How New Federal Labor Laws May Affect Your Poster Compliance

If you’ve read any news pertaining to U.S. labor laws lately, chances are you’ve noticed there’s a lot of commotion on the federal level.

A number of federal labor law changes are taking place, which inevitably means changes to the federal labor law posters as well.

If you’re wondering how these new laws may affect your business, let’s take a look at the federal laws that may be in the process of changing:

  • Minimum Wage (FLSA)- 2 changes are taking place :
    • President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum in March 2014 and ordered the Department of Labor to reduce exemptions to federal overtime rules. The Department of Labor has proposed such regulations. This law is not yet in effect.
    • Regarding home health care, the Federal District Court ruled that home health care workers with 3rd party employers (i.e. home care agency) must be paid minimum wage. The previous law said they were exempt from minimum wage. This law is not yet in effect.
  • Equal Employment Opportunity– The federal EEO law regarding federal contractors has seen 4 changes:
    • Sexual orientation and gender identity:  In July 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13672 which prohibits discrimination by federal contractors based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Went into effect April 9th, 2015.
    • Pay Transparency (new section): President Obama signed Executive Order 13665 in April 2014. This new law prohibits discrimination against employees or applicants who discuss their pay. This law goes into effect January 11th, 2016.
    • Affirmative action for individuals with disabilities:  Changes to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This law went into effect March 24th, 2014.
    • Affirmative action for protected veterans: Changes to VEVRAA (Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974) require affirmative action to recruit protected veterans. This law went into effect March 24th, 2014.
  • FMLA: The Supreme Court decision legalized same-sex marriage in all states. The definition of “spouse” will include all same sex marriages, regardless of what state the business is located. This new law goes into effect March 27th, 2016.

So how exactly will your federal labor law posters change?

Let’s break it down by law, shall we?

  • Federal Minimum Wage Poster: Although the section about overtime exemptions is still in the process of deliberations, it could create a change to the federal minimum wage poster at any time in the next year.
  • EEO Poster: Three of the 4 proposed changes to the EEO law have already gone into effect. The final one, regarding Pay Transparency, is anticipated to take place by the summer.
    • The OFCCP issued an EEO Poster Supplement covering the 4 new changes for federal contractors until a new EEO Poster is issued.
    • At this moment only federal contractors need this supplement and we’re waiting to find out if it will become a federal labor law poster change as well. To find out more, check out our blog article that goes into more depth about this federal labor law poster change.
  • FMLA Poster: The poster changed in March but employers do not need to update the federal FMLA poster. The 2013 poster is still in compliance.
    • With this being said, there is still a possibility the new law regarding same-sex marriage could cause a change to the Federal FMLA Poster. We will continue to track possible changes to the FMLA poster regarding this new law.

How to make sure you’re ready for all of these upcoming changes

If you order federal labor law posters as the changes occur, you may find yourself ordering federal labor law posters multiple times a year, which would really be a travesty.

Especially when you also have to deal with state, city and county labor law changes.

So what can you do in order to stay ahead of any surprises?

The best way to reduce your cost and worry (which is also a cost in the emotional sense) is to enroll in a labor law poster service.

There are multiple options to choose from. Check them out:

  • OneSystem 1-Year Compliance Plan: This is really the godfather of labor law poster services. This covers all state and federal labor law posters, mandatory updates, and the Poster Violation Warranty.
  • The Federal 1-Year Plan: If you don’t need state labor law posters (which is extremely rare), or if you happen to get them from another source, this plan would keep you up to date for all the pending federal labor law poster changes discussed in this article.
  • Federal Contractor 1-Year Plan: Are you a federal contractor? If you answered yes, this is the plan to be on, because there will be a number of Federal Contractor Poster changes coming up. This plan will cover you for all of those changes.
  • City/County Poster 1-Year Plan: If you are required to post a city or county poster (find out here), this plan will keep you up to date with all the required changes.

What do all of these plans have in common?

Free automatic updates. Which means you won’t have order labor law posters more than once a year, when you enroll in the plan.

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