labor lawAdivision of labor law center

With all of the changes taking place in the world of labor law, it’s vital that employers update their Washington labor law posters now.

There are a number of changes to the 2008 Washington labor law posters. Every employer is required by law to display these posters in a prominent position, where they can be seen by employees and applicants alike. Popular choices are the break room, near the time clock or in a back hallway.

Employers who fail to display posters face penalties and hefty fines.

It is especially important that employers display the updated 2008 Washington labor law posters, since the state minimum wage is due to increase on January 1, 2008. On that day, the state rate will increase by 12 cents from $7.95 to $8.07 per hour. This follows a 70-cent increase in the federal minimum wage, from $5.15 to $5.85 per hour, in July 2007.

For 2008, the Washington labor law posters are:

• Unemployment Insurance 
• Employee Rights for Non Agricultural Workers 
• Employee Rights for Agricultural Workers 
• Washington FMLA 
• Injury on the Job Notice 
• Discrimination Notice 
• OSHA - Safety and Health Protection 
• Minimum Wage

These posters must be displayed by every employer in the state.

In addition, federal law mandates a number of posters having to do with labor laws on the national level. These include:

• 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

The labor laws covered by labor law posters vary widely from state to state within the country. Overtime laws and the minimum wage rates for tipped employees are two areas of labor law that vary widely from one state to another.

Some states have no overtime laws of their own, and are covered by the federal law. Others have passed laws mirroring or extending the federal laws.

Federal law offers a premium of 1.5 times the normal hourly rate for any time over 40 hours. States without their own laws include Delaware, Arizona, Idaho, Georgia, and Florida. Workers not normally covered by federal overtime law are not entitled to overtime in these states.

Nebraska mirrors the federal law but extends coverage to all businesses with 4 or more employees. Illinois, Massachusetts, and Michigan also mirror federal law – 1.5 times normal after 40 hours. But Kansas’ overtime does not kick in until 46 hours, and Minnesota’s not until 48.

Kentucky provides overtime after 40 hours or on the 7^th consecutive workday regardless of number of hours. In Colorado, it kicks in after 12 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Only restaurant and hotel workers may collect overtime on the 7^th consecutive day of work in Connecticut.

California has the most generous plan. Employees get overtime after working 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Anyone working 7 consecutive days gets overtime on the 7^th day. Double-time is paid after an employee works 12 hours in a day, or after 8 hours on the 7^th consecutive work day.

The federal rate for tipped employees is $2.13 an hour. Kentucky, Nebraska, and Indiana follow that rate. Kansas is only $1.59. Massachusetts is $2.63 and Michigan is $2.65. Wisconsin is at $2.33 and North Carolina at $2.43. Connecticut hotel and restaurant workers get overtime on the 7^th consecutive workday.

Tipped workers get the normal minimum wage in Washington State - $8.07 per hour on January 1. In Hawaii, tipped workers get $7 an hour compared to the normal rate of $7.25. Colorado’s rate for tipped workers is going to $4.02 in 2008.

The Washington USERRA regulations, sanctioned by the US Department of Labor, provide job security for reservists and member of the National Guard called away from civilian jobs because of deployment for active duty.  USERRA is the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

The Washington USERRA poster should be displayed in every workplace. The USERRA was enacted as a means of job protection for reservists serving on active military duty.  The act also provides clarification of the laws pertaining to reservists in the workplace and enforcement of job protection for these workers.

Recent upgrades have been made to the Washington USERRA regulations and these upgrades are described in a poster that is required by law to be displayed on every jobsite in the state.  So important is this issue that even employers who have no reservists on their payrolls must display the poster in a prominent location.

One very important issue covered under Washington USERRA regulations is pension plan coverage.  A recent change to USERRA regulations clearly and explicitly states that all pension plans belonging to reservists on active duty are protected during deployment.

Another important USERRA issue is the reservist’s return to work after deployment.  The returning soldier is entitled to return to his or her job held before active duty and job status, position, rate of pay, etc., must be the same as it was when the soldier was deployed.

New regulations describe when a soldier must return to work. In particular, the regulations govern how much time is allowed to elapse between the soldier’s return from active duty, and reporting to his or her job.  The time a returning soldier must report back to work is based upon the length of active deployment.  USERRA regulations allow for job protection even if a soldier is on active duty as long as five years.

In Washington there are many things that we take for granted as employers. There are also many things that are taken for granted by our employees as well. One of these items is that we will look out for all of their rights and keep them aware of what they are. These rights are primarily available on your Washington State Mandatory Poster. This item is designed to keep employees and employers aware and knowledgeable. These tools are things that need to posted where all employees can see them and at every work site so as to make employees aware of what they are entitled to. Not only do these posters need to be available and in view, they also need to be current. So if perchance a variation or a new law passes that is currently on the poster it needs to be updated as soon as possible. This is a law that is upheld by the labor board and will lead you to be in violation if the poster is not current and posted.

On your labor poster you will be required to have the following laws posted; Unemployment Insurance, Employee Rights for Non Agricultural Workers, Washington FMLA, Employee Rights for Agricultural Workers, OSHA, Minimum Wage, Discrimination and Injury on The Job Notice. All of these laws are things that explain worker’s rights and benefits while being employed in Washington. So please let your workers be aware of what they have. These are all things that need to be posted and current on your Washington State Mandatory Poster. If these laws are not present then you will find yourself in violation on the law and could face fines or worse.

So take it easy on yourself. Keep out of trouble by possessing this simple item that will keep you in compliance and out of trouble with the labor board by having a current and posted Washington State Mandatory Poster.

Welcome and thank you for allowing me to provide you with a brief summary of labor law, posting requirements, helping to answer some questions that you may have about the important subject of Washington Posters. I would like to start with some basic information about labor laws and employee rights and let you know that it is the employer’s responsibility to make sure that the Washington Posters on display at the worksite or place of business are current and contain the latest information for employees.

The most up-to-date Washington Posters must be displayed in an area common to all employees or where they meet on a regular basis, such as a break room or a lunchroom. Displaying the current, Washington Posters not only provides necessary information to all employees, in a place where the posters can be easily seen and read, but it will also help the employer remain within the state and federal guidelines for labor law posters and prepare the company for a possible labor inspection.

Washington has several state-level requirements for Washington Posters. The list includes Unemployment Insurance, Employee Rights for Non-Agricultural Workers, Employee Rights for Agricultural Workers, Washington FMLA, Injury on the Job Notice, Discrimination Notice, OSHA – Safety and Health Protection, and Minimum Wage. As an example of state laws that may be unique to certain states the Employee Rights for Non-Agricultural Workers and Employee Rights for Agricultural Workers refer to specific situations and types of work.

This information can be very important to employees and having the most up-to-date Washington Posters on display at the place of business or worksite is a good way to make sure that all employees have access to the necessary information. Washington also has its own Family & Medical Leave Act, with regulations that may be slightly different from those covered under federal law. Again, this would be information that employees will need and having current Washington Posters will help keep workers informed of their rights and privileges under state and federal labor laws.

On the federal list 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. Among the items on this list, the USERRA requirement is fairly, new and refers to those who want to serve in the military but may not want to make a career of it.

The law defines under what circumstances they can return to their civilian job after their military services has ended. Now may be a great time to check the Washington Posters on display to see if any changes have been made that should be reflected in current Washington Posters.

We’re on the one of the last states on our list—Washington. And it’s key that we understand one thing when we consider the Washington State Law Posters. These labor law compliance posters have their mandatory components in them, sure. We’ve covered these before for the Washington State Law Posters, and we’ll do so again real quick here.

But when it comes to the Washington State Law Posters and other state labor law posters, there are also other complimentary posters that aren’t necessarily required but could make nice additions to your Washington State Law Posters collection.

First, let’s look at the mandatory posters. In the Washington State Law Posters, there are eight mandatory state postings. These include: the minimum wage notice, the unemployment insurance notice, the injury on the job notice, the postings on employee rights for non agricultural and agricultural workers, the OSHA notice for the state, the discrimination notice, and the Washington FMLA posting.

There are also six federal postings in the Washington FMLA posting, which are the same main six federal postings that we’ve seen in other state compliance poster collections. The federal postings, real quick, include the Family and Medical Leave posting, the USERRA posting for military terms of duty for employees, the federal minimum wage, the OSHA posting, the polygraph protection act posting, and the Equal Employment Opportunity posting going over discrimination prohibitions.

That total 14 postings that must be in the Washington FMLA posting, but Washington state also offers other posters to its employers. These include a wealth of safety posters that can help improve safety performance at a work site.

These postings in the Washington FMLA posting could include posters for hard hat safety, for eye protection wear safety, special postings for construction sites and locations where high explosives will be used, to name a few.