labor lawAdivision of labor law center

As 2008 approaches, businesses need to check their labor law posters to make sure the information is up to date.

The 2008 Nebraska labor law posters have gone through several changes and companies need to take appropriate action. As a result of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, the federal minimum wage rose for the first time in about 10 years from $5.15 per hour to $5.85 per hour. Several states raised their minimum wages at the same time.

During 2007, many other states, including Texas, Maine, Utah, and North Carolina established higher state minimum wages, too.

Other changes occurred to labor laws in 2007 that required companies to modernize their posters. For example, a new tough ban on smoking at work was established in Ohio. Businesses there had to post no-smoking signs at every entrance.

The 2008 Nebraska labor law posters that every employer must display are:

• OSHA-Health and Safety Protection
• Emergency Numbers
• Minimum Wage
• Discrimination Notice
• Child Labor Law

In addition, under federal law, every Nebraska employer must display the following posters that cover U.S. labor law:

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

In other changes to labor law in 2007, Illinois also enacted a tough law regarding smoking. Almost every work environment, even restaurants bars and casinos are now non-smoking. Labor law posters will need to be updated as a result of these changes.

Until October, teens in Alaska could be employed by a gas station or convenience store that sold cigarettes. And though it was already illegal in Alaska for anyone under the age of 19 to buy cigarettes, people were concerned that these teens could be selling cigarettes to friends who might be underage. The Child Labor Laws, therefore, were amended to prohibit anyone under the age of 19 from selling cigarettes.

In addition to the changes in 2007, more changes are scheduled to occur in 2008.On January 1 and July 1, 2008, over 20 states will increase their state minimum wage.

The Nebraska State Mandatory Posters are not something that you should forget about. Often times I have found that employers will purchase and place these mandatory posters in their places of business and forget all about them. The problem with this is that those posters do not stay up to date for very long. In our state, the laws are in place to fine employers that do not have the most up to date posters available to their employees. The Department of Labor can find the employer to be not in compliance which could lead to trouble that none of us needs.

Consider this situation. Right now, the state’s minimum wage is set at the federal minimum wage level. Employers that have four or more employees are required to pay employees at least $5.15 per hour. If they do not do this, they can be fined and punished. Now, Congress is trying to increase this minimum wage substantially over the next few years. With that increase, employers will need to pay more here in Nebraska. Yet, as soon as this law changes, your Nebraska State Mandatory Poster is no longer up to date. You will need to invest some time in insuring that it is up to date not only when this law passes or changes but any other Department of Labor mandated law. This can pose a problem for those that do not stay up to date with these posters.

The Nebraska State Mandatory Posters that you need to have now must include a good deal of information. They must provide information on OSHA – Health and Safety Protection, Emergency Numbers, Minimum Wage laws, Discrimination Notices, and the Child Labor Law of the state. Since laws change all of the time, it is necessary for you to make sure that your poster stays up to date all the time. Take the time to make sure of this right now.

Nebraska’s Labor Law poster requirements include information concerning minimum wage, employee wage payment and collection, child labor, lunch periods, private employment agencies, contractor registration, non-English speaking employees, medical examinations, wage garnishments, and other employment related laws.

Specific Nebraska Labor Law poster requirements include the following ten posters:

1. Your Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act

2. “Notice” Employee Polygraph Protection Act

3. Family Medical Leave Act

4. Notice to Employees (Nebraska Minimum Wage)

5. Job Safety and Health Poster

6. Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law Poster that includes the Americans with Disabilities Act

7. Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Public Accommodations is Prohibited by State Law poster

8. Job Safety and Health Protection poster from OSHA

9. Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) poster

10. Unemployment Insurance Advisement of Benefit Rights poster

An additional notice must be posted when an employer hires a fourteen or fifteen year old child. The employer must keep posted in the room where the child works, a printed notice (Form 110) stating the hours of work of the child.

Children fourteen and fifteen years of age shall not be permitted to work more than eight hours a day, forty-eight hours a week, before the hour of 6:00 a.m. or after the hour of 10:00 p.m. under state law.

Federal Hour Restrictions are: Not more than 3 Hours on a School Day, Not more than 18 Hours in a School Week, Not More than 8 Hours on a Non-school Day, Not more than 40 Hours in a Non-school Week, and Not Before 7 a.m. nor After 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1st through Labor Day).

Children under sixteen years of age may not be employed in any work which by reason of the nature of the work is dangerous to life or limb, or in which the child’s health may be injured or their morals depraved.

In talking about the employment labor posters and how those laws relate to employees, I often run across new or changed labor laws. Today I have found a change in Nebraska’s employment labor poster, specifically the one regarding unemployment insurance. This poster was just updated, and is going to be required to be used in place of the old one. In fact, this change just took place this month, September 2006.

Employers have the sole responsibility of finding out about changes in the law and updating their posters. It falls squarely on their shoulders if posters are found to be missing, torn, or simply old.

By updating the employment labor posters as soon as changes occur, employers are acting in compliance with the law. But (and this at least as important as the employer compliance issue) by putting the posters out there as a constant reminder they are keeping everybody informed of the laws. They are giving a constant reminder to everyone that compliance is required from each and every person in the business.

So, the Nebraska ( NE ) Employment Labor Posters that I am talking about are: OSHA-Health and Safety Protection, Emergency Numbers Notice, Minimum Wage Law, Discrimination Notice, and the Child Labor Law.

Besides those state laws, there are several Federal posting requirements. You may notice that there is an overlap in some of them, like the minimum wage law. That is because the government sets out the standard, but then states are allowed to step in and make their own employment labor laws if they so choose. At any rate, the federal employment labor posters include the following regulations: 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.

After tons of research, I have pulled the following information together for you, which I hope will help you with questions you might have about Nebraska Posters and the state and federal labor law/employee rights that affect all employers and workers. Just remember that the responsibility for posting these posters is up to the employer, as well as making sure all information is current so each Nebraska Poster on display is accurate.

Nebraska has one or two state posting requirements that are different from those in other states, so it is essential that employers have the most current Nebraska Posters on display to provide this information to workers but they have to be easily seen in an area common to all employees, such as a break room or perhaps a lunch area. The result is to ensure the employer complied with state and federal laws that govern the posting of labor law information.

State posting requirements include OSHA – Health and Safety Protection, Emergency Numbers, Minimum Wage, Discrimination Notice and Child Labor Law. The state’s Emergency Numbers requirement generally means that certain specific numbers that should be called in the event of emergency must be clearly displayed at the workplace. Employees need to know that this protection is covered by state law and having current Nebraska Posters is a good way to pass this information to employees.

Nebraska also has its own Child Labor rules that govern how a person under 16 is to be employed. The state requires an employment certificate for those 14 and 15 year old and this important information needs to be provided to workers and managers. By using current Nebraska Posters the employer not only meets state and federal guidelines but also is prepared if employee information is the focus of a labor inspection. On the list of federal posting requirements 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.

USERRA guidelines are meant to protection those who go into military service and want to reclaim their civilian job when their military service ends. Naturally, this important information needs to be passed on to employees and current Nebraska Posters can help with this. I recommend employers, managers, and employees check out the labor law/employee rights posters on display at the worksite currently to see if any items have changed. If any state or federal law has been amended recently, up-to-date Nebraska Posters can be a good way to get this information to employees.