NCDOL: No Fines for Old Labor Law Posters
The department will not fine businesses that have the old posters displayed, and NCDOL inspectors carry the newest posters in their vehicles and will offer them free to employers who have out-of-date posters.
Saying it receives complaints every year about poster companies that use scare tactics to sell labor law posters, the North Carolina Department of Labor this month reiterated that threats of being fined are bogus and should be ignored. "Poster companies have been known to charge more than $150 for the posters," Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry said Jan. 11. "I want the business community to know that the labor law posters are available from NCDOL free of charge."
The agency's news release said NCDOL recently obtained letters from poster companies that "include false information that employers will be fined as much as $17,000 by NCDOL for displaying out-of-date posters." But the department will not fine businesses that have the old posters displayed, and NCDOL inspectors carry the newest posters in their vehicles and will offer them free to employers who have out-of-date posters, according to the release.
"We would never fine an employer unless the employer just blatantly refused to put the posters up. I don't know of any employer who has refused to take a free set of posters from one of our inspectors," Berry said.
The labor law posters are required under North Carolina law, and they convey information on the state's Wage and Hour Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. In 2017, labor law posters provided by the department were updated to include required information pertaining to the N.C. Employee Fair Classification Act, which took effect Dec. 31, 2017.
Businesses that need to order new posters can visit www.labor.nc.gov or call 1-800-NC-LABOR (1-800-625-2267).