30 U.S.C. § 821
Section 821 · Entitlement of miners to full compensation
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Clinchfield Coal Company v. Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, United Mine Workers of America, Intervenor (1990)
Most recently applied in Secretary of Labor v. M-Class Mining, LLC (June 2021)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
If a coal or other mine or area of such mine is closed by an order issued under section 813 of this title, section 814 of this title, or section 817 of this title, all miners working during the shift when such order was issued who are idled by such order shall be entitled, regardless of the result of any review of such order, to full compensation by the operator at their regular rates of pay for the period they are idled, but for not more than the balance of such shift. If such order is not terminated prior to the next working shift, all miners on that shift who are idled by such order shall be entitled to full compensation by the operator at their regular rates of pay for the period they are idled, but for not more than four hours of such shift. If a coal or other mine or area of such mine is closed by an order issued under section 814 of this title or section 817 of this title for a failure of the operator to comply with any mandatory health or safety standards, all miners who are idled due to such order shall be fully compensated after all interested parties are given an opportunity for a public hearing, which shall be expedited in such cases, and after such order is final, by the operator for lost time at their regular rates of pay for such time as the miners are idled by such closing, or for one week, whichever is the lesser. Whenever an operator violates or fails or refuses to comply with any order issued under section 813 of this title, section 814 of this title, or section 817 of this title, all miners employed at the affected mine who would have been withdrawn from, or prevented from entering, such mine or area thereof as a result of such order shall be entitled to full compensation by the operator at their regular rates of pay, in addition to pay received for work performed after such order was issued, for the period beginning when such order was issued and ending when such order is complied with, vacated, or terminated. The Commission shall have authority to order compensation due under this section upon the filing of a complaint by a miner or his representative and after opportunity for hearing subject to section 554 of title 5.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1977—Pub. L. 95–164 substituted provisions relating to the entitlement of miners to their full compensation when they are idled as the result of the operation of this chapter for provisions relating to the maintenance of records, which provisions, as revised, were transferred to section 813 of this title.
Effective Date of 1977 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 95–164 effective 120 days after Nov. 9, 1977, except as otherwise provided, see section 307 of Pub. L. 95–164, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.