Labor Law Updates

In light of the national emergency with COVID-19, the DHS has eased some of the requirements with I-9 employee eligibility verification. If you’re an employer who is operating remotely, you’ll want to understand how this impacts your review of identity and employment authorizations documents, as well as the E-Verify process.

As a conscientious employer, you’re probably already aware of the federal, state and local postings you must display to maintain compliance. But did you know that certain businesses, like federal contractors, have industry-specific posting requirements that go beyond these core postings? That’s right, just when you think you have a handle on the posting “must haves,” there’s another aspect to manage. Let’s take a closer look at how these industry-specific postings may impact your business.

Does your business have federal government contracts? If so — and regardless of your industry — you must post additional labor law notices. In fact, as the number of businesses with government funding/contracts continues to grow, so does the need for specific postings. In recent years, government contracts have become more prevalent in industries such as construction, finance/banking, telecommunications, technology, transportation, and the non-profit sector, so all affected businesses need to understand their posting obligations.

Does your company have active government contracts or receive federal funding? If so, you have special employee posting requirements. In addition to the mandatory posters you must display under federal and state law, you’re responsible for up to 12 additional posters at each of your locations. Plus, we’re expecting a few new posting changes to be issued in the coming months.

In the latest development with the federal contractor minimum wage, the Department of Labor finalized a five-cent increase over the previous year’s rate.

As previously reported, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658 establishing a minimum wage for federal contractors in February 2014. Effective January 1, 2015, the minimum hourly wage for workers on covered contractors was $10.10 an hour. As part of the Executive Order, however, the Secretary of Labor was authorized to make annual increases based on inflation.