EMPLOYMENT LAW NEWS
Poster Highlight: Three Labor Law Posters Every Employer Should Know About
Introducing a new monthly series from the GovDocs Compliance Team.
In this new monthly series, the GovDocs Employment Law & Compliance Team highlights three new labor law poster releases from the past month that employers need to know about.
Texas Reporting Workplace Violence Poster
On June 14, 2023, the Texas state legislature passed a new labor law posting requirement under House Bill 915 (“HB 915”). The bill requires employers with one or more employees to display a new poster to their employees with contact information for reporting workplace violence and/or suspicious activity to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). The posting must be displayed in a conspicuous area at the employer’s workplace, added in enough locations to be easily viewed by all employees, and posted in English and Spanish.
Per HB 915, the Texas Workforce Commission (“Commission”), with guidance from DPS, adopted additional rules providing the required content of the new poster as follows:
- Employee rights to reporting workplace violence
- Employee rights to report anonymously
- iWatchTexas Community Reporting System contact website and phone number
- Spanish translation
While the law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2023, the poster was not released by the Commission until the start of 2024. However, according to the Commission, employers must post the new Reporting Workplace Violence poster in English and Spanish by Jan. 8, 2024.
The GovDocs Update Program is currently shipping new posters out to impacted customer locations.
Cook County, Ill. Paid Leave Poster
The Cook County Board of Commissioners passed the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance (No. 24-0583) on Dec. 14, 2023, which replaced its previous earned sick leave ordinance. The new paid leave ordinance went into effect on Dec. 31, 2023, and provides employees with at least one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked. The paid leave can be used by employees for any reason.
The new paid leave ordinance requires employers to display, in a conspicuous place at each facility within the geographic boundaries of Cook County, a poster advising employees of their rights to paid leave under the new ordinance. Notably, the poster was promptly released by Cook County’s Commission on Human Rights. The poster includes the following information:
- Who is considered a covered employee
- Accrual rate
- Eligible reasons for use
- Payment requirements
- How to file a complaint
- Contact information
The poster must be provided in English and in any additional languages when an employee is not literate in English. Employers should contact Cook County’s Commission on Human Rights if the posting needs to be translated into additional languages. At this time, the Commission released the posting in Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Arabic, Filipino, and Urdu.
It is important to note that Cook County’s old earned sick leave ordinance allowed municipalities to opt out of the sick leave requirements, including the poster. However, if a municipality previously opted out of the old earned sick leave ordinance, the prior opt-out does not apply to the new paid leave ordinance.
Therefore, employers in any Cook County municipality except Chicago (the city has its own paid leave ordinance), must display an updated Cook County paid leave poster at this time. Municipalities may still opt out of the new Cook County requirements in the future, which reinforces the importance of a vigorous labor law poster program to monitor these potential changes moving forward.
Cook County begins enforcement of its new paid leave ordinance on Feb. 1, 2024, and covered employers who violate the posting requirements could be fined $500 for the first audit violation and $1,000 for any subsequent audit violation.
Berkeley, Cal. Fair Workweek Poster
Back in late 2022, Berkeley City Council adopted the Fair Workweek Employment Standards Ordinance (No. 7846-N.S.). The ordinance ensures fair scheduling practices, including advance notice of work schedules, predictability pay for schedule changes, and additional rights to add shifts or decline previously unscheduled hours for covered employees working at a covered workplace within the geographic boundaries of Berkeley.
More specifically, the fair workweek ordinance applies to the City of Berkeley as an employer and any private employer with 10 or more employees in Berkeley that falls under one of the following four categories:
- A business primarily engaged in building services, healthcare, hotel, manufacturing, retail, or warehouse services industries, and employs 56 or more employees worldwide
- A business primarily engaged in the restaurant industry, and employs 100 or more employees worldwide
- A franchisee primarily engaged in the retail or restaurant industries and is associated with a franchise network with 100 or more employees worldwide
- A not-for-profit corporation organized in the industries described above, and employs 100 or more employees worldwide
Under the ordinance, covered employers are required to prominently post the Fair Workweek Poster developed by the City Manager’s Department in areas at the worksite so that it will be seen by all employees.
Accordingly, the City Manager’s Department has released a poster for covered employers in English and Simplified Chinese. Failure to post may result in an administrative citation, with a fine of $500, which again stresses the importance of maintaining up-to-date city posters at impacted locations.
While the fair workweek ordinance went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, it became operational on Jan. 12, 2024. Nevertheless, the City of Berkley has indicated that its goal through early 2024 is to support covered employers and employees in implementing the new ordinance.
Conclusion
Employers operating in the above jurisdictions should confirm they have the new labor law poster releases displayed at impacted workplaces. In addition to posting, employers must ensure they are aware of the additional labor law requirements and employment obligations under the new laws and ordinances.
For more information on poster compliance, check out our labor law poster compliance resources.
This Employment Law News blog is intended for market awareness only, it is not to be used for legal advice or counsel.
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