Federal & state laws require employers to post labor law compliance notices. Learn how employee relations software can help you manage those requirements.
Federal and state laws require many employers to post labor law compliance notices in conspicuous locations in the workplace. Employers with remote workforces must make notices available to their employees online or on a shared network. Failure to provide these notices can result in significant penalties, including monetary fines.
Take a closer look at federal labor law compliance notice requirements below to understand the most likely consequences of not making required notices available. Each state maintains its own requirements. Employee and labor relations software can help you determine which laws apply to you and which notices you must display or make available.
Labor law compliance notices, also known as labor law compliance posters, provide information about workers’ rights under various statutes. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) enforces many federal labor notice requirements, along with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Some notices have specific size requirements. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers that print copies of its “Job Safety and Health: It's the Law” poster to use paper that is at least 8.5 by 14 inches.
All required notices are available to employers free of charge. Most can be downloaded from government websites and printed.
Some notices are mandatory for almost any employer that pays wages to employees, such as the EEOC’s “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster. Other labor law compliance notices are only required for employers that act as government contractors. Some are only necessary for employers who are covered by specific statutes.
Some states require employers to post labor law compliance posters in Spanish if a minimum percentage of employees speak it as their primary language. The DOL and other agencies make many posters available in multiple languages. The EEOC, for example, makes its “Know Your Rights” poster available in Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
Failure to post some notices can result in monetary fines. For notices required for federal contractors, the result could be a breach of contract lawsuit or even the loss of future contract opportunities.
The DOL assesses fines for many compliance posters, and it has the authority to increase these fines based on inflation. Examples of fines in 2023 include the following:
Other agencies may also impose fines for failing to post certain notices. As of 2023, the EEOC can assess a $659 for failing to post its “Know Your Rights” poster.
Employers who do business as government contractors may be obligated to display certain labor law compliance notices as part of their contracts. This includes:
Failure to post these required notices may result in disciplinary or enforcement action according to the terms of a government contract.
The government deems some notices to be so important for contractors that failure to post them as required can result in ineligibility for future contracts. The “Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws” poster is one example. States may have similar requirements for contractors.
Some statutes that require employers to post notices give employees, rather than a government agency, the power to enforce the requirement. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), for example, requires certain employers to post the “Your Rights Under USERRA” notice. If an employer fails to do so, an employee may complain to the DOL or file a lawsuit seeking a court order compelling the employer to display the notice.
Employers must post various notices in the workplace, as well as make them available to remote employees. Failure to have the required notices can result in significant penalties. LaborSoft provides employment management software that helps employers remain up-to-date with these requirements.
Contact us today to set up a customized demonstration and learn about how LaborSoft can meet your HR data management needs.
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