Employment Law Poster Series: Do you know what the fines are for employment law poster noncompliance?

You’re probably aware that several of the employment laws we know and love include posting requirements.

Have you ever wondered what the consequences are for failing to comply with those posting laws? I have. Just now in fact. So I looked it up.

Here are the current fine amounts for the main employment laws that have a poster noncompliance fine:

·      Family and Medical Leave Act: $211

·      Occupational Safety and Health Act: $16,131

·      Employee Polygraph Protection Act: $25,597

·      Title VII, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (all included on the “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster): $680

I was surprised to learn (and still don’t 100% trust that the info I found was accurate) that the Fair Labor Standards Act doesn’t contain a poster noncompliance fine. Actually, I was surprised by all of these fine amounts, especially in relation to each other.

The amounts listed above became effective on January 16, 2024, and apply to any penalties assessed after that date. Federal law requires that these fine amounts be adjusted for inflation each year by January 15.

In my 26 years of practicing employment law, I’ve never heard of a client getting fined for failure to post. Even when companies do get busted by the feds for poster noncompliance, which is always (in my experience) in the context of an investigation of an actual discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation charge (never just a situation where the feds come in just to check posters), the feds will merely warn the company, not fine them. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, just that I haven’t seen it personally.

However, there are other potential negative consequences for failure to comply with posting laws. For example, some courts have ruled that an employer that failed to post a notice of rights for employees loses the right to argue that an employee missed a deadline for filing a claim since the employee arguably never knew about their right to file a claim. I can see a company’s blatant disregard for its posting obligations causing that employer problems when it tries to argue its good faith compliance efforts, which could make it more likely that punitive damages would be imposed. I can see a union trying to use an employer showing no regard for a simple posting requirement as proof that it doesn’t care about its employees. And, whether a union is in the picture or not, what will a company’s employees think if they learn that their company chose to ignore a very easy, very inexpensive, legal requirement meant to inform employees of their employment law rights?

This is all pretty straightforward stuff. Let’s get our posters right.