent years.

As part of this settlement, Dollar Tree must create a plan to identify the causes of its safety issues and make the necessary operational fixes within the next two years. In the immediate term, though, the discounter must remedy blocked exits, inaccessible fire extinguishers and electrical panels, and improper material storage at all of its stores within 48 hours of being notified by OSHA. The retailer must submit proof of the fixes; failure to do so could bring penalties of $100,000 per day per violation, up to $500,000, the Department of Labor said.

Dollar Tree must also form safety advisory groups with employee representation, enhance hazard identification and control programs, develop an audit system, create a new employee training program and hire additional safety professionals, the agency said. Dollar Tree will also create and maintain a 24-hour hotline to receive safety complaints, while also establishing a tracking system to make sure complaints are addressed.

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The discounter must also hold quarterly meetings with OSHA to discuss its ongoing progress.

“At the Department of Labor, we know that every worker deserves to come home safe at the end of the workday,” Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su said in a statement. “Through our robust enforcement of workplace protections and use of innovative legal methods that resulted in this agreement, thousands of workers will have a healthier, safer and more certain future.”

Dollar Tree signed a corporate-wide settlement agreement with OSHA in 2015, which expired in 2018.

Dollar Tree competitor Dollar General has also faced millions of dollars in OSHA penalties, tallying more than $21 million in fines since 2017.

“This agreement focuses on improving working conditions at thousands of stores nationwide,” Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said in a statement. “Dollar Tree and Family Dollar have agreed to significant investments to more effectively identify and correct the root causes of the hazards most commonly found during OSHA inspections, including blocked exits and unstable stacking of materials.”

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Dollar Tree is slated to report its second quarter earnings Thursday morning.