2008 Missouri Labor Law Posters

November 24th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

With so many changes to labor laws in 2007 and 2008, it’s imperative that employers update their labor law posters.

The state of Missouri requires that employers display a number of labor law posters.

The required 2008 Missouri labor law posters include:

  • Missouri Unemployment Insurance
  • Workers’ Compensation
  • Missouri Discrimination Notice
  • Discrimination in Public Accommodations

Both state and federal law require that every employer prominently display the posters in an area where they can been seen by every employee. Popular locations are a bulletin board, near the time clock or in the break room.

The most common reason for employers to update posters includes statute changes, especially to minimum wage laws. In just the past few months, employers in New Hampshire, Nevada and Maine have updated their labor law posters as the state minimum wages changed. The most recent increase was on October 1, 2007 when the New Hampshire minimum wage increased to $6.50  per hour.

The labor law posters required by federal law include:

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

Even with updated posters, there are many changes on the way, especially relating to minimum wage. During 2008, most of the states in the country will be increasing their state minimum wage.

On January 1, 2008, Vermont, Arizona, Iowa, New Mexico, Washington and nine other states will institute their increase.

The state minimum wage for Illinois and for West Virginia will both get bumps on July 1, 2008. West Virginia’s wage will jump from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. The state minimum wage in Illinois will go up 25 cents per hour, from $7.50 to $7.75.

Many of the remainder of the states will increase their state minimum wage on July 24, 2008, which is the date a new federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour will be introduced. Several states tie their minimum wage increase to the federal minimum wage. An example of this is Washington, D. C. itself, which sets its minimum wage at $1.00 above the federal wage. So, in July, employees in D.C. will get a bump in minimum wage to $7.55 per hour.

Other states like Missouri, Montana and Delaware have laws which provide a cost of living raise to the state minimum wage. The Consumer Price Index for clerical and urban workers, either regional or nationwide, is often the index used to compute these increases. As of January 1, 2008, Florida will apply it’s first such “cost of living” increase, raising its state minimum wage from $6.65 per hour to $6.79 per hour.

Probably the most amazing aspect of state minimum wage is the huge difference among the states. Massachusetts, California, Oregon and Washington take top honors, with state minimum wages around $8.00 per hour. Kansas, on the other hand has a state minimum wage of $2.65 per hour, and that wage has been in effect since the 1980s.

Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have no state minimum wage. In these five states, if a company is not covered by the federal minimum wage, that company can legally set any wage it wants. An employer could pay 10 cents an hour if it wished, provided anyone would consent to work for that wage.

One of the major changes during 2007 related to minimum wage. The federal minimum wage, as a result of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, went from $5.15 to $5.58 per hour. Nearly a dozen states increased their minimum wage on the same day.

Also, during the 2007, several other states, including Utah, Washington, Oregon, and West Virginia increased their state minimum wage.

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Missouri USERRA Poster

June 8th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Employers need to verify that their poster explaining how the federal and Missouri USERRA operates is up-to-date. Some recent changes will impact workers in Missouri. For instance, a change made recently to USERRA, which is the 1994 Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, means that federal government employees can now file claims with VETS, the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service.

USERRA helps to protect the civilian jobs of members of the Navy, Army, and Air Force Reserve, and members of the National Guard when they are called to active duty. In some circumstances, it also applies to emergency workers, such as those who assisted in recovery operations in New York after the September 11 terrorist attacks. In addition, USERRA protects the civilian jobs of veterans. This protection lasts up to 5 years, which is a cumulative total. If a soldier serves three years and later serves an additional two years, his or her 5 year limit is reached.

Disabled veterans also are protected by USERRA. Employers have to provide the disabled veteran with reasonable job accommodations. In addition, when soldiers have been injured, even if the injuries took place during training, then they have two additional years before they have to return to their civilian jobs.

Health insurance is an important matter addressed by the new regulations for USERRA. Under the new regulations, the soldier and his or her family must retain their employer’s health insurance for the first 30 days. After that time, if soldiers are still on active military duty, they are entitled to military health care. Their family is also entitled to military health care.

The regulations were recently updated to reflect the fact that many soldiers – and their families – prefer to retain their employer’s group health insurance. Under the new regulations, if the soldier would rather continue health coverage through his or her civilian employer, it is allowed for up to two years. During this time the soldier must pay 100% of the health care premium, including any portion usually paid by the employer. In addition, a small processing fee may apply. These health care arrangements are similar to the COBRA law, which permits unemployed people to retain health care coverage.

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Missouri Worker Safety Posters

June 1st, 2007 Posted by Amelia

It is essential that employers take the time to remind workers of how important safety is and instruct them in safety precautions they should take on the job.  Education is an important part of a safety plan for any business.  The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) Workplace Safety Pack contains a few very good tools that employers can use to help keep their work environment safe.  It has the following four items:

  • Workstation Safety Tips Poster
  • Slips, Trips, and Falls poster
  • The Workplace Ergonomics
  • Lifting Safely Poster

All of these things have simple tips on various aspects of workplace safety.

According to the most recent workplace safety statistics more than 4.2 million work related accidents occurred in the U.S. in 2005.  Unfortunately, just over 5,000 of those people in accidents on the job died.  These surprisingly high numbers of incidents do not include firefighters, cops, paramedics or government and non-profit employees.  Only those employees in private businesses were counted. 

The OSHA, who oversees workplace safety for the state, Missouri has worker safety figures may be a revelation for you.  In 2005, a total of 503,530 workers suffered from tears, strains, or sprains.  The count of painful back injuries for 2005 that were job-related was 270,890.  There were a total of 255,750 people that fell at their job location, which resulted in the deaths of 732 people.  Work-related driving accidents were the causes of over 1,200 deaths.

Accidents result in time off work, lost wages and expensive medical bills, and lawsuits, not to mention the employee’s pain.  In 2005, accidents accounted for 1,234,700 lost workdays. Some workers may have sick pay, but those who had to take off extended periods of time from work may not be covered.  In addition to that, someone else will have to cover the work that the injured employee can’t do for a while. 

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Required Labor Law Postings in the Missouri (MO) Workplace

September 15th, 2006 Posted by Lindsay

Maintaining health and safety in the workplace is a difficult task for employers because of the multiple aspects that are involved. It is also challenging because the laws keep changing.

In the state of Missouri, certain labor law posters are required to be displayed in the workplace so that employees are aware of their rights and the regulations. The Missouri ( MO ) Employment Labor Posters that are required are: Unemployment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, Discrimination Notice, and the Discrimination in Public Accommodations Law. In addition to these, the Federal government has mandated that employers also post some Federal employment labor posters. These include the following 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, and OSHA-Job Safety & Health Protection.

Employees have certain rights, and these are all outlined on the Missouri and Federal employment labor posters. For example, they have the right to notify the employer or OSHA about workplace hazards. OSHA can and will keep the name of the complainant confidential. Employees have the right to request an OSHA inspection if they believe that there are unsafe and unhealthful conditions in the workplace. Employees can file a complaint with OSHA if the employer discriminates against them for making safety and health complaints.

All employees have a right to see OSHA citations issued to their employer. The employer is required by law to post the citations at or near the place of the alleged violation. The employer must correct workplace hazards by the date indicated on the citation and must certify that these hazards have been taken care of. All employees also have the right to copies of their own medical records or records of possible exposure to toxic and harmful substances or conditions.

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Missouri Labor Law Posters

September 14th, 2006 Posted by Jolie

If you are curious about Missouri Labor Law Posters, then please keep reading. I wanted to get on here and share some information with you. I’m sure you probably know what I’m talking about, but just in case some clarification is in order Missouri law states that all employers must post Missouri Labor Law Posters in an area that is visible and accessible to employees so that they can be informed of their labor law rights. These Missouri Labor Law Posters include individual state and federal labor law notices that are mandated by the State of Mississippi.

You should also know that Missouri Labor Law Posters change frequently, and it is the law that the most current posters are displayed. Companies who want to stay within the state’s labor law compliance will make sure that the Missouri Labor Law Posters they have in their lunch and break rooms are the most up to date.

The state posters address Workman’s Compensation, Discrimination, Discrimination in Public Accommodations, and Unemployment Insurance, while the federal posters explain Equal Opportunity Employment, Federal Minimum Wage, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, OSHA’s Job Safety and Health Protection Act, and USERRA.

I thought you might have some interest in the details regarding Missouri’s Unemployment Insurance notice. In Missouri, unemployment insurance is paid entirely by employers who are determined liable based on Missouri Employment Security Statutes. The state unemployment insurance laws must conform to certain standards in the Federal Unemployment Tax Law administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Hope you find this information on Missouri Labor Law Posters useful. I will be sure to keep you up to date on any changes or additions that might be made to these posters in the future.

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