In California, all employers must meet workplace posting obligations. Workplace postings are usually available at no cost from the requiring agency. The Department of Industrial Relations requires employers to post information related to wages, hours and working conditions in an area frequented by employees where it may be easily read during the workday. If the company has multiple job sites or offices, then multiple posters have to be posted.
Employment laws can change at any time, and both California and federal laws require you to keep notices current. In fact, your business could incur significant fines for not posting the posters or for failing to update the posters. Fines vary by poster and by enforcing agency, ranging from as low as $110 up to a potential maximum of $10,000. For example, the failure to post the Federal OSHA Poster could result in a civil penalty of $7,000.00. Similarly, the failure to post or update the California OSHA Poster could result in a penalty of $1,000.00. In total, businesses that don’t post these required notices or post outdated information could face combined fines up to $17,000 per location.
The required California and federal employment notices include:
- Equal Employment Opportunity is THE LAW
- Notice to Employees (EDD: UI, DI and PFL)
- California Minimum Wage
- Federal Minimum Wage
- Your Rights Under USERRA
- Safety and Health Protection on the Job (Cal/OSHA)
- Notice to Employees-Injuries Caused by Work (Division of Workers’ Compensation)
- Discrimination and Harassment in Employment are Prohibited by Law (DFEH)
- Pregnancy Disability Leave
- Family Care and Medical Leave (CFRA Leave) and Pregnancy Disability Leave
- Employee Rights and Responsibilities Under the Family Medical Leave Act
- Whistleblowers are Protected
- Time Off to Vote
- Employee Polygraph Protection Act
- Emergency Contacts
- Pay Day Notice
As of 11/22/13, here’s what we know regarding 2014 poster updates:
- Effective July 1, 2014, California’s minimum wage will increase to $9.00 an hour, and to $10.00 an hour on January 1, 2016. CalChamber’s 2014 California and Federal Employment Notices poster includes these required updates to the official notice.
- There is a mandatory change, effective January 1, 2014, to the DFEH Discrimination and Harassment notice (California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination and Harassment) to include “military and veteran” status to the categories protected from employment discrimination.
- There are changes to the Cal/OSHA notice, the Whistleblower notice and to the EDD’s Notice to Employees.
Thus, if you have laminated posters, you most likely will need to update them heading into 2014.