Effective August 1, 2016, employers must put up new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) postings. The federal Department of Labor has removed penalty amounts from the posters and has added a section about the rights of nursing mothers to the FLSA poster. And where can you find this poster and all the other posters you need? Maine Department of Labor has that all ready for you: http://www.maine.gov/labor/posters/
You can print them out free of charge. Unless you want to pay $99 for a laminated version from a private company, go to the posters section of Maine DOL website and print what you need.
Here’s what the new federal DOL poster looks like:
https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/flsa.htm
This is also a good time to remind folks of the upcoming changes to the federal requirements for “exempt” employees (employees that you don’t have to pay overtime to). Not only must they be doing exempt work, which includes having discretion to make decisions important to the business, but they must be paid the same salary each pay period regardless of the quality or quantity of the hours worked. The changes coming in December 2016 will require that you also pay that exempt person $47,476 a year. If you don’t want to pay them that much or cannot, you need to track their hours and pay time and a half for any overtime worked. In making decisions about who is exempt or not and how to structure employee positions, be careful about not using “independent contractor” status as an option. Unless that person has their own company and services others when they want to and doesn’t take direction from you, “hiring an independent contractor” is a risky business. It certainly should not be an alternative if what you are thinking about is making a current employee into an independent contractor. We’re seeing more than we should of that and it leads to trouble from everyone from DOL to the workers’ compensation Abuse Unit to the IRS. We can send you separate materials on independent contractors if that would help – just send an email to rwebber@sta-law.com.
This article is not legal advice but should be considered as general guidance in the area of employment and corporate law. Bryan Dench, Amy Dieterich, Jordan Payne, and Rebecca Webber are employment and labor law attorneys; others at the firm handle business and other matters. You can contact us at 207.784.3200. Skelton Taintor & Abbott is a full service law firm providing legal services to individuals, companies, and municipalities throughout Maine. It has been in operation since its founding in 1853.