Legal compliance is a major part of any HR team’s role in an organization. One aspect of that is complying with legally mandated labor law poster requirements.
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Required posters must be placed somewhere they’ll be easily seen by everyone. Most businesses opt for a common area, like the employee break room or the main entrance area. Remember that each separate workplace must have the posters visible. There are also size requirements in most cases to ensure they can be easily read.
Let’s take a look at the federally mandated posters that employers must display.
Posters Required at the Federal Level
These posters are required for most employers:
- “Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law” is the poster required under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Some states also require a state version to be posted.
- Employers must post minimum wage information under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This poster should include minimum wage info, overtime pay info, and youth employment standards.
- Employers must post a notice that the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) disallows the use of polygraph (aka “lie detector”) tests by most employers.
- For employers large enough to be subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the poster outlining FMLA rights must be posted.
- “Your Rights Under USERRA” must be posted or provided to employees covered by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
- “EEO is the Law” is the name of the poster required by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for employers with 15 or more employees. It outlines federal antidiscrimination laws.
These posters are only required for specific employers that are subject to them:
- Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision must be posted by any employer subject to Executive Order 11246. (Per the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), “The Executive Order prohibits federal contractors and federally‐assisted construction contractors and subcontractors, who do over $10,000 in Government business in one year from discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.”)
- The notice pertaining to the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) must be posted by agricultural employers, ag associations, and other farm labor contractors that are subject to the MSPA and employ migrant or seasonal ag workers.
- Employee rights for Workers with Disabilities Paid at Special Minimum Wages must be posted by any employer with workers employed under FLSA Section 14(c).
- Employee Rights Under the H-2A Program must be posted by any agricultural employer that hires temp ag workers under this visa program.
- Notice to All Employees Working on Federal or Federally Financed Construction Projects must be posted by “any contractor/subcontractor engaged in contracts in excess of $2,000 for the actual construction, alteration/repair of a public building or public work or building or work financed in whole or in part from federal funds, federal guarantee, or federal pledge which is subject to the labor standards provisions of any of the acts listed in 29 CFR 5.1.,” per the DOL website.
- Employee Rights on Government Contracts must by posted by “every contractor or subcontractor engaged in a contract with the United States or the District of Columbia in excess of $2,500 the principal purpose of which is to furnish services in the U.S. through the use of service employees,” per the DOL website.
- Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws must be posted by any federal contractor or subcontractor.
For any business that does not have the required postings, there may be fines or citations for noncompliance. These fines and citations are levied for each missing poster for each location. For example, not posting the FMLA poster garners a $100 fine per offense. Not having an OSHA poster comes with a $7,000 civil penalty.
Employers can obtain these posters for free from the DOL. In fact, the DOL has an online tool to help employers determine which posters they’re required to have.
Final Tips
Remember that more posters may be required by state or local laws. These are only the federal law requirements above. For example, some states may require that the federal posters be shown in Spanish as well as English.
Also note that the posters will need to be updated whenever the underlying laws get updated. There may be new mandated versions, or the information may change, like minimum wage changes. Employers need to stay informed and keep in compliance with these updates.
For more DOL-specific information, check out its page about required posters here: https://www.dol.gov/general/topics/posters. Also check out its poster advisor tool here: https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/posters.htm.
Bridget Miller is a business consultant with a specialized MBA in International Economics and Management, which provides a unique perspective on business challenges. She’s been working in the corporate world for over 15 years, with experience across multiple diverse departments including HR, sales, marketing, IT, commercial development, and training.