Federal Labor Law Poster Requirements for Employers

Federal labor law poster requirements come down to a short list: most private employers must display six posters covering minimum wage, discrimination, workplace safety, polygraph protections, family and medical leave, and military reemployment rights. Agricultural employers and federal contractors have additional obligations. Every required poster is free from the agency that enforces it, and penalties for missing or outdated notices can reach $16,550 or more per violation.

The Posters Most Employers Must Display

Six federal posters cover the widest swath of private employers. Most businesses need all of them displayed at once.

Fair Labor Standards Act (Minimum Wage)

The FLSA poster explains the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, overtime pay at one and a half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, and child labor restrictions.¹ Every employer with at least one covered employee must post it.²

Equal Employment Opportunity

The EEOC’s “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster consolidates protections from Title VII, the ADA, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. It also tells workers how to file a complaint with the EEOC.³ It has to be placed where current employees and job applicants can see it, and must be accessible to people with mobility disabilities.⁴

OSHA Job Safety and Health

The OSHA poster explains the right to a safe workplace, to request an inspection, to receive hazard training, and to report safety concerns without retaliation.⁵ It applies to private employers engaged in a business affecting interstate commerce. Federal, state, and local government employers are not covered by this requirement.²

Employee Polygraph Protection Act

The EPPA poster tells workers that most private employers cannot require, request, or suggest a lie detector test, and describes the limited exemptions for certain security and pharmaceutical positions. Violations of the Act carry civil penalties up to $26,262.⁶ The notice must be visible to both employees and applicants.⁷

Family and Medical Leave Act

Employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius must display the FMLA poster.⁸ Covered employers have to post it even if no current employee qualifies for FMLA leave.⁹

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

The USERRA poster covers service members’ right to return to their civilian job after deployment when they meet conditions like advance notice and timely return.¹⁰ USERRA applies to every employer regardless of size.²

Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act

Agricultural employers, farm labor contractors, and agricultural associations that employ migrant or seasonal workers must display the MSPA poster in English and Spanish, or another language common to the workforce.¹¹

How to Tell Which Ones Apply to You

The mistake most businesses make is assuming they need every poster, or assuming they need none. Use this as a starting point:

Every private employer with a covered employee needs the FLSA minimum wage poster and the USERRA poster.
Private employers whose activity affects interstate commerce need the OSHA and EPPA posters. The EEO “Know Your Rights” poster applies at 15 or more employees for most protections and 20 or more for age discrimination.
Employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius add the FMLA poster.
Agricultural employers with migrant or seasonal workers add the MSPA poster.

The Department of Labor’s Poster Advisor at dol.gov walks you through a set of questions about your business and generates a custom list.²

Additional Posters for Federal Contractors

Federal contracts and subcontracts bring separate posting duties. These apply at every worksite where contract-related work is performed.

Executive Order 13496 requires contractors and subcontractors to post a notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act in plants and offices where covered employees perform contract work. Noncompliance can lead to contract suspension, cancellation, or debarment.¹²
Contractors on federal construction projects worth more than $2,000 must post the Davis-Bacon notice (WH-1321) along with the applicable prevailing wage rates from the contract.²
Employers providing services to the federal government under contracts exceeding $2,500 must post the Service Contract Act notice (WH-1313), including any applicable wage determination.¹³
Covered contractors under Executive Order 13706 must post a notice about employees’ paid sick leave accrual.¹⁴

Getting the Posters

Every required federal poster is free from the enforcing agency. The Department of Labor hosts downloadable PDFs of the FLSA, FMLA, EPPA, OSHA, and USERRA posters on its workplace posters page, and the EEOC hosts the “Know Your Rights” poster on its own site.¹⁵ Hard copies can be ordered through the DOL’s online publication ordering system.

Commercial vendors sell laminated “all-in-one” kits that combine federal and state posters on a single sheet, typically for $20 to $70. They are a convenience, not a legal requirement, and some lag behind official revisions. If you use one, compare its revision dates against the current agency versions.

Where to Hang Them

Federal regulations use variations of a single instruction: place the poster in a conspicuous location where employees can easily see it during a normal workday. Break rooms, kitchens, and hallways near time clocks all work. No employee should have to ask permission or go out of their way to read the notices.

If your business operates out of multiple buildings, you need a full set in each one. A single set in the main office does not cover workers in a warehouse across the parking lot or a satellite location across town.¹⁶

Size and Format

OSHA sets the most specific dimensions: any reproduction of the Job Safety and Health poster must be at least 8½ by 14 inches, with body text no smaller than 10-point type and headings in at least 36-point type.¹⁷ Other posters share a general standard: text must be readable and the poster must not be faded, torn, or covered. If you print from downloaded PDFs, keep the original dimensions rather than scaling down to letter size.

Visibility for Job Applicants

Several posters must be visible to applicants as well as employees. The EEO poster has to be placed where applicants customarily see employment notices, and the EEOC encourages employers to add a digital copy on their website. For applicants with visual disabilities, the information must be available in an accessible format such as large print or a screen-reader-compatible file.⁴ EPPA carries the same dual-audience rule.⁷

Language Requirements

Federal rules do not broadly require posters in languages other than English, but there are targeted exceptions. FMLA requires the poster in a language employees can read when a significant portion of the workforce is not literate in English.⁹ MSPA requires English and Spanish, or another common workforce language.¹¹

The DOL and EEOC provide many posters in Spanish and other languages on their download pages. Even when a translation is not required, posting one alongside the English version reduces the risk of a later dispute over whether employees were adequately informed.²

Remote and Hybrid Workforces

The Department of Labor’s Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-7 sets a high bar for electronic posting. It can substitute for a physical poster only when three conditions are met at the same time: all of the employer’s employees work remotely, all customarily receive information from the employer electronically, and all have readily available access to the electronic posting at all times.¹⁸

Hybrid workforces do not qualify. If some employees come to the office, you still need physical posters for them, and digital copies for remote staff through whatever platform your company normally uses for HR communications. A one-time email attachment does not satisfy the requirement if employees cannot easily retrieve the files later.

The EEOC applies a similar standard to the “Know Your Rights” poster: employers without a physical location or whose employees never visit a worksite may rely on digital posting alone. Everyone else should treat electronic posting as a supplement to the physical poster.⁴

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Penalties vary widely. Some are direct fines; others create litigation exposure that costs far more than any fine.

OSHA Job Safety and Health: up to $16,550 per violation for failing to post, the same tier as a serious safety violation.¹⁹
EPPA: up to $26,262 per violation, covering both failure to post and other polygraph-related violations.⁶
EEO “Know Your Rights”: a willful failure to post can bring a fine of up to $680 per offense.⁴
FMLA: a willful violation of the posting requirement carries a penalty of up to $216 per offense.⁶
FLSA minimum wage: no specific statutory fine for failing to post, but a missing poster can extend the statute of limitations on employee wage claims.
Federal contractors under EO 13496: contract suspension, cancellation, or debarment from future federal contracts.¹²

These figures are adjusted annually for inflation and reflect the adjustment effective January 2025. Expect a small bump each January. The bigger risk is often not the fine. An employee who was never told about a right they held is in a stronger position when filing a complaint or lawsuit, and “we never posted the notice” is not an argument employers want to be making.

Keeping Posters Up to Date

Federal agencies revise posters when the underlying law changes or when penalty amounts are adjusted. A poster remains valid until the agency publishes a new version, so an older revision date is not automatically a problem. To check, compare the revision date printed at the bottom of your poster against the version listed on the DOL or EEOC download page. If yours is older, print a fresh copy.²

When an agency releases a new version, it usually announces the change through its website and compliance newsletters. Email alerts from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division are the most reliable way to catch updates. If you use a commercial poster service, confirm that the subscription includes automatic replacement when revisions happen; many cheaper services do not.

One boundary to keep in mind: federal posters are only half the picture. Every state has its own required workplace posters covering topics like state minimum wage, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance. Federal and state posters must be displayed together. The DOL’s poster page links to individual state labor departments where state-specific requirements are listed.²

1
eCFR. 29 CFR 516.4 – Posting of Notices
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Workplace Posters
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 2000e-10 – Posting of Notices; Penalties
4
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal Poster
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1903.2 – Posting of Notice
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U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
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eCFR. 29 CFR 801.6 – Notice of Protection
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2611 – Definitions
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eCFR. 29 CFR 825.300 – Employer Notice Requirements
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 US Code 4334 – Notice of Rights and Duties
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U.S. Department of Labor. Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) Poster English/Spanish Version
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U.S. Department of Labor. Executive Order 13496: Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws
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U.S. Department of Labor. WH 1313 SCA Poster
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Final Rule: Executive Order 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors
15
U.S. Department of Labor. Workplace Posters
16
eCFR. 29 CFR 516.4 – Posting of Notices
17
eCFR. 29 CFR 1903.2 – Posting of Notice
18
U.S. Department of Labor. Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-7 – Electronic Posting
19
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties