§ 5-810. Amount of civil penalty

   (a) Maximum amount. --

   (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a civil penalty under § 5-809 of this subtitle may not exceed:

      (i) $ 7,000 for each violation; and

      (ii) if an employer does not correct a violation within the period allowed for correction, $ 7,000 for each day that the violation continues.

   (2) A civil penalty for a willful or repeated violation of a provision of this title, an order passed under this title, or a regulation adopted to carry out this title may not exceed $ 70,000 for each violation.

   (3) A civil penalty for a willful violation of a provision of this title, an order passed under this title, or a regulation adopted to carry out this title may not be less than $ 5,000.

(b) Considerations. -- Before the Commissioner assesses a civil penalty under § 5-809 of this subtitle, the Commissioner shall consider the appropriateness of the penalty in relation to:

   (1) the size of the business of the employer against whom the penalty is to be assessed;

   (2) the gravity of the violation for which the penalty is to be assessed;

   (3) the good faith of the employer;

   (4) the history of violations by the employer;

   (5) the injury and illness experience of the employer;

   (6) the existence and quality of a safety and training program;

   (7) the actual harm to human health including injury or illness;

   (8) the extent to which the current violation is part of a recurrent pattern of the same or similar type of violation; and

   (9) the extent to which the existence of the violation was known to the employer but remained not corrected.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 89, § 40; 1991, ch. 8, § 2; ch. 622.