Labor Law Postings: 4 Key Elements of an Effective Strategy
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at Poster Guard® Poster Compliance Service from HRdirect, the leading labor law poster service that gets your business up to date with all the required federal, state, and local labor law postings, and then keeps it that way – for an entire year. Enjoy the article!)
While most employers know they need to have labor law postings, I can see organizations forgetting to take the extra caution necessary when it comes to unique employee groups, different industries, and employee handouts.
As HR professionals, compliance is a key part of our roles. That doesn’t mean it needs to consume the majority of our time. We need to have a complete compliance strategy that allows us to be proactive versus reactive. So, let’s discuss the four key elements in a labor law posting compliance strategy.
- Understand the purpose of labor law postings. The reason employers are required to display labor law postings is to inform employees of their legal rights and responsibilities under federal, state, and local laws. Organizations that are only focused on federal and state postings aren’t doing enough. For example, did you know that Denver, Miami Beach, and Tucson all require anti-discrimination postings? They do.
Labor law postings aren’t some dreamt up form of government punishment. They provide education to employees and that shows the organization cares about their wellbeing, which leads to employee engagement and retention. Don’t minimize how simple acts that demonstrate caring through employee education can provide value. Organizations should treat labor law posters as such.
- Communicate to the entire organization. I’d like to think it’s pretty obvious that if you have multiple locations then you need multiple sets of posters. But also think about your strategy if you have a large, single location. Is there someplace that you can guarantee every employee will walk by, and see? And what about remote workers? Remember #1. The purpose of labor law postings is to educate employees, which means remote workers need to see them as well.
When it comes to employee communication, displaying only one set of posters may not be probably isn’t won’t be enough. Organizations will want to be strategic about posting locations. Look for places where employees tend to hang out or gather so the company is ensured they can be viewed by employees throughout the workday.
- Update continuously. Labor law posting changes happen all the time. Not just in January. According to Lillian Chavez, Esq., managing legal research attorney at ComplyRight, there are on average more than 200 mandatory state/city/county posting changes a year requiring an immediate poster update or replacement. If you’re only updating postings once a year, then it’s
possibleprobable that you’re not in compliance.
This ties into points #1 and #2. Not only do organizations want to make sure that everyone knows their legal rights, but they need to know them in a timely manner. Telling an employee that their rights changed months ago doesn’t send the message that the organization cares about them or being compliant. And I’ll say what we all know employees are thinking…if the company isn’t doing compliance activities like labor law postings, what other compliance requirement aren’t they doing?
- Use HR’s time strategically. There are 175 different government agencies nationwide that are responsible for over 500 mandatory posters. Sure, you can monitor all the relevant agencies for changes and request free posters. That takes time. A lot of time. I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I want to spend my time. If I have to choose between spending an hour monitoring for free labor law posters or coaching a manager on how to get better performance from an employee, I know which one I’ll be doing.
Now of course, I get it. Those downloads from agencies are free. I don’t have anything against free. I like free. But there are some things that even when you can get them for free, it’s not worth paying for. You know what I’m saying. Be smart about how you spend your valuable time.
The good news is having a labor law posting compliance strategy doesn’t have to be complex. Organizations can partner with outside services that will handle the heavy lifting for you. Our friends at Poster Guard have a Labor Law Poster Service that does just that. Yep, that’s right. Poster Guard monitors labor law requirements (at the federal, state, and local levels) and lets you know when things change. They also provide you with replacement posters every time there’s a mandatory change FREE of charge!
As you’re starting 2024, think about how you want to spend your time. How can HR create the most value for the organization? Planning now will save your time and money in the year ahead.
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