(Editor’s note: Today’s article is brought to you byOur friends at Poster Guard® Poster Compliance Service, a division of HRdirectAnd the leading employment law poster service that keeps your business updated with all required federal, state and local employment law jobs, and then keeps it that way – for a full year. Enjoy the article!)
Just in case you missed it, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 on December 29, 2022. The Act has several components including:
- Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act (PWFA)
- Benefits of telehealth
- Prepare each community for Enhanced Retirement Act (SECURE) 2.0
- Urgent Protection for Breastfeeding Mothers Act (PUMP)
There is a nice overview on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website “How Does the Uniform Appropriations Act of 2023 Affect Employers?” Worth checking out.
Today, I’d like to focus on the last rule you mentioned – the PUMP Law. With this ruling, organizations need to update their federal labor law posters.
What is the pump law?
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), all covered employers must provide a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk, as needed, for a nursing child for one year after the baby is born. In addition, employees are entitled to a place at work for pumping water, other than the bathroom, that is protected from view and free from intrusion.
Previous legislation excluded exempt employees from coverage, but the PUMP Act makes that right. In addition, non-exempt employees who are not fully exempt must be paid wages from service for that time. For more information about the PUMP Act, check out this fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Labor — as well as the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.
Well, now that we’ve updated the PUMP Act, let’s talk about what you need to do as a business owner. Well, the first thing is to commit to keeping your employment law posters up to date.
And just an important reminder. This is the third time in the past 12 months that employers have been required to update their employment law posters. Yes, you read that correctly. Back in October of last year, changes to equal employment opportunity laws resulted in a new “Know Your Rights” poster. In April of this year, the FLSA was revised to reflect the PUMP Act, which is what we’re talking about today. And brace yourself for it… Just last month, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) went into effect.
Now that organizations are faced with a new second (or third) label in the workplace, it’s time to think about your overall compliance strategy. Employers can move from reactive to proactive when it comes to job compliance.
Take a proactive approach to employment law posters
For a moment, let’s step back from the immediate need for the new FLSA sticker. Nationwide, there are thousands of government agencies responsible for hundreds of mandatory posters, and according to our friends at Poster Guard, they monitor over 22,000 federal, state, and local agencies. Think of all the hours it takes you to track and stick to these changes. I’m pretty sure HR doesn’t have time to do that. And if they do, is this how they want to spend their precious time?
That’s why instead of doing all the work yourself, you can rely on our Guard Sticker Compliance Service. With this service, you receive an updated federal sticker that includes the new EEO sticker, the new FLSA sticker, as well as other mandatory federal labor law stickers. The service also provides all necessary state and local labels.
Poster Guard offers a 100% guarantee that all posters are compatible – or they will pay a fine for posting inappropriate content. But for me, the best part of the service is that for a full 12 months, you get new stickers every time there is a mandatory change…automatically and at no additional cost.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: This is money well spent. As HR professionals, looking for employment law poster changes is not a good use of our time. Especially when there are companies like Poster Guard with a dedicated team of experts that can do it for you – effectively and efficiently.
Not only does this free HR time to focus on recruitment, engagement, and employee retention, but it sends a powerful message that you prioritize compliance and value the rights of your employees. The last thing an organization wants is for employees to see outdated compliance posters. It sends the message that following the law isn’t important and may cause job candidates or employees to ask, “What else is the company not keeping up with?”
So if you haven’t already, order your new Labor Law Posters now. And while you’re at it, think about how you can maintain label compliance moving forward. This is the perfect time to move from a reactive compliance strategy to a proactive one by subscribing to a label replacement service. It’s the best way to maintain compliance throughout the year, let HR take care of other issues, and show you care about upholding the law.
New Labor Code stickers for the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) first appeared on both legs of work hours.
