Sunday, September 30, 2012

Why An AZ Labor Law Poster Is Not Always Effective

It is a great thing that business are required to have federal and State labor law posters in a place that is visible for all employees. These posters can help employees understand the rights they have. In the state of Arizona, there are many businesses that operate within the law. They follow all of the guidelines that are on the AZ labor law posters and provide their employees with a safe and proper working environment. These businesses pay people eat least the minimum wage and have all of the other things that are required by the law and that are listed on the poster.


The businesses that are operating the way they are supposed to do not worry about putting up an AZ labor law poster for their employees. They want their employees to understand and know their rights and if they are doing something wrong, they are willing to correct it. The problem is that not all business owners operate in this way. There are many businesses that are willing to cut corners and to ignore the responsibilities that they have to their employees in order to save money and to boost profits. In a state such as Arizona, it is sometimes easy to skirt the rules because many of the people who are working are in the country illegally. They do not care about being protected in their job by federal and state rules. They are only happy to have a job in the first place.

The businesses that do not follow the rules often do so because the punishment is not severe enough. If they are caught because they do not have the state labor laws poster on display, the most likely penalty is a fine. This is just a cost of doing business to some people. It takes more punishment for them to try to behave in an ethical manner to their employees. The problem with using these posters is that they depend on the employees to read them and to report a business that is breaking the rules. If the company never provides the opportunity for their employees to read the poster, it does not do any good.

There will be some businesses that make mistakes and for these a simple fine is enough of a punishment. For the businesses owners that think they are above the law, there needs to be more of a threat. The laws have to find a way to hurt the profitability of the business or in some way impact the owner financially in a significant way. Until that happens, the poster will never be a great deterrent.



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