Last reviewed: October 2026
Federal and state labor law poster requirements apply to nearly every employer in the United States. This guide covers the federal notices most employers must display, how state requirements add to them, where to post, how often posters change, and what happens when they are missing or out of date.
Table of Contents
- Why Labor Law Poster Compliance Matters for Your Business
- What Labor Law Posters Are and Why They Are Required
- Federal Labor Law Poster Requirements Every Employer Must Meet
- State Labor Law Poster Requirements and How They Differ
- Managing Compliance Across Multiple Locations and Remote Workforces
- Industry-Specific and Topic-Based Posting Obligations
- Where to Display Labor Law Posters in Your Workplace
- How Often Labor Law Posters Need to Be Updated
- Penalties for Non-Compliance and How to Avoid Them
- Building a Labor Law Poster Compliance Program for Your Organization
- Get the Right Posters for Your Business
Why Labor Law Poster Compliance Matters for Your Business
Labor law posters are required notices, not optional ones. Each one tells employees about a specific right and how to contact the agency that enforces it. Current, correct and visible posters show inspectors, auditors and employees that you meet your basic obligations.
Missing posters carry real consequences. Agencies check postings during inspections and complaint investigations, and a missing or outdated notice can lead to a citation or fine and closer review of your other employment practices. Employees who do not know their rights are also more likely to experience violations, and more likely to pursue legal remedies when they do.
What Labor Law Posters Are and Why They Are Required
Labor law posters are official notices that employers must display to inform employees of their rights under federal and state employment laws. Each poster corresponds to a specific law and is usually issued by the agency that enforces it.
The notices cover minimum wage, overtime, workplace safety, discrimination, family and medical leave, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation and more. Some apply to all employers. Others apply only once a business reaches a certain size, works in a specific industry, or holds a federal contract.
Posting requirements exist so that every worker can see their protections at work, not only in a handbook or on request.
Federal Labor Law Poster Requirements Every Employer Must Meet
For a closer look at each federal notice, who must post it, and the extra notices for federal contractors, see our Federal Labor Law Poster Requirements: A Complete Compliance Guide for Employers.
Federal posting requirements apply in every state. Most employers are subject to a core set of federal notices, and federal contractors and some other employers have more.
Core Federal Posters Required for Most Employers
The following federal notices apply to most private-sector employers:
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Employee Rights Under the FLSA
Required for employers covered by the FLSA. It covers the federal minimum wage (still $7.25 an hour), overtime pay, child labor rules, break time for nursing employees, and how to file a complaint with the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. The federal poster is required even where the state minimum wage is higher.
OSHA "Job Safety and Health: It's the Law!"
Required for employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act. It tells employees of their right to a safe workplace, how to report hazards, and how to file a complaint with OSHA. In states with an OSHA-approved State Plan, employers display the State Plan's version instead.
EEOC "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination Is Illegal"
Generally required for employers with 15 or more employees and for federal contractors. It covers protections based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability and genetic information, and explains how to file a charge. It replaced the "EEO Is the Law" poster in October 2022 and was revised in June 2023 to add the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The EEOC has said it is revising the poster again to reflect 2025 executive orders; until a new version is issued, display the current version from the EEOC poster page.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Employee Rights Under the FMLA
Required for covered employers: private employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year, public agencies, and public and private elementary and secondary schools. Covered employers must post it even if no employee is currently eligible for leave. For coverage, placement and the separate notices owed when an employee requests leave, see our Employer Guide to FMLA Poster Compliance and Posting Requirements.
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
Required for most private employers. It tells employees that employers generally cannot require or request a lie detector test as a condition of employment, with limited exceptions.
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
Employers must notify employees of their reemployment rights after military service and their protection against discrimination based on service. Posting the notice where employee notices are customarily placed meets the requirement.
The Department of Labor lists its posters and who must display them on its Wage and Hour Division posters page.
Additional Federal Posters for Covered Employers
Federal contractors and subcontractors have additional notices that depend on the contract. Common ones are the Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act notice required by Executive Order 13496, the Executive Order 13658 minimum wage poster for covered contracts (the rate rose to $13.65 an hour on May 11, 2026), and Davis-Bacon Act or Service Contract Act notices on covered contracts.
Two contractor notices have changed. The Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision is no longer required: it came from Executive Order 11246, which was revoked on January 21, 2025, and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs published a final rule on August 21, 2026 removing the regulations behind it, effective October 26, 2026. Executive Order 14026, which set a higher contractor minimum wage, was revoked in March 2025; the Executive Order 13658 rate continues for covered contracts.
Employers in the H-2A or H-2B visa programs must post program-specific worker rights notices at job sites.
Employers of migrant and seasonal agricultural workers must display the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act notice.
State Labor Law Poster Requirements and How They Differ
Every state has its own required notices on top of the federal set. State posters cover topics such as the state minimum wage, state discrimination protections, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, paid sick leave and paid family leave.
The number of required state notices varies widely. Some states require only a handful. Others, including California, New York, Washington, Colorado and Illinois, require more than a dozen, with industry-specific notices on top.
Why State Requirements Change More Often Than Federal
State legislatures act on employment law more often than Congress, especially on minimum wage, paid leave, discrimination protections and worker safety. Many states index their minimum wage to inflation, so the minimum wage poster changes every year, most often on January 1.
States also add new posting requirements on topics such as paid family and medical leave, workplace violence prevention and pay transparency. These can take effect at any point in the year, not only on January 1.
High-Update States Employers Should Watch Closely
Employers in these states should plan for poster updates at least once a year and often mid-year as well:
- California: annual minimum wage increases, industry wage orders, and frequent updates to paid sick leave, discrimination and worker rights notices
- New York: different minimum wage rates for New York City, Long Island and Westchester County, and the rest of the state, updated annually
- Colorado: minimum wage indexed to inflation each January 1, plus paid leave and overtime notices
- Washington: annual minimum wage increases and paid family and medical leave notices
- Illinois: regular changes to wage, leave and discrimination notices
Sidenote on local rules: Some cities and counties, such as Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, set their own minimum wage or paid leave rules and require their own notices, usually updated January 1 or July 1. Check local requirements for each worksite.
For each state's 2027 minimum wage, new notice requirements and which 2027 posters are already out, see our State Labor Law Poster Requirements: 2027 State-by-State Changes (A–Z).
Managing Compliance Across Multiple Locations and Remote Workforces
For what each location, job site and remote employee needs, see our Labor Law Poster Compliance for Multi-Location and Remote Workforces guide.
Each physical location must display the federal posters plus the state notices for the state where it operates, and any local notices that apply. A business with sites in three states needs three different state sets.
Remote and hybrid workforces add another layer. Under Department of Labor guidance (Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-7), electronic posting can satisfy a federal posting requirement for employees who work exclusively remotely and customarily receive information from the employer electronically. For anyone who reports to a worksite, the physical poster is still required, and electronic access is a supplement. State rules on electronic posting vary.
Multi-location employers benefit from one central record of which posters each location needs, when they change, and when replacements were posted. Without it, gaps develop as requirements change.
Industry-Specific and Topic-Based Posting Obligations
For the added notices by industry, the size thresholds and the language rules that change what you post, see our Industry-Specific and Topic-Based Labor Law Poster Requirements guide.
Many industries have notices beyond the standard federal and state sets, at the federal, state or local level.
Construction
Construction employers post under OSHA's requirements, Davis-Bacon Act requirements on covered federal projects, and state construction safety notices. Mobile and temporary worksites need postings at each active job location, such as the job trailer, not only at a central office.
Healthcare
Many states require healthcare employers to post additional notices, for example on workplace violence prevention, staffing, or human trafficking hotlines, alongside the standard employment posters.
Restaurants, Retail, and Hospitality
Tipped wage and tip credit rules apply in many states, and some states require specific notices for tipped workers or minors. Check the state wage and hour agency for each location.
Agriculture
Employers of migrant and seasonal agricultural workers post the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act notice, and employers using H-2A workers post the H-2A worker rights notice.
Topic-Based Posting Obligations to Know
Minimum wage: Many states require their own minimum wage poster even when the state rate equals the federal rate. States with indexed minimum wages update these posters every year.
Paid leave: A growing number of states require notices about state paid family leave, paid sick leave, or both. These requirements vary by state and continue to expand.
Language: Some notices must be posted in languages other than English. Under the FMLA, for example, covered employers must provide the notice in a language employees understand when a significant portion of the workforce is not literate in English, and some states have similar rules for their own notices. Many agencies publish Spanish versions.
Where to Display Labor Law Posters in Your Workplace
Federal and state rules require posters in a conspicuous place where employees, and for some notices job applicants, can readily see them. Posters in back offices, storage rooms or manager-only areas do not meet that standard.
Common posting locations include:
- Employee break rooms and lunchrooms
- Near time clocks or employee entrances
- Hallways most employees use
- Designated employee bulletin boards
For businesses with several buildings or floors, check whether one posting location reaches everyone. Employees who work mainly in a separate building, warehouse or production area may need their own set.
Posters must be legible. Torn, faded or water-damaged posters that cannot be read do not meet the requirement even if they are on the wall.
How Often Labor Law Posters Need to Be Updated
There is no single date when all labor law posters must be replaced. A poster must be replaced when the underlying law changes and the agency issues a new or revised version. Some changes are predictable, such as annual minimum wage increases. Others follow new legislation, agency rules or court decisions.
The most reliable approach is to monitor federal and state agency announcements and replace posters promptly when a mandatory change is issued. A poster update subscription does this for you by sending replacement posters when a mandatory change occurs for your locations.
Dates to watch:
- January 1: the most common date for state minimum wage increases, including most states that index their wage to inflation
- July 1: a common date for mid-year changes, such as Oregon's indexed minimum wage and the District of Columbia's annual adjustment
- Other dates: some states use their own dates (Florida's minimum wage changes on September 30), and new paid leave, discrimination and other laws can take effect at any time
Penalties for Non-Compliance and How to Avoid Them
Penalties for missing posters vary by agency and by notice. For 2026, OSHA's maximum penalty for a posting violation is $16,550 per violation; no inflation adjustment was made this year, so the 2025 amounts carried over (OSHA penalties). Other federal agencies set their own amounts, and state penalties vary.
Missing posters also create indirect risk. If an employee files a wage, discrimination or leave complaint and the employer cannot show the required notice was displayed, that can be treated as evidence of broader non-compliance, and in some cases a court may extend the employee's deadline to file a charge.
The most effective way to avoid penalties is a proactive program:
- Audit posters against current requirements at least once a year
- Replace posters promptly when a mandatory change is issued
- Record when posters were updated and which version is displayed at each location
- Assign responsibility for posters to a specific person or team
Building a Labor Law Poster Compliance Program for Your Organization
A sustainable poster program has four parts: inventory, monitoring, updating and documentation.
Inventory: Know which posters each location needs, covering the federal requirements that apply to your business, the state requirements for each state where you operate, and any local notices. Multi-state employers benefit from a location-by-location list that maps required posters to each site.
Monitoring: Track changes during the year. Subscribe to update lists from the Department of Labor, EEOC, OSHA and the labor agency in each state where you operate, or use a poster update subscription that sends new posters when mandatory changes occur.
Updating: Replace posters promptly when a mandatory change is issued. Review in early January to catch year-start changes and again in late June to catch July 1 changes, and do not wait for a scheduled review to replace a poster that has already changed.
Documentation: Keep records of when posters were updated and which version is displayed at each location. These records help during inspections and investigations.
Get the Right Posters for Your Business
The foundation of a compliant posting program is simple: the right posters, in the right places, replaced whenever a mandatory change occurs.
National Safety Compliance offers state and federal labor law poster sets for every state, and 2027 sets are available for pre-order now. A labor law poster subscription sends replacement posters automatically when mandatory changes occur, and our Most Recent Changes page lists the latest poster updates.