Department of Labor Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Annual Adjustments for 2026
Key claim: The Department of Labor’s 2026 civil monetary penalty inflation adjustment is cancelled because the BLS failed to publish October 2025 CPI-U data due to a funding lapse, leaving no statutory alternative calculation method.
Abstract
(Rule · Labor Department, Employment and Training Administration, Workers’ Compensation Programs Office, Wage and Hour Division, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Mine Safety and Health Administration) As required by statute, the Department of Labor annually publishes a final rule updating the civil monetary penalties it assesses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) did not publish its October 2025 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) data due to a lapse in funding. Because the relevant law requires that annual penalty adjustments be based specifically on October CPI-U data–with no alternative calculation allowed–the 2026 adjustment is cancelled entirely.
Why this matters
DOL’s annual civil monetary penalty inflation adjustment is the primary mechanism that keeps maximum fines under OSHA, FLSA, ERISA, MSHA, and OFCCP statutes from eroding in real value. Cancelling the 2026 adjustment because of a BLS data gap freezes deterrence levels for at least a year across every DOL enforcement program touching worker safety, wages, and benefits. It also exposes a procedural fragility: the statute lacks a fallback when CPI-U data is unavailable, meaning future funding lapses could similarly stall enforcement calibration.