Practical Tips on State and Federal Labor Law Posters

Since businesses in every state of the country today are required to post state and federal labor law posters, there is a great demand for services that readily offer the posters. There has recently been a great increase in the number of companies that offer labor law poster packages, and these companies ship the ready-to-display labor law posters right to your doorstep. Common options are for labor law posters to be fully laminated or framed to ensure the safety of the posters from people who may want to sabotage, change, or remove them.

Employers are now slowly realizing the importance of these labor law posters and the consequences that await them should they fail to comply. This is why most employers today either resort to hiring lawyers to take care of all their needs and requirements with regards to state and federal labor law posters or get labor law poster packages from poster service companies.

However, employers must be aware that as the number of service companies is increasing, the number of scam labor law poster artists is also increasing. These are the companies or people who do everything to earn money the easiest way through fooling employers into thinking that they provide authentic labor law posters.

For busy employers, it can be quite hard to find the most trustworthy service company that gives you authentic labor law posters and keeps you rightfully updated. More often, some employers simply settle for the first advertisement or the most popular advertisement.

Another famous situation today is that employers are made to believe that they have outdated state and federal labor law posters and that they have to settle a fine for that. Because business owners are extremely busy and hate to face any court charges, they will simply oblige and pay the fine. This is the reason why we have always encouraged employers to only partner up with qualified labor law poster providers.

How to Protect Your Business

Labor law posters are mandated by the government to provide protection to both employees and employers. State and federal labor law posters give clear information on everything that is important to employees and employers to ensure that every person’s right is protected.

To help you protect your business even more, here are some worthy tips employers must always keep in mind:

• Always check a service provider with the Better Business Bureau for verification purposes.

• Always investigate an unproven track record.

• Choose a service provider who is truly knowledgeable of the labor laws and not just provide posters.

• It would be the best if your service provider has its own labor lawyer who interprets and regulates labor law changes.

• The posters it offers must meet the exact specifications with regards to layout, poster size, font size, and even color.

• Choose a provider who offers unlimited protection from fines because this ensures that the provider is extremely confident that it is always updated with labor law changes.

• Never buy labor law posters from a random person who does door-to-door poster selling.

State and federal labor law posters are extremely important for every employer today. As a result, please post the necessary posters and protect the overall welfare of your company, and keep in mind of what is happening in the industry today with regards to posting requirements and situations.

Right-to-Work Law Gives Workers Reason to Celebrate on Labor Day

Labor Day 2013 certainly is a time to celebrate.

Workers across Michigan finally have the freedom to choose whether they want to pay dues or fees to a union as a condition of employment.

They get to decide if the hundreds of dollars (or more) they spend each year on dues or fees is best handed over to union executives for unknown and weakly documented expenses or kept at home and saved or used to fix leaky pipes, buy a new computer or go on a vacation.

They get to decide if they want to support a union that assumes all workers think the same, have the same values and support only one party in politics.

The freedom that workers get when their contracts expire and they can exercise their rights doesn’t spell the end for unions, or at least not the attentive ones. It begins an era of accountability. Unions now have to listen closely to their consumers or those consumers will walk away. It’s not such a novel concept, but it took decades to happen in Michigan.

Yes, for workers in Michigan, today certainly is a good day to celebrate.

Not surprisingly, some unions are clinging hard to the past. Look no further than the McProtests (apologies to McDonald’s) occurring in Detroit, Flint and select cities across the nation.

Fast food workers were told by "community organizers" cloaked in SEIU purple that they're not being paid enough and that they are being treated unfairly.

In a series of camera ready events, protesters briefly took to the streets last week to decry the conditions they've chosen to work in. They demanded $15 an hour and chanted about all the things that one would expect from a carefully organized union protest: fairness, corporate excess and equality.

There is nothing magical, logical or realistic about $15 an hour. After all, if $15 an hour is good, $30 an hour is better, right? Or $60?

Of course not, and unions know this as well as the companies that have to make payroll. Unskilled, entry level jobs were never meant to be career choices. They are gateway jobs where people gain the trust of others, share in the responsibility of a work environment, learn to communicate and pick up skills they use to get better jobs. 

Arbitrarily propping up wages leads to failure. Economists across the political spectrum have concluded that increases in the minimum wage hurt unskilled workers the most. Additionally, state's that have right-to-work laws, which don't force union members to pay dues or fees as a condition of employment, do better economically over time, according to a new study from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The protests weren’t really about providing a living wage or punishing corporate CEOs. They were about padding union membership rolls, which is a dire necessity for unions these days given the declines in membership and interest in worker freedom here and across the nation.

Threats, hyperbole, intimidation and protests may have worked in the past, but times have changed. Michigan is a right-to-work state and workers have freedom.

Those are good reasons to celebrate.

Source from: http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/19083 

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.

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.

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

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.

Source from: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/257440/employee+rights+labour+relations/The+New+National+Labor+Relations+Board+Will+It+Be+More+Of+The+Same+Or+Worse

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.