labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Labor laws saw a lot of changes during 2007. As the New Year approaches, businesses should take the time to ensure that their labor law posters reflect these changes.

Utah employers need to understand that many of the changes apply to them as well, and that their posters need to be updated.

The updated list of 2008 Utah labor law posters include:

• OSHA - Health and Safety Protection
• Unemployment Insurance
• Workers’ Compensation

These posters must be displayed by every employer in the state of Michigan. In addition, federal law requires that employers display a number of posters related to nationwide statutes.

The 2008 labor law posters required by federal law 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
• OSHA-Job Safety & Health Protection

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 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 past year also saw a number of significant minimum wage violations. In September, two companies agreed to pay nearly $1 million in unpaid overtime to 382 workers employed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The workers were employed by L&R Security Inc. of New Orleans and HKA Enterprises Inc. of Duncan, South Carolina as subcontractors for CH2M Hill of Englewood, Colorado under a FEMA contract. Employees worked as security guards at FEMA trailer sites and in debris removal, but were not paid overtime in accordance with federal law.

In August, five jointly-operated restaurants in Long Island, New York were ordered to pay almost $1 million to 191 low-wage workers. The employees had been forced to work long hours for wages less than the minimum wage, without overtime pay.  The court ordered that if the employers did not pay up, their restaurants could be sold and the proceeds used to pay the employees.

The minimum wage is scheduled to go up again in 2008. On July 24, the federal minimum wage will increase from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour. As with the increase in 2007, several other states will bump up their minimum wage, too, as a result of the federal minimum going up.

Employers are required by law to ensure that all labor law posters for 2008 are up to date. Failure to comply with the law can result in a fine for the business.

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.

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.

In Utah we have a lot of things that we take for granted as employers. One of those is our Utah State Mandatory Poster. This little item is quite important to both you and your employees. It will keep your employees up to date on the laws and will keep you out of trouble with the state labor board. In order to be in complete compliance with the state labor board your Utah State Mandatory Poster must be posted and current in all workplaces. This means that you need to have an updated version for whenever there is a new law or a law changes in order to be completely safe. These posters are not meant to serve as a deterrent or as something that will keep you in trouble. They are meant to serve as a tool to keep the employees and you informed of their rights and privileges as workers in Utah.

Everywhere that people work in Utah is required to have a Utah State Mandatory Poster in order to be considered legal in the state of Utah. There are some items that are required to be contained on that poster in order for you to be in compliance. The three items that are required to be on the posters are Worker’s Compensation, OSHA and Unemployment Insurance. These items are all necessary to keep your workplace in compliance. The items that must be on the poster are all things that explain benefits and privileges that are entitled to your employees.

These posters are simple things that can help you to avoid a lot of problems. These things need to be kept up to date as well as posted in order for your Utah State Mandatory Poster to be effective. Without this you could get yourself and your workplace in a lot of trouble with the labor board.

Welcome and thank you for allowing me to provide information pertaining to Utah law. I wanted let you know how Utah posters might help with state and federal requirements for labor law and employee rights notices. I believe the following research will answer some of the questions you might have about posting requirements and about complying with those requirements by placing current Utah Posters at the workplace.

Most importantly, it is the employer’s responsibility to make sure that the information provided to employees through Utah Posters is the most up-to-date available. This way, not only will the employees have access to the information they need but also, the employer will stay within state and federal labor law guidelines. In addition, the company will be prepared if Utah Posters are the focus of a labor inspection.

State posting requirements include Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Health and Safety Protection, Unemployment Insurance and Workers’ Compensation. Although there are fewer notices required under Utah law than in some other states, this does not mean the information is less important to the employees. Current Utah Posters should still be displayed prominently in an area where workers usually gather, such as a lunchroom or break room.

As an example, the OSHA state requirement may be slightly different from the OSHA requirement under federal law. You need to keep in mind that it is common for laws to change, and even be amended slightly from year to year. For this reason, it is necessary for the employer to make sure that the Utah Posters at the work site are the most up-to-date available.

On the federal list of required Utah Posters 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, OSHA – Job Safety & Health Protection. An excellent example from this list of the way in which laws can be changed or new laws can change the posting requirements is the USERRA notice.

This law protects the rights of those who choose to serve in the armed forces, reserves, or National Guard but do not plan to make a career of it. The law states that, under certain conditions, they can return to claim their civilian job. As you can see, this would be very important to employees and having current, Utah Posters would help pass this information on to the workers.

Now might be a good time for the employer and workers to check out the posters on display at their worksite or place of business to see if any changes need to be made or if any laws have changed that would affect the current Utah Posters. A company may have several ways to provide this important information to employees, but Utah Posters can be an excellent way to pass on the necessary information about labor laws and employee rights.

Folks, the state of Utah only requires three Utah (UT) Employment Labor Posters to be placed in every business. These are OSHA - Health and Safety Protection, Unemployment Insurance, and Workers’ Compensation.

There are also Federal labor law posters that are required to be placed in view of all employees. They are:

Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law

OSHA - Job Safety and Health Protection

Employee Polygraph Protection Act

Federal Minimum Wage

Family and Medical Leave Act

USERRA - Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act

If you’re an employee, you should look at these posters on a regular basis. The laws do change, and every time they change the employer is required to replace the related poster with the updated version. As an employee, you owe it to yourself to read and understand the laws that are on the posters. After all, you can’t take action if you aren’t even clear about the contents of the posters. When you read them, you will see that they inform you about safety regulations as well as your rights under the law. They tell you which office handles each law or act and whom you should call if you have a question or a concern.

I know it seems like a lot to take in, but the posters should be someplace that you can see them and refer to them often. By re-reading them, you will educate yourself so that if you have a concern, or even if a coworker does, you will be able to address it correctly and easily.

If your employer doesn’t have the posters displayed that I’ve listed above, or if some of them are out of date, covered up, or torn, you should bring it to their attention. Many employers do not realize that, by not displaying the posters, they are violating the law and could be subject to a citation or a fine.

Today I’m going to briefly let you know about the labor law posters for Utah. These posters are required to be displayed in workplaces throughout Utah. The posters must be in an area where all employees will be able to easily see them. They should be well-lit and free from any obstructions or markings. Many times the labor law posters for Utah are displayed beside a time clock or inside a break room.

The exact required postings for the labor law posters for Utah differ from business to business. The requirements depend on the size and type of the business where the labor law posters are displayed. For larger businesses it may be necessary to display the posters in more than one spot in the workplace.

There are three state requirements for the labor law posters for Utah. The requirements are: OSHA – Health and Safety Protection, Unemployment Insurance, and Workers’ Compensation. The federal requirements for the labor law posters for Utah are: Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Federal Minimum Wage, Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law, Employee Polygraph Protection Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and OSHA – Job Safety and Health Protection.

The employer in each place of business has a responsibility to update each of the labor law posters for Utah when the posters change. Whenever a law or regulation changes, the accompanying poster must be changed as well.

Employees should make sure they know where the labor law posters for Utah are located. The employees should also know what each labor law poster reads. The posters won’t provide a great deal of protection if the people they protect don’t even know about them. Therefore, the employers need to make sure the labor law posters for Utah are conspicuously displayed and the employees must make sure they read the posters.