New Workplace Poster Required – Have You Updated?

We keep adding to the multitude of posters that businesses are to provide and employees suppose to read.  The latest is required of those businesses that are government contractors.

Effective June 21, 2010, certain federal contractors and subcontractors must post a new notice in the workplace advising employees of their rights under the National Labor
Relations Act (NLRA). The poster—“Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act”—is required by a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rule that applies to federal
contractors with a contract of $100,000 or more and federal subcontractors with a contract of $10,000 or more.

The notice advises employees regarding the right to form, join and assist a union.  It also sets out examples of unlawful employer and union conduct and indicates how employees can contact the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency charged with enforcement of the NLRA. The rule implements provisions of Executive Order 13496, which was signed by President Obama last year.

The notice must be posted conspicuously in the employer’s plants and offices, where the employer customarily places other employee notices and where employees engage in activities relating to the performance of the contract, such as at job sites.

The poster can be downloaded from the DOL’s Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) website, and must be printed on 11x17-inch paper or two sheets of 8½x11-inch paper. There are alos version in languages other than English for use where an employer has a significant portion of English-proficient employees.

If you customarily post notice electronically, you must also provide this latest notice in the same manner.  Any link to the poster must be placed where the employer customarily places other electronic notices. Remember electronic posting is not a substitute for physical posting.  In addition to the posting requirement, the new rule also requires contractors to incorporate into most federal contracts and subcontracts an “employee notice clause” that describes the new posting obligation. This provision applies to government contracts entered into on or after June 21, 2010.

The posting and notice provisions will be enforced by the OLMS and the DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).  Recent clients undergoing audits from OFCCP have had auditors request to see the posters that are in place and the auditors have reviewed to make sure every required poster is in place.

Noncompliance may result in the suspension or cancellation of the contract, and the contractor could face debarment from future federal contracts.

For additional information and to download the poster, go to the OLMS website at: http://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/EO13496.htm.