The minimum wage saw another increase July 24th, 2009. Even if you don’t have employees being paid at this rate, this affects your business.
Taken from the US Department of Labor Website:
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
The FLSA establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments. The FLSA requires employers to pay covered nonexempt employees a minimum wage of not less than $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007; $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.Poster Requirements
Every employer of employees subject to the FLSA’s minimum wage provisions must post, and keep posted, a notice explaining the Act in a conspicuous place in all of their establishments. Although there is no size requirement for the poster, employees must be able to readily read it. There is no requirement to post the poster in languages other than English.
What does this mean for employers?
If you have a poster with an outdated minimum wage posting notice, you need to update this section of your poster or hang a new poster to avoid potential civil penalties.
What do I need to post?
With the myriad of state and federal regulations with which you must comply, it can be difficult to know what you need to post for your business. We recommend consulting an expert in the compliance business that can help you discover what you need.
Do I need to get these posters from the government?
While in many cases you can download or order posters directly from government agencies, in most states you will wind up having to deal with a multitude of agencies at the federal and state level. In California, you could end up with a dozen or more separate sheets of paper hanging on the wall! Obviously this can be difficult to manage and keep up with any updates, and as such we recommend using a combined labor law and minimum wage poster that has all of your required federal and state postings.
What happens when things change and I have a combined poster?
If you deal with a reputable poster provider, you will be contacted and notified that a change has occurred. In many states these changes happen infrequently (every few years), but in California, New York, Texas, and other large states these changes can happen as often as every 6 months. Some poster providers will require you to purchase an entirely new poster, so we recommend dealing with a poster company that has the option of stickers that you can place on your existing poster for smaller changes.
One company that we recommend dealing with for your labor law and minimum wage posters is Compliance Poster Company, a small business based in Monrovia, CA. They have a full time dedicated research staff to make sure that when changes happen, their clients are notified right away. You can also easily call them and talk to a knowledgeable representative on the phone. They offer free compliance audits for any business- just answer a few questions for their representatives and they can tell you what the law requires you to post, and what you need to communicate but not necessarily post. For the most recent minimum wage change, they offer a Peel-n-post sticker option so their clients don’t need to replace their entire posters. You can even talk to the president of the company, Patty Blum. Just call 800-817-7678 and ask for her, and you know you’re dealing with one of the most knowledgeable persons in the country when it comes to posting requirements.
As my friends at CPC like to say, “Don’t get caught with your posters down!” With this new minimum wage change, make sure that you get the most recent posting from a labor law and minimum wage poster provider such as CPC, or directly from the Department of Labor. It’s a very small investment to make to ensure that you aren’t fined.