Posters
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued a revised “Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act” poster in May 2023 which replaces the previous version of the poster. The new poster includes revisions under the Provide Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act. To comply with this poster requirement, you may download, print, and post the updated FLSA poster from https://www.dol.gov/general/topics/posters#workplace-posters.
Additionally, we anticipate that the EEOC will revise its “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster which is required to be displayed by employers with 15 or more employees. That change will likely go into effect on June 27th (the date the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act takes effect). Covered employers must replace the previous version of that poster with the newly revised version. (If you have an all-in-one poster that places multiple federal postings on one poster, you may want to hold off on ordering a new all-in-one poster until the June 27th change. Until then, you can post the new FLSA poster adjacent to your current all-in-one poster. Let us know if you have questions about this.)
The DOL has also recently updated its Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) poster with a question-and-answer section. Employers covered by the FMLA may replace their current FMLA poster with the 2023 version; however, they are not required to do so; the DOL states that the 2013, 2016, and 2023 versions of the poster all remain compliant.
I-9 Compliance
As you may recall, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued “temporary flexibilities” for obtaining Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, from new hires during the COVID-19 pandemic which allowed employers to conduct I-9 physical document inspections using remote, virtual verifications. However, ICE has announced that the temporary flexibilities will end on July 31, 2023. This means that all inspections of identity and employment authorization documents that were conducted remotely must be re-inspected in person. The deadline to do so is August 30, 2023.
Note that employers may use representatives to verify and complete Section 2 of the Form I-9, including an adult family member, friend, notary public (but not one who is being paid to perform this service), or other designated person.
More information may be obtained at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-related-news/dhs-ends-form-i-9-requirement-flexibility. Of course, we are happy to answer any questions about this as well.
Theresa McCarthy, Attorney
Ms. McCarthy concentrates her practice on labor and employment law and practices with The Banks Law Firm, P.A. She has practiced law for over 26 years. Ms. McCarthy’s practice began with a focus on civil litigation and employment law matters for a number of years with law firms in the Raleigh-Durham, NC area, including The Banks Law Firm where she served for 8 years as general employment counsel to public housing authorities across North Carolina and South Carolina until 2008. Ms. McCarthy then transitioned to a corporate role and served for 15 years as in-house employment counsel, during which she led corporate employment law teams in the legal departments of several large companies including those in the retail, insurance, property and casualty, and utility sectors.