Federal Labor Law Posters 2013: What Employers Must Know

Employers in the US must ensure compliance with labor law posting requirements at their workplaces. Federal and state labor laws undergo changes and revisions from time to time. Some of these changes require updating the labor law posters while some do not. Talking of the Federal labor law posters 2013 demands some updates to posters. This article covers some revisions in the federal labor laws during 2013 mentioning what changes are to be updated and what are just to be known by the employers. Employers need to make note of these changes to stay in line with the developments in this regard.

Some bills have been introduced pertaining to employee rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These bills seek to raise the existing federal minimum wages. There are chances that the senate could consider S. 460, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. If sanctioned, this bill could raise the federal minimum wage on an incremental basis over two years to $10.10. Also, a comparison bill (H.R.1010) has also been introduced in the House of Representatives. The future and annual increases would take into account inflation. If there are some changes in the minimum wages rate, then it would call for a change in the FLSA poster in order to display the minimum wage prominently.

On May 8, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Working Families Flexibility Act that will require employers to provide their employees with options with regard to comp time and overtime. This will require the employers to update the overtime section of the FLSA poster. The bill is at present being considered by the senate. When the bill is passed, employers will know whether the posting requirements are mandatory. Employers need to keep track of this segment in order to take appropriate action once there are sure developments in these laws.

Sometime back, Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) asked the employers to post notices explaining the various provisions of NLRA to the employees. However, when appeals were made by an overwhelming number of employers against this posting requirement, about two federal Courts of Appeals have struck down poster rule. The courts pronounced that the NLRB never had any power to force the employers to post the said notice. Therefore, the posting requirement has been indefinitely delayed. The NLRB has kept the posting requirement on hold and has not put forth any deadline for posting it at this time.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has given out a final rule that has amended the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations corresponding to military leave and flight crew eligibility. This final rule was published on February 6, 2013 in the Federal Register. This also clarifies how to calculate the intermittent or reduced schedule leave. Forms have been removed from regulations. Over and above, it adds clarifying language connected to physical impossibility. On its website, the DOL has already published a revised FMLA posting that features the statutory changes that have come about. Both public and private employers with about 50 employers need to comply with the posting revisions. While it is mandatory to display the updates by March 7, 2013, employers need to make note of this with respect to Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA).