labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Nevada employers need to be aware that many changes in labor laws occurred during 2007, and will occur in 2008. As a result, these employers will need to update their labor law posters. The coming New Year is a good time to ensure posters are current.

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.

The complete list of 2008 Nevada labor law posters that every employer should have includes:

• Discrimination Notice
• Minimum Wage
• Lie Detector Tests
• Workers’ Compensation
• Workers Compensation Part 2
• Emergency Numbers
• OSHA - Safety and Health Protection on the Job
• Unemployment Insurance

In addition, federal law requires all employers in Nevada to display up-to-date copies of 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
• OSHA-Job Safety & Health Protection

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.

A number of changes in 2008 will require employers to update their posters during the year.  The federal minimum wage will jump from $5.85 to $6.55 on July 24, 2008. On the same day, the states that raised their minimum with the last bump in the federal minimum wage will enact increases again.

More than a dozen states will increase their minimum wages on January 1, 2008. These include Delaware, Oregon, Washington, California, Florida, Iowa, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Vermont, Colorado, Arizona, Missouri, Montanan and Ohio. The lowest rate to be increased is in Montana, where the state minimum wage will increase from $6.15 per hour to $6.26. In Missouri and New Mexico, the state rate will go to $6.50.

The year 2007 saw more changes to labor laws than most years do. Some of the changes during 2007 had to do with smoking and the sale of cigarettes.

Two states enacted strict bans on smoking in the workplace. In Illinois, almost every employment venue, including restaurants, bars and casinos went non-smoking. Ohio, too, banned smoking and posted no-smoking signs at all entrances at all workplaces.

The other changes during 2007 had to do with increases in the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage went up from $5.15 to $5.85 per hour in 2007 as a result of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. Several states across the country also raised their minimum wage at the same time.

At other times in 2007, many other states enacted raises for their minimum wage, too. West Virginia, Maine, Washington, Oregon and Oklahoma did so, along with a number of other states.

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

Workplace safety statistics do not make happy reading. In a recent report for the year 2005, there were 4,214,200 work related accidents throughout the United States. There were 5,702 fatalities and due to these accidents, 1,234,700 working days were lost.  These statistics refer to work related accidents in the private sector only.

If you are an employer or a worker, these figures should bring home to you the need to take safety in the workplace very seriously.

The Nevada worker safety statistics also make grim reading with just over half a million workers suffering from injuries in the workplace. These range from tears, sprains and strains to the 270,890 back injuries that were reported in 2005. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA oversees safety in the workplace in Nevada.

OSHA provide a Workplace Safety Pack, which is an excellent recourse to use in any worker safety program that you may be thinking of instigating in the workplace. Workers and employers should be reminded on a regular basis of the importance of proper safety procedures that will protect them from injury, and education is at the heart of any good safety program.

The OSHA Workplace Safety Pack provides information on the workplace ergonomics, workstation safety tips poster, a lifting safely poster and a slips trips and falls poster.

The information in the pack is presented in an easy to follow format, and will help both employers and workers to understand the hazards in the workplace.

Slips, trips and falls are one of the most common work place related accidents, and are not often afforded the seriousness that they deserve. In 2005 the number of deaths from slips, trips and falls at work was 732. This figure is second only to vehicle work place related fatalities.

If you are still not convinced that a comprehensive overhaul of your worker safety program may be due, then bear in mind that these figures do not account for accidents involving paramedics, firefighters and police or other government departments. They also do not include accidents in non-profit workplaces.

Many state labor laws and even federal ones are determines to regulate how minors are allowed to be employed and hired and worked, and Nevada is no different. The state has some typical but still very important child labor laws that also make up important parts of the Nevada Labor Law Posters.

The Nevada child labor laws go into how no child under the age of 16 can be employed for certain occupations. These include working to make certain dangerous or poisonous chemicals, like acids, paints, white lead, or even for dipping, drying and packing matches. Kids age 16 or younger cannot work to make goods that would be considered immoral either.

They cannot also work any mine, coal breaker, quarry, smelter, laundry, tobacco warehouse, cigar factory, or anywhere that tobacco is processed or handled. They cannot work in any brewery or distillery, or anywhere that alcoholic beverages are made or packed.

Children under the age of 16 in the state of Nevada according to the child labor laws that can be found in the Nevada Labor Law Posters can also not work in any job that would require them to beg or take alms, or perform any sort of exhibition that would risk their physical or mental or moral health.

Minors also have the number of hours they can work in any given period of time limited according the state of Nevada laws on child labor. The laws on the book state that no child under the age of 16 can work for more than 48 hours in a week, or more than 8 hours in a day. Children under the age of 14 cannot work at all, unless they have the written permission of a district judge or his designee, a juvenile master, referee, or probation officer or other similar authority figure.

In Nevada, the presence of employment labor posters in the workplace is required for certain laws. Employers must post these laws in a place that employees will see them often, as a reminder of compliance with the law as well as an informational source. Employees have certain rights as well as certain responsibilities, all of which are outlined on these posters. They also give telephone numbers of the offices that lay out the laws, so that if employees feel there is a problem with compliance or even if they simply have a labor law question, they know who they can call. The posters remind employees of certain rights. For example, did you know that employees can ask for an OSHA inspection? Or that, if they do request an inspection, OSHA will keep the name of the complainant confidential?

The Nevada ( NV ) Employment Labor Posters that are required by law to be posted are: Discrimination Notice, Minimum Wage Law, Lie Detector Tests, Workers’ Compensation – Part 1 and Part 2, Emergency Numbers, OSHA - Safety and Health Protection on the Job, and Unemployment Insurance.

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.

I know that the minimum wage poster was updated recently with new information regarding payment of overtime, and the workers’ compensation notice was updated to include the contact information for the Office of Consumer Health Assistance. Are your posters up-to-date?

I would like to tell you about the labor law posters for Nevada because of the recent changes to the requirements. Every time a law or a requirement changes, the labor law posters for Nevada must be updated. It’s the responsibility of the employer to change the posters whenever it is necessary.

The state required postings for the labor law posters for Nevada are: Discrimination Notice, Minimum Wage, Lie Detector Tests, Workers’ Compensation, Workers’ Compensation Part 2, Emergency Numbers, OSHA – Safety and Health Protection on the Job, and Unemployment Insurance. The exact postings that are required in each workplace depend on the size and the type of the business.

Employers need to make sure that they keep track of the changes to the labor law posters for Nevada so that they comply with the law. Nevada has required three changes in their postings in the past couple of years. In 2005, Nevada began to require that the Veteran Benefits Improvement Act be included on the labor law posters for Nevada. Then in January of 2006, the federal government changed the USERRA poster. Finally, in May of 2006, Nevada updated its Wage and Hour Laws postings. All of these changes needed to be made to the labor law posters for Nevada that are displayed in the workplace.

The labor law posters for Nevada must be posted in a conspicuous area. This means that the posters need to be in an obvious place. The labor law posters for Nevada need to be in a well-lit area that is accessible to all employees. They should also be in a place where employees are known to gather.

It’s the employer’s job to make sure the correct labor law posters for Nevada are displayed in the correct areas. Failure to comply with the laws and regulations may result in a fine and/or a penalty.