labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Now is the perfect time for busy employers to update their 2008 D.C. labor law posters. The past year was a hectic one in the field of Human Resources, with a number of important changes to labor law. These include a new I-9 form to be used by all employers effective December 26, 2008. Employers who fail to use the new I-9 form, or display the updated posters, face hefty fines and penalties.

The updated list of 2008 DC labor law posters is:

• Public Accommodations
• Discrimination
• Unemployment Compensation Notice
• Workers’ Compensation Notice
• Parental Leave Act
• Anti-Discrimination
• Child Labor Laws
• Minimum Wage Laws
• Leave of Absence

Every employer in the state is required by law to display these posters where applicants and employees can see them.

In addition, each employer in DC must display the following federal labor law posters:

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

Under both federal and state law, these posters must be updated each time there is a change in legislation.

A change in the federal minimum wage on July 24, 2007 required that the Federal Minimum Wage posters be updated. On that date, the federal minimum wage increased for the first time in more than a decade. The rate went from $5.15 per hour to $5.85 per hour, an increase of 70 cents. 

Labor law poster serve as a handy reminder for supervisors and employees alike.

They provide important information on the minimum wage, worker safety, medical leave and child labor laws.

It seems as if no two states in the U.S. are alike when it comes to overtime laws or the minimum wage for tipped employees. That’s why the states require different state labor law posters, in addition to the federal posters.

In both cases, some have no laws, and follow federal law. Some are more generous. On rare occasions, they are less so.

Federal law requires workers be paid an overtime rate of 1.5 times their normal hourly wage for any hour over 40. Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Delaware, and Idaho have no overtime laws. Federal law is operable.

Overtime does not kick in until after 46 hours in Kansas, or 48 hours in Minnesota.

In Kentucky, workers get overtime after 40 hours and on the 7^th consecutive workday regardless of the number of hours put in on that day. Colorado employees receive overtime after a 40-hour week or a 12-hour day.

Nebraska mirrors the 40-hour federal rule, but extends it to all businesses with 4 or more workers. Others mirroring the 40-hour guide are Massachusetts, Michigan, and Illinois.

California workers can get overtime for more than 8 hours in a day, 40 hours in a week, or the 7^th day of 7 consecutive days.

The federal minimum wage rate for tipped workers is now $2.13 an hour. Some states follow the federal rate. Among them are Kentucky, Indiana, and Nebraska, which also set the rate at $2.13.

Kansas, on the other hand, is lower than the federal rate. Its minimum wage for tipped workers is only $1.59 an hour.

Other states offer just a little more than the federal rate. For example, Wisconsin is $2.33 an hour, North Carolina is $2.43, Michigan is $2.65 and Massachusetts is $2.63.

Essentially, employers are getting “tip credits,” or the right to offer a lower than normal minimum wage because the workers in these fields receive tips which are supposed to compensate.

As the year draws to a close, every employer should take the opportunity to update his or her labor law posters.

There are a number of changes to the 2008 labor law posters that every employer needs to be aware of.

During the past year, the federal minimum wage was increased for the first time in a decade. Under the long-awaited   Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, the federal minimum wage went from $5.15 per hour to $5.85 per hour. The state minimum wage in at least 10 states increased on the same day, as a result.

Another increase of 70 cents is slated on July 24, 2008. This will increase the federal minimum wage from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour. A number of state minimum wages will automatically increase at that time, as well.

The year 2007 saw a number of other changes in labor laws that required employers to update their posters.

Ohio instituted a tough new ban on smoking in the workplace, requiring employers to post no-smoking signs at all entrances.

In other changes, Washington, Oregon, West Virginia, Illinois, Maine, Texas, Utah, Virginia, South Dakota, North Dakota, North Carolina, New Hampshire and others introduced higher state minimum wages in 2007.

Alaska enacted a change to the state Child Labor Laws making it illegal for people under 19 to sell cigarettes. Under state law, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 19 to buy cigarettes. However, until October, it was perfectly legal for teens to work in a gas station or convenience store where they sold cigarettes. The change was motivated in part by a concern that unsupervised teens might be selling cigarettes to friends who were underage.

Each of these changes requires that employers update their 2008 labor law posters, if they haven’t already.

There are a number of additional labor law changes that go into effect with the new year. In Illinois, a tough new law bans smoking in virtually every workplace, including restaurants, bars and casinos.

At least 14 states will increase the minimum wage on January 1, 2008. These include:  

                                 2007               2008 

Arizona                      $6.75              $6.90

California                    $7.50              $8.00

Colorado                    $6.85              $7.02

Delaware                     $6.65              $7.15

Florida                        $6.65              $6.79

Iowa                           $6.20              $7.25

Massachusetts             $7.50              $8.00

Missouri                      $6.50              $6.65

Montana                      $6.15              $6.26

New Mexico                  $5.15              $6.50

Oregon                        $7.80              $7.95

Washington                  $7.93            $8.07

In addition, a number of states have minimum wage increases slated for later in the year, which will require employers to update the 2008 labor law posters yet again. For example, the Illinois minimum wage will increase from $7.50 per hour to $7.75 per hour on July 1, 2008.

On July 1, 2008 the West Virginia minimum wage will increase from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour. The Kentucky minimum wage will increase from $5.58 to $6.55 on July 1, 2008. On that same date, the Michigan minimum wage will increase from $7.15 to $7.40 per hour, and the Pennsylvania minimum wage will increase from $6.25 to $7.15 per hour.

A tough new Illinois smoking ban goes into effect on January 1, 2008 as well.

Each of these changes will require employers in the state to display new 2008 labor law posters. Employers who are not sure how their labor law posters have changed can get up-to-date information on all 50 states at www.laborlawcenter.com.

In addition, this handy site features specific listings of 2008 labor law posters for nearly every state.

Several other states, including Texas, Nebraska, Virginia, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana and Utah will increase the state minimum wage on July 24, 2008 when the new federal rate of $6.55 per hour is introduced. Most of these states have legislation that ties the state minimum wage to the federal rate. Some areas, such as Washington D.C., peg the minimum wage to a set amount above the federal minimum wage. In D.C., the minimum wage is $1.00 per hour more than the state rate, so the minimum wage will increase to $7.55 per hour in July.

Employers who fail to update their 2008 labor law posters can be fined for the violations. By law, every employer must prominently display the posters in an area where they can be seen by all employees. Locations near the time clock or in the break room are popular.

In DC, posters outlining the state and federal labor and employment laws must be posted in all of the district’s workplaces. The employers are responsible for posting these posters in a visible spot within an area where all employees have access such as a break room, mail room or employee work room – any where that the employees tend to gather on a regular basis is acceptable.

The DC posters need to contain both state and federal information. The district laws that are required to be posted are those concerning public accommodations, discrimination, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, parental leave, child labor, minimum wage and leaves of absence. The federal laws that need to be covered are USERRA – Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law, Federal Minimum Wage, Employee Polygraph Protection Act, Family and Medical Leave Act and OSHA – Job Safety and Health Protection.

DC posters need to be posted both for the benefit of the employers and the employees. Employers can benefit from posting this information because they can use them to know exactly what they need to do to make sure they are upholding the law and their employees’ rights. They can also use the posters as a reference when they haves specific questions about particular laws such as how many hours minors are allowed to work during the school year. For many employees, the DC posters are their main source for finding out their rights and responsibilities as defined by state and federal labor laws. The posters also give important information to employees who feel that they need to file a claim because the posters contain information to direct them to the appropriate state and federal agencies to go to for help.

Since state and federal labor laws can frequently change, it’s important for employers to ensure that they update their DC posters often – sometimes it’s even necessary to do so as often as once a year.

There are several child labor laws in Washington DC. They follow the federal standards for child labor. There are District of Columbia Child Labor Law Posters which are required to be hung throughout the workplace when minors are on staff. These District of Columbia Child Labor Law Posters need to be hung where all employees have access to them, so employers commonly post them in areas like the employee break room, around the time clock, and even in work areas used by everyone.
The most common of the child labor laws found in the District of Columbia is similar to all the other states’ and deals with restricted jobs for minors. When it comes to a minor under the age of 18, jobs which are considered to be “hazardous” are restricted and cannot be held. Some of the jobs which are labeled with the term “hazardous” include, but are not limited to: mining, quarrying, work with radioactive materials, manufacturing and storage of explosives, construction, and demolition.
The minimum age that a minor can work in the District of Columbia is 14, and the positions that a 14 and 15 year old can hold are very limited. When the minor is 16 and 17, the number of possible working positions that can be held increases some. There are some exceptions to this minimum age when it comes to jobs like babysitting and newspaper delivery.
When it comes to working days, the hours that a minor can work and which days they can work are limited to. No minor is permitted to work through the normally scheduled school day, unless it is for a educational work program.
This is a very general overview of the child labor laws that you will find in the District of Columbia. If you want more detailed information, you should look for the District of Columbia Child Labor Law Posters. If you wish to have even more information about various labor laws, you can look for the District of Columbia Complete Labor Law poster.

The District of Columbia has its own employment labor laws. These laws help employers and employees act fairly to each other in circumstances like taking leave or unemployment, and they prevent things like discrimination. There is also a new law in D.C. about public accommodations, which states that transgender and transsexual people must be treated in the way they wish to present themselves.

The public accommodations law is just one of many laws that D.C. requires to be posted in the workplace so that workers can plainly see the laws and their requirements. By posting the laws, employers keep everyone apprised of how to comply and how to contact certain government offices about the labor laws. Although D.C. is not a state, it functions like a state as far as the employment labor posters go. In addition to the new public accommodations law, the District of Columbia ( DC ) Employment Labor Posters that must be posted are: Discrimination, Unemployment Compensation Notice, Workers’ Compensation Notice, Parental Leave Act, Anti-Discrimination, Child Labor Laws, Minimum Wage Laws, and Leave of Absence. There are also Federal labor laws that must be displayed in the workplace. Those are: USERRA - Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law, Federal Minimum Wage, Employee Polygraph Protection Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and OSHA-Job Safety & Health Protection.

Keeping these posters current and being aware of the changes in the laws is the responsibility of each individual employer. Failing to display the proper employment posters can result in fines. The laws in DC change often; for example, the minimum wage changed in January of 2006. I’m sure you’ve noticed we try to keep employers and employees aware of updates. So you can check back with our website soon to look for further changes.