Friday, August 30, 2013

Make the Office a Better Place with Labor Law Posters




The environment in the office is a very important factor that contributes to the productivity of an employee. Any employee in a workplace should be able to freely concentrate on the task that is given to him without wondering about any other problems. However, office place issues such as discrimination, bullying, sexual harassment, exploitation and ignoring of employee rights can create a very harmful atmosphere for the employee.

To prevent such a situation the federal and respective state governments have joined hands and made it mandatory for labor law posters to be posted in the workplace. These posters contain information regarding the laws that govern the employers of the state. The posters that are compulsory to be put up in the workplace are related to some of the most common issues faced by the employees.

Some of the common posters that are put up are:
  • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) 
  • Office Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 
  • Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) 
These are a few of the posters that you will have to put up in the workplace. However, if you want to get a complete list of all the federal and state labor law posters that you will require, click on this link, http://www.easybusinessposters.com/products/federal-labor-law-poster.html, and get all the information that you will require. The list of posters can be quite comprehensive as each state has their own laws that are updated and amended on a regular basis. Getting a proper service provider will ensure that you are always updated on matters concerning the labor law posters in your state.

This act of putting up labor law posters is quite a useful act as it allows your employees to know what they are entitled to. This will save you a lot of time as all the information will be displayed in a proper place for them to see. So instead of coming to you all the time, they can consult the posters for the information they need. This will help them remain calm in the workplace. Having calm workers will definitely help your company increase their productivity.

Various important aspects for employees such as their minimum wage, pay hikes, working hours and other rights as employees are mentioned in those posters which make them a vital source of information. Information regarding pay days, medical leave, job security and safety condition are also mentioned in them.

The reason why these posters are such useful in increasing employee morale is that they let the employees know that you, as an employer, are interested in their welfare and are doing all that is necessary for them to work comfortably. This will improve their working ability and enable them to be more useful for the company. Always remember that as an employee, you are to provide your employees with what they need to live a dignified life, so that they can continue working for you in the best way possible. A good employer will have good employees.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Understanding State and Federal Labor Law Compliance Poster Requirements


Federal and state mandates require employers to post some notices displaying labor laws in their workplaces to be easily accessible by the employees. The ultimate purpose of these posters is to educate the employees regarding their rights and privileges and to safeguard their interests. While ensuring compliance with poster requirements is mandatory for all employers having at least one employee, they need to post both state and federal labor law posters.

The labor law posters must be posted at conspicuous places where employees visit and pass through frequently including lunch room, conference room, and place where the attendance system is maintained. If an organization has its branches in more than one location, the posters must be displayed in all of the locations independently. Compliance laws require employees to convey the labor laws not only to their employees, but also to the new applicants. For instance posters including the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEO), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) notices must all be displayed for applicants and also for employees. The employee will be required to post both state and federal labor law posters since the employees will see them and get to know which one is applicable in their case. Employers participating in e-verify program need to post both English and Spanish versions of the E-verify and right to work notices to be viewed equally by applicants and employees.

If the state minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage, then the employers will still have to display the federal minimum wages poster since there might be some employees who are not covered by the state laws in this regard. For instance the state and federal laws might differ in cases of overtime and tipped employees. Therefore, it is mandatory that employers post both the state and federal labor law posters while they pay either the state or the federal wages whichever is higher.

Employers need to go for bilingual posters wherever there are a significant number of Spanish speaking employees. For instance, employers in the 32 states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington need to post bilingual posters in Spanish and English.

Failure to post state and federal labor law posters will result in fines up to $17,000 per location in addition to citations and penalties. The employers will be subjected to maximum fines if they have knowingly or continually violated the poster compliance law. One of the largest fines for not displaying a poster might be up to $7,000 for example. If there is any litigation by employees at times when the employer has not complied with poster requirements, the consequences can be severe. Therefore, employers need to keep themselves up to date with poster requirements. Employers can take the assistance of a number of compliance poster firms that publish state and federal labor law posters.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Giving the Help You Need with Regards to Federal Labor Law Posters


All employers are required by the law to post the necessary federal labor law posters, state labor law posters, and OSHA mandatory labor law posters in the most common or conspicuous area of the workplace. These posters must be readily seen by every employee. Through this, everyone have access to the correct legal information with regards to their rights, privileges, and responsibilities from the time of their application to the time that they are employed.

The notable areas where federal labor law posters are most commonly placed are reception areas, lounge areas, break rooms, and lunch areas. Another great place would be where your employees clock in and out. It is also suggested that new applicants get to see and read these posters even before they are accepted.

Most employers today are beginning to realize the importance of federal labor law posters because of the many cases between employers and employees that commonly started out as misunderstanding of the laws and legalities of the system. Another reason for employers to be well aware of these government labor law postings would be because fines and legal charges can be the result of noncompliance.

Depending on the severity of the situation, fines vary by enforcing agency and poster missed. Fines range from as low as $110 to as high as $10,000.

The state and federal labor law posting requirements may vary depending on the number of employees, business type, and industry but there are six labor law posters that every employer must post on their respective workplaces. Here they are:
  • Minimum Wage Compliance Poster
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) poster
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) poster
  • Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) notice
  • Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) poster
  • Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) notice/poster

These must have sounded familiar because they are the most commonly known federal labor laws. The law also states that every employer with at least one employee must post these notices/posters on their workplace,

Some states require posting of bilingual posters. These states are usually those that have at least 5% Spanish-speaking employees or use English as their second language. These states are Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina, New York, and Texas.

However, if you are an employer who does not live in the above-stated states but have quite a few employees with English as their second language; it is your responsibility to post the necessary posters in other specific languages. The other languages are Spanish, Haitian, Vietnamese, and Hmong.

To avoid legal charges, penalties, and fines, every employer in the United States should have updated federal labor law posters. However, most employers find this tricky as there is no definite date of updates or changes and the government does not announce it. It is thoroughly up to the employers to make sure their labor law posters are always updated.

To help employers make their lives a bit easier, our agency can save you the hassle of legal research by informing you whenever labor law updates are released. We also offer all-in-one federal labor law posters to make sure you stay compliant and help you avoid unwanted and expensive fines. Check out this link for more info: http://www.easybusinessposters.com/products/federal-labor-law-poster.html

Monday, August 12, 2013

The New National Labor Relations Board: Will It Be More Of The Same - Or Worse?

For the first time in more than ten years, the National Labor Relations Board will have five Senate-confirmed board members and no battles over recess appointments. However, the new Board will continue to be dominated by pro-union members selected by President Obama. The three Democratic members are: current Chairman Mark Pearce; Nancy Schiffer, associate general counsel for AFL-CIO; and Kent Hirozawa, chief counsel to Pearce. The two Republican members are seasoned management-side labor lawyers Philip Miscimarra and Harry Johnson III.

The confirmation of these Board members ends, at least moving forward, the uncertainty caused by the President's recess appointments which were ruled invalid by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. For employers, this new Board is not likely to behave much differently than the Board has since the President was elected. In fact, employers can expect this Board to continue to issue decisions that favor unions and employees. In addition, the Board may well exercise its rulemaking power with greater vigor than before.
Here is what employers may see from this new Board:

1.The Resurrection of the "Quickie/Ambush" Election Rule

 

In December 2011, the Board adopted a final rule that made numerous and substantial changes in how union election would be handled. The rule was not implemented because a federal court decided that the Board's vote to adopt the rule was improper. Significantly, the court did not object to the substance of the rule and its changes. The new Board could reconsider the rule and take another vote and employers can expect the 3-2 Democratic majority to approve it. It is also conceivable that this Board could propose a rule that calls for additional changes to the election procedures that would assist unions in winning elections, such as making voting by mail the preferred method of casting ballots; Chairman Pearce has previously indicated his interest in taking a fresh look at the rule.

2. Take a Hard Look at Bush-Era Board Decisions

 

As the Board composition changes with each change in the Presidency, it is common for Boards to re-examine decisions issued under a prior Administration of the other political party. The Board under George W. Bush was accused of wholesale reversal of rulings under the Clinton Administration. This new Obama Board can be expected to continue its reversal of Bush-era Board decisions. By way of example:

Many have expected the Board to overrule a 2007 decision in Register-Guard, in which the Bush-era Board held that an employer can maintain a policy that prohibits employees from using its email system for non-job related solicitation including union organizing. Current Board law gives unionized employees the right to a union representative at an investigatory interview the employee reasonably believes may lead to discipline. During the Clinton administration, the Board extended this right to representation to non-union employees. That extension was reversed by the Board during the Bush administration, by a 3-2 vote. It would not be a surprise for the new Obama Board to extend representation rights to non-union employees again.

3. Continued Focus on Non-Union Employers' Policies

 

Under the Obama administration, the Board has aggressively focused on policies and practices of employers who have no unionized employees. The Board has examined at-will statements, social media policies, confidentiality clauses, dress code policies, premises access policies and disciplinary action based on these policies and practices. Employers should expect the Board to continue its examination of any policy or practice that could interfere with employees' ability to engage in union organizing or other activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act.

4.Micro Bargaining Units

 

In August 2011, the Board ruled in Specialty Healthcare that the Board will approve the bargaining unit requested by a union unless the employer can prove the unit improperly excludes employees who share "an overwhelming community of interest" with the employees in the proposed unit. Under Specialty Healthcare, the Board has issued numerous decisions finding that small units are appropriate; those units would not have been approved before Specialty Healthcare became law. Employers can expect the Board to continue to abide by its decision and can hope the Board will provide greater guidance and clarity on how this new standard will be used.
Will the new Board be the same as the old Board? Time will tell. It is unlikely the new Board will be more employer-friendly and it is distinctly possible it will be even more aggressive in issuing decisions and rules to enhance unions' ability to organize employees.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Labor Law Posters for Both the Employers and Employees


Refresher course on the labor law posters should be something that could be done annually or at intervals depending on the compliance of these laws on employment, especially the protection and safety of the employees. In United States of America, there is a need for every employer to fully obey the rules and regulations of labor. National Labor Relations Board has a lot of Acts that are placed on posters for the benefit of every worker. It has to be implemented by the employer no matter the type of business he or she is operating. It is mandatory that employers post the required posters that would help employees know their rights, the safety procedures, wages according to working conditions and so many other laws. There are different laws that come in various poster, which is why every employer should know how to pick these posters that has something to do with the business workplace. A lot of mistakes can be averted if this information on labor laws is well researched before buying or getting for a workplace. When we have laws and guidelines on how to work in offices or businesses, and these laws are fully obeyed and implemented, we would be able to work without fear of repercussions.

Colorado labor poster has what we call the Colorado Wage Act that has the code C.R.S. 8-4-101 et sequel This is an act that has made it mandatory for employers to show how deduction from employees can be made without complaints. These deductions can be from vacation, bonuses, commissions, final payment and other type of invoice. Money is mostly where employers and employees have difference and when these posters can take care of this law, there would be less disagreement that might lead to legal tussle.

It would be time consuming when an employee wants to go through the state, federal and OSHA labor laws in Florida. This is the reason the National labor Relations board has helped in developing one poster that has covered all the numerous laws in the state which is called Total Labor Law Poster. This is one poster that has the minimum wage, hourly rate and even other laws of employment that must be obeyed by employed when they implement them. Interestingly, the size of this one big poster is 27”x 39." With this size, there is nothing hidden about the law on Florida labor law poster.

Buying Your Very First California Labor Law Posters 2013: What Should You Know


If you have just established your business or company, one of the first things that you have to figure out is on how to get your hands on California labor law posters 2013. These compliance materials will form one of the essential pillars of the business that you have just established.

It might seem to be quite an easy thing to deal with this need for poster compliance but actually there is much more to it than what we could ever expect. Mandates of the federal government over the rights of workers as given by employers are very specific and openly stated. It is either comply or suffer the consequences that could bring over circumstances that would bring about bad reputation or other worse things.

For those who are about to buy their first California labor law posters 2013, the following concerns are always being noted:

  • Knowing the right types of posters to pick and order: There are currently different types of posters that would be available from private online makers and sellers of posters. It is apparent that factors such as the type of industry or business, types of employees, language diversity within the workplace, and many others should be carefully considered.
  • Knowing the right sources: Sellers or sources of the most updated California labor law posters 2013 could be any of the following: the government or private companies. The former could provide limited supplies of posters for free while the latter could make available as much posters an employer would need depending on paid orders.
  • Finding the right deals: It is to be noted that it could be a costly thing to acquire these new California labor law posters 2013 most especially if the business is large or has a lot of work locations. There are companies or sellers who would offer huge discounts for bulk orders. There are also some that could make their update notification subscription an added freebie for transaction that would take place. See to it though that the qualities of the products provided by these sellers are not inferior.
  • Knowing what customers are saying about the seller and its products: Will the seller or maker of these posters provide top rated services at all times? This is a thing that could be determined more accurately through the eyes of those customers or clients that they have served in the past. See to it that if the company you are eyeing to buy from has a web base site, there should be a testimonials page that you could visit.
  • Getting an assurance that you will always be using updated posters: Updates to these labor law posters are being added regularly. There are always lineups of labor law amendments that could get an approval to be published yearly. Employers like you could always check out the websites of local as well as national labor departments. For an easier time, you should see to it that you are subscribed to an update notification service provided by a private California labor law posters 2013 maker and seller.