How important is it really to have those workplace posters posted? If you don't have them could you get fined by some agency or sued by your employees? Do you recommend self-service or should we use a third party service to keep us current on those? Thank you.
How important is it to have the latest minimum wage and related info posters posted? What happens if you do not? Should you use a service?
Answers
Hello,
It is extremely important to comply with state and federal posting requirements. In addition to wage and order posting information, employers are required to post information related OSHA/safety, workers compensation, various mandated leaves and more. In addition to potential fines by state or federal agencies, an employer's failure to maintain current postings could be used against them in an employee claim, resulting in additional penalities or damages. The good news is that these postings are easy to maintain if you use a company that supplies the required postings and who will notify you when posting requirements change. Here is one company that has postings for all states http://www.personnelconcepts.com/.
In New York State there are some hefty fines for not posting these larger than life signs in "Employee Public Spaces".
So put them up in the Kitchen/Cafeteria area or anyplace else all employees have access to and use it. Even the hallway to the restroom where every employee will transverse once in a while works.
Great comment, Lisa. I completely agree that the big issue is what can happen in a litigation event if you don't have that information posted. I have rarely seen employees studying those laws, but you can be their lawyers will! We use a different firm than the one Lisa mentions, but whomever you use, just pay the $50/yr (or whatever - it's not much) to have them send you the posters automatically. So much easier and will save you headaches later.
California also has significant fines for not having the state and federal information posted. The labor boards are very employee oriented and not having the most recent information posted can be costly if there is a workplace issue. As Mark said, sign up for a service, pay the minimal fees to stay current and avoid the litigation headache.
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Human Capital