The United States Department of Labor (DOL) enforces several laws and regulations that require notices to be posted in the workplace. The required posters are available in electronic copy through the DOL. Not all employers are covered by every law or regulation.
As an example, businesses with fewer than 50 employees are not required to post a notice about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). More information is available from the DOL about the most recent poster requirements at the Poster Advisor on their website.
You can also obtain more information by calling the DOL at (866) 4-USA-DOL.
The law imposes penalties for failing to display the required posters. As examples, the current penalties for some first offenses are:
- $12,675 for failure to display the Occupational Safety and Health Administration poster.
- $534 for failure to post the Equal Employment Opportunity poster.
- $166 for failure to display the Family and Medical Leave Act poster.
Most penalties increase if they are considered to be willful, which might occur after a first offense.
Some experts advise taking date-stamped photos of old posters to verify compliance before replacing them with updated versions. This would preserve evidence in case of litigation in which a question arises about whether a poster was displayed. Effective July 1, 2017, a new Virginia law requires employers and payroll service providers to notify the Office of the Attorney General “without unreasonable delay” after discovery of a breach of computerized employee payroll data that compromises the confidentiality of the data. This obligation applies regardless of whether the breach triggers other database breach notification requirements. The law requires the notice to provide the affected employer’s name and federal employer identification number. Upon receipt of the notice, the Office of the Attorney General is required to notify the Department of Taxation of the breach.
