iIt’s time for covered employers to update their Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) posters.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued an updated FLSA Minimum Wage Poster to reflect covered employers’ new lactation accommodation obligations under the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act.
The PUMP Act, which was signed into law in late December 2022, requires covered employers – except certain small employers – to provide nursing employees with a reasonable break time and a place (other than a bathroom) at work to express their milk free from intrusion and shielded from view. Previously, the FLSA extended these rights to non-exempt employees alone, as reflected by the prior version of the FLSA Minimum Wage Poster. The PUMP Act also excludes certain transportation industry workers from coverage. Covered employers must immediately display the updated Minimum Wage Poster in a conspicuous place in each of their locations to comply with the FLSA’s posting requirements. The updated Minimum Wage Poster is the latest in a series of PUMP Act-related resources to come from the DOL.
The DOL also recently released a redesigned FMLA Poster. In addition to a new display, the updated FMLA Poster clarifies, among other things, which organizations qualify as “covered employers.” Importantly, the FMLA posters that the DOL issued in April 2016 and February 2013 are still compliant, so employers are not required to post the updated FMLA Poster. It’s often best practice, however, to display the most up-to-date poster.
The two DOL-updated posters come just a short time before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) plans to update its October 2022, “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster, which covered employers are required to prominently display at their worksites. The EEOC is expected to release the updated poster in June 2023 to include new information about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which goes into effect on June 27, 2023. As the DOL suggests, employers that purchase all-in-one posters from vendors may want to wait until after the EEOC releases its June update to make such purchases and to temporarily post DOL-provided copies of the updated FLSA and FMLA posters.
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. will continue to track and provide updates when state and federal agencies release new and important workplace notice posting obligations.
