Mandatory Utah Compliance Posters in the Workplace

September 11th, 2006 Posted by Hannah

The state of Utah requires its employers to post the Utah posters that outline state and federal labor and employment laws.  These posters need to be placed in a visible spot within an area where all employees have access such as a mail room, work room, break room or any other place the employees tend to gather or visit on a regular basis.  Additionally, employers need to make sure that they have posters with the most current information because labor laws tend to change frequently – sometimes even as often as once a year.

Utah posters need to have information about both state and federal laws.  Compared to other states, Utah has relatively few state laws that need to be posted.  They are the ones concerning OSHA, Unemployment Insurance and Workers’ Compensation.  The federal laws that need to be posted 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 and Health Protection.

The regulations surrounding the Utah posters are not arbitrary laws.  They are meant to benefit employees and help them ensure that their rights are being upheld within the workplace.  Oftentimes, the information on the posters is the employee’s main resource to learn about and understand their employment rights.  The posters also often contain information to help employees file a complaint or grievance against their employer if there is a problem – including which state and federal agencies can help them.  Employers also benefit from posting the Utah posters, however.  They can use the information on the posters to help them make sure their company policies uphold the law.  They can also reference the poster if and when they have specific questions about certain laws such as what they are required to do under the unemployment insurance laws.

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Utah OSHA Health and Safety Protection Law

August 7th, 2006 Posted by Nicole

While researching OSHA standards and regulations across the states, I learned that Utah’s OSHA department has a very comprehensive resource section on the Utah Occupation Safety and Health (UOSH) Web site. The purpose of the organization is “to preserve human resources by providing safety and health assistance through consultation, training, and education for employees and employers and by establishing and enforcing occupational safety and health standards.” As such, the organization is devoted to ensuring that each worker in the state of Utah have safe working conditions.

In Utah, employers are invited to partake in a special achievement called the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). When someone is attempting to achieve SHARP recognition, the employer may be eligible to be deferred from OSHA enforcement inspections for a 12-month period.

UOSH Public Sector Consultations are available to help employers prevent work-related injuries before they occur. As the department views it, preventing injuries in the workplace is the first line of defense for employees.

Additionally, the UOSH department provides Compliance Assistance, which means that they will assist with training, presentations, workshops and the like in order to help prevent injury and to create a healthy and safe work environment. Compliance Assistance Specialists (CAS) will help employers find these resources and help employers understand the standards. CAS workers respond to a variety of businesses, from small businesses, trade associations, union locals and faith-based groups.

In addition to providing seminars, workshops and speaking events, CAS will also help to promote cooperative programs such as Consultation Programs, Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), Strategic Partnership Programs and Alliance Programs. Additionally, they will direct businesses to the materials that OSHA makes available online.

The Federal OSHA Web site has a very comprehensive collection of resource materials for businesses and employees. Each state has their own methods of making sure that their businesses comply with both the Federal and State OSHA guidelines.

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