4 Key Elements of a Successful Labor Law Posting Strategy #MindTheGap
1. Understand the purpose. The purpose of labor law postings is to inform employees of their legal rights and responsibilities under federal, state, and local regulations. Organizations that are only focused on federal and state postings aren’t doing enough. For example, did you know that Denver, Miami Beach, New York and Tucson all require anti-discrimination postings? They do.
Labor law postings aren’t some dreamt up form of punishment. They provide education to employees. That shows employees the organization cares about their well-being, which attributes to employee engagement and retention. Don’t minimize how little acts that demonstrate caring through employee education can provide value. Organizations should treat labor law posters as such.
2. Communicate to everyone. I’d like to think it’s pretty obvious that if you have multiple locations then you need multiple sets of posters. But also think about if you have a single, large location. Is there someplace that you can guarantee every employee will walk by and see? And what about remote workers? Think about #1. The purpose of labor law postings is to educate employees. Which means they need to see them.
When it comes to employee communication,
displaying only one set of posters may not be probably
isn’t won’t be enough. Organizations will want to be strategic about
posting locations. Look for places where employees hang out so the company is
ensured they can be viewed by employees throughout the workday.
3. Update
continuously. Labor law posting changes happen all the time.
Not just in January. According to Ashley Kaplan, Esquire, senior employment
attorney for HRdirect, there are on average 150 state posting changes annually
and at least half of them require an immediate poster update or replacement. If
you’re only updating postings once a year, then it’s possible probable
that you’re not in compliance.
This ties into #1 and #2. Not only do organizations want to make sure that everyone knows their legal rights, but they need to know them in a timely fashion. Telling an employee that their rights changed six months ago doesn’t send the message to employees that the organization cares about them or being compliant. And I’ll say what we know our employees are thinking…if the company isn’t doing compliance activities like labor law postings, what other compliance aren’t they doing?
4. Use your time strategically. There are 175 different government agencies nationwide that are responsible for 395 mandatory posters. Sure, you can monitor all of the relevant agencies for changes and request free posters. That takes time. A lot of time. I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I want to spend my time. If I have to choose between spending an hour monitoring for free labor law posters and coaching a manager on how to get better performance from an employee, I know which one I’ll be doing.