labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Every employer in Kentucky should take a few minutes during this busy season to update his or her 2008 Kentucky labor law posters.

The past year has brought myriad changes in labor law throughout the nation. And, more changes are on the way. California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and ten other states will be raising their state minimum wage as of January 1, 2008.

Many of these changes affect labor law posters, which is why it’s important to update the posters at least once per year.

The official list of required 2008 Kentucky labor law posters include:

• Discrimination Notice 
• Unemployment Insurance 
• OSHA - Health and Safety Protection 
• Child Labor 
• Workers’ Compensation 
• Wage Discrimination

In addition to the state posters, federal law requires that every employer in the nation display a number of posters. These include:

• Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law
• USERRA - Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
• Federal Minimum Wage
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act
• Family and Medical Leave Act
• OSHA-Job Safety & Health Protection

A number of these posters have been updated for 2008.

Many labor law poster changes throughout the nation related to minimum wage increases this year, or next year. West Virginia and Illinois will increase their minimum wages on July 1, 2008. Illinois’s current minimum will jump from $7.50 to $7.75, and West Virginia’s will go up from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour.

On July 24, 2008, the new federal minimum wage of $6.55 will be introduced. States like Texas, Nebraska and others that tie their state minimum wage to the federal minimum wage will bump up their state minimum wage.

Several states including Washington, Oregon, New Mexico and others established laws that provide an annual cost-of-living increase for the state minimum wage. States often tie this increase to the Consumer Price Index for urban and clerical workers. Florida just recently passed such a law and will apply their first “cost of living” raise on January 1, 2008, bumping their current wage from $6.65 to $6.79 per hour.

The rank of highest state minimum wage goes to Washington at $8.07 as of January 1, 2008. California and Massachusetts aren’t far behind each with $8.00 per hour. Oregon’s wage ranks in the top five with $7.95 per hour.

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