The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently replaced its existing “Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law” poster with a new “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster, which is available to download and print here.
All covered employers must prominently display the new poster in those conspicuous locations within the workplace where other posters and notices are customarily published for review by employees and job applicants. For remote workers, this may mean publishing the poster on the employer’s intranet website. A “covered employer” generally includes any private employer that has had 15 or more employees over the course of at least 20 calendar weeks within the previous year; any temporary staffing agency or recruitment company, regardless of its number of employees; any labor organization that has at least 15 members or operates as a hiring hall; all federal government agencies; and most state and local government agencies.
The EEOC did not specify a compliance deadline for employers to publish the new poster. However, failure to comply with posting requirements may result in civil penalties and potentially extend the limitations period for employees and applicants to bring claims if such individuals claim they lacked notice of their legal rights. Therefore, covered employers are best served by taking steps to quickly comply with publication requirements.
The new Know Your Rights poster summarizes federal laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace, including who is protected; what organizations are covered; what types of discrimination are illegal; what employment practices can be challenged as discriminatory; and resources available to report suspected discrimination. The second page of the poster summarizes additional obligations imposed on federal contractors, as well as programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.
Due to an error in the version of the poster originally posted by the EEOC, covered employers should check to confirm that they publish the version of the poster that indicates “Revised 10/20/22” in the bottom right corner of the second page. The EEOC published English and Spanish versions of the poster, and it reminds employers that they have an obligation to make the poster available in accessible formats as needed for disabled employees and applicants.
Key Takeaways:
- Covered employers should promptly publish the EEOC’s new Know Your Rights poster using the version published on October 20, 2022.
- Publication entails not just physical publication in the workplace, but online publication for employees who work remotely.
This blog post was drafted by Randi Winter, a partner in the Spencer Fane Minneapolis office. For more information, click here.
