Labor Law Posters: Government Websites
First and foremost, government websites issue labor law posters. These must be displayed for employers to remain complaint. But whether a law requires employers to display a poster depends on the nature of the law.
Laws that require a labor law poster are typically related to specific subjects, including:
Still, the above types of laws don’t encompass all the laws that require employers to display labor law posters. And government officials don’t alert employers about new or updated posters. It’s incumbent upon employers to know the laws that apply to their locations, which labor law posters must be displayed and act accordingly.
Government websites make labor law posters available for free, but employers must do research and determine which posters are required. And that can create challenges for large employers. How many Spanish-speaking employees do you have? Does a random county in Maryland have a poster requirement? What about workers’ compensation posters that need location managers to fill in information for it to remain compliant?
Simply identifying and locating updated labor law posters is a full-time process, and most large companies outsource their program.
Labor Law Posters: Know Your Rights and More
Still, to start with the basics, most employers need to display a federal labor law poster, regardless of their locations.
A federal labor law poster includes information about the:
These federal labor law posters are also required to be displayed, or at least made available, for job applicants, as well as employees.
Stay in compliance with labor law poster regulations by ensuring your locations have the federal posters displayed at a bare minimum.
State and Federal Labor Law Posters
Of course, there are more than federal labor law posters that must be displayed to maintain compliance.
States also issue labor law posters. And while location managers can download and print individual postings, labor law poster vendors combine state and federal, making it easier to display and providing all the information in one place.
Only about 2 percent of large companies maintain compliance in-house — most outsource their program to a labor law poster vendor.
So, how do employers know which state and federal posters are required? Check with the applicable department of labor, or other governmental agency, to determine what must be displayed.
Poster requirements can vary widely. And in addition to federal and state posters, many counties and cities also issue labor law posters. In fact, more than 22,000 jurisdictions have the authority to require employers to display labor law posters.
Please note that even all-on-one state and federal labor law posters can update several times a year, which further illustrates why multi-jurisdiction employers usually opt to outsource their program.
State and Local Labor Law Posters
There are other layers to labor law poster compliance. In addition to state and federal posters, there are local labor law posters to consider.
Local jurisdictions — cities and counties — also have poster requirements. In recent years, two categories of labor law posters have been most common for new local labor law posters:
On the minimum wage front, about 130 jurisdictions in the U.S. have a minimum wage law above the federal level. And that almost always means minimum wage labor law posters must be displayed. (Please note, however, that employers should not use labor law posters to determine minimum wage rates for employees. The poster may be behind the actual effective date of the law or rate update.)
For minimum wage, check with the applicable jurisdiction’s wage and hour division to determine when a poster needs to be updated.
Paid sick leave laws also generally require a labor law posting. In addition to the 14 states — and Washington, D.C. — that have passed paid sick leave laws, more than 20 other combined cities and counties have enacted such legislation.
Employers need to be aware of these labor law poster requirements, including any remaining active COVID-19 paid leave posters.
Labor Law Posters: Other Considerations
Labor law poster compliance has more nuance than some employers might expect.
For example:
These are but a few instances of the challenges employers face when managing labor law poster compliance.
Digital Labor Law Posters
Are digital labor law postings compliant?
With more employees working remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) a couple of years ago issued a field assistance bulletin regarding electronically posted notices of the:
Issued December 2020, the bulletin is meant to give staff of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division guidance about enforcement policy.
“In most cases, these electronic notices supplement but do not replace the statutory and regulatory requirements that employers post a hard-copy notice,” reads a portion of the bulletin. “Whether notices are provided electronically or in hard-copy format, it is an employer’s obligation to provide the required notices to all affected individuals.”
Some federal postings require employers to “post and keep posted” notices at all times.
In those cases, federal officials will only consider digital postings an “acceptable substitute” under certain conditions:
If an employer has both on-site and off-site workers, companies may supplement hard-copy postings with the digital variety. The DOL encourages businesses to use both methods.
Please note: Providing digital labor law posters does not excuse employers from displaying updated labor law posters in physical locations.
Labor Law Posters: Stay in Compliance
Labor law poster management is a year-round responsibility. Workplace posters are a must for any company that takes compliance seriously.
From workers’ compensation labor law posters to specific posters for federal contractors, there are a myriad of employment law considerations for large employers.
Some posters, such as those related to human trafficking, must be displayed by employers in certain industries. Other labor law posters must be displayed if a certain number of employees speak Spanish (or other languages).
As always, employers should consult legal counsel for guidance on labor law poster compliance.