Poster Compliance in Quirky Locations:
Where Do Employers Need to Display Labor Law Posters?
by Dana Holle, GovDocs Counsel, Employment Law and Compliance
Below are several labor law posting display requirements and best practices for employers to reduce the risk of being found out of compliance.
Displaying labor law posters appropriately is key to successful compliance with labor law posting requirements, especially with the ever evolving workplace and increase in remote/hybrid work over the last several years. Employers especially don’t want a “where’s waldo” situation where employees struggle to find labor law posters at a location or are fined in an audit for failing to display the right posters.
Below are several posting display requirements and best practices for employers to utilize to reduce the risk of being found out of compliance with labor law posters in the workplace.
General Labor Law Poster Display Requirements
Labor law posters are generally required to be displayed in conspicuous places frequented by employees in the workplace. Well-trafficked employee areas include lunchrooms, breakrooms, main hallways, conference spaces, employee lounges, or kitchens.
If employers have employees working in multiple buildings, campuses, and/or floors, and those employees do not frequently visit one central location, then labor law posters are required to be displayed in each building, at each campus, on each floor, etc.
With regards to applicant posters, employers need to make sure prospective employees have visibility to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA), and the EEO Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal postings. There are also a handful of applicable state and local posters required for applicants. Applicants do not need access to all state/local applicant postings, but for ones in the jurisdiction in which they are applying for a job.
Finally, smoking postings and other public accommodations postings generally need to be displayed at entrances where both employees and patrons can view them.
Are Labor Law Postings Required for Remote and Hybrid Workers?
Employers are required to provide labor law posting information to all their employees. When those employees report to an office, placing these postings in a conspicuous area frequented by employees complies with these requirements. For employees that don’t come to the office, employer compliance with labor law posting requirements can get convoluted quickly.
Most posting requirements do not address electronic delivery. However, providing remote workers with easy access to the postings via electronic methods, such as through the GovDocs Intranet Poster Program, the company’s intranet, or sending copies directly to remote workers via email, is considered best practice.
Please Note: electronic formats are not a substitute for physical posting requirements and merely supplement, but do not replace, physical posting requirements in the workplace where otherwise required. Whether or not these alternative methods of delivery or alternative formats of postings are compliant will also vary by each jurisdiction.
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Postings for Traveling Employees
Employers are also required to provide labor law postings to traveling employees. Unfortunately, it is not always clear which employment laws apply to workers who travel to several locations for work. Whether employers need to provide these workers with posters from multiple states or local jurisdictions depends on the jurisdiction, the laws, the agency, and sometimes even the poster itself.
Many of an employee’s basic employment rights like minimum wage, overtime, and safety issues will be governed by the laws where the employee performs the work. As such, best practice would be to provide applicable electronic postings where the employee is traveling to as well as the electronic postings for the jurisdiction of the employee’s home office.
Postings in Shared Workspaces
If the shared workspace, such as WeWork or Regus (IWG), is the employee’s primary place of work and the employer can display posters at the shared space location, then the employer should display the applicable posters at the shared space for that jurisdiction.
If employers, however, do not have adequate wall space for the required postings, the employer can provide the postings by electronic delivery, displaying the postings on the company intranet, and/or providing copies of the postings in binders at the workplace, which are all options in GovDocs Labor Law Poster Program.
Please Note: binder formats are not a substitute for physical posting requirements when an employer has adequate space on its walls. Similar to digital postings, whether alternative methods of delivery or alternative formats of postings are compliant will be different depending on the jurisdiction.
Posting Requirements at Other Company Locations
Two separate companies may be subject to different labor law posting requirements depending on their specific industry, company size, languages spoken by the employees, etc., and therefore risk being out of compliance with labor law postings for their own employees if settling on using the other company’s postings in the workplace. There may be crossover on some of the additional postings and there may not.
As this question would be dependent on the employer’s specific business situation, this is a decision a company should review internally. One suggestion would be to review the required postings in the applicable jurisdictions and assess whether the posting applies to one or both companies.
Employer Risks for Not Displaying Labor Law Posters
If employers fail to maintain and keep up to date with the physical postings on the wall in each of their workplace locations, they are at a high level of risk of being found out of compliance with labor law posting requirements and/or fined in an audit.
Fines and penalties vary depending on the jurisdiction, the specific posting that is out of compliance, and the discretion of the agency involved in the audit. For example, employers failing to properly display Illinois’ Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws posting may result in a $250 fine while California’s Safety & Health Protection on the Job posting may result in a fine up to $1,000 for each violation. And finally, failing to adhere to the federal’s OSHA Occupation Safety and Health Act posting requirements may result in a maximum fine up to $16,550 per violation.
This Employment Law News blog is intended for market awareness only, it is not to be used for legal advice or counsel.
What is GovDocs?
GovDocs simplifies employment law compliance for large, multi-jurisdiction employers in the U.S. and Canada. The GovDocs software platform integrates three solutions in one convenient place to help you master the employment laws impacting your business. Whether you manage labor law postings, minimum wage or paid leave program, our products cut through research time, provide proactive insights into the everchanging landscape of employment laws and reduce the risk of noncompliance. The company is headquartered in Eagan, Minn.
The GovDocs Poster Store simplifies posting compliance for employers with less than 30 locations across all industries, offering a variety of posting products to meet your labor law compliance needs.
