4167.06 Right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions. - Ohio Statutes

4167.06 Right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions.

(A) A public employee acting in good faith has the right to refuse to work under conditions that the public employee reasonably believes present an imminent danger of death or serious harm to the public employee, provided that such conditions are not such as normally exist for or reasonably might be expected to occur in the occupation of the public employee. A public employer shall not discriminate against a public employee for a good faith refusal to perform assigned tasks if the public employee has requested that the public employer correct the hazardous conditions but the conditions remain uncorrected, there was insufficient time to eliminate the danger by resorting to the enforcement methods provided in this chapter, and the danger was one that a reasonable person under the circumstances then confronting the public employee would conclude is an imminent danger of death or serious physical harm to the public employee. A public employee who has refused in good faith to perform assigned tasks and who has not been reassigned to other tasks by the public employer shall, in addition to retaining a right to continued employment, receive full compensation for the tasks that would have been performed. If the public employer reassigns the public employee, the public employer shall pay the public employee’s full compensation as if the public employee were not reassigned.

(B) A public employee who exercises the right to refuse to work under division (A) of this section shall notify by a written statement that is signed by the public employee, as soon as practicable after exercising that right, the administrator of workers’ compensation of the condition that presents an imminent danger of death or serious harm to the public employee. Upon receipt of the notification, the administrator or the administrator’s designee immediately shall inspect the premises of the public employer. The administrator and the administrator’s designee shall comply with section 4167.10 of the Revised Code in conducting the inspection and investigation and in issuing orders and citations.

(C) A public employee who refuses to perform assigned tasks under division (A) of this section and fails to meet all of the conditions set forth in that division for the refusal is subject to any disciplinary action provided by law or agreement between the public employer and public employee for a refusal to work, including, but not limited to, suspension, nonpayment of wages for the duration of the refusal to work, and discharge.

Effective Date: 07-01-2000; 06-21-2005