October 28, 2022 Updated EEOC EEOC Workplace Poster
KEEPING YOU INFORMED…
We are writing to advise you that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“the EEOC”) has released a new workplace poster. The new poster, entitled “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal,” replaces the prior version entitled “Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law” and summarizes the rights of employees pursuant to several federal laws that prohibit discrimination in employment.
Virtually all private sector employers, and all State and local government employers (including school districts and BOCES), are required by law to display the poster.
The “Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law” poster should be removed from your workplace and replaced with the new poster, which is marked with “(Revised 10/20/2022)” on the lower right-hand corner of the second page. The new poster is available at: https://www.eeoc.gov/poster. It is available in English and Spanish and will be available in additional languages at a later date. The EEOC did not provide a specific deadline by which the “Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law” poster must be replaced with the “Know Your Rights” poster, but it has stated that employers should do so “within a reasonable amount of time.” Therefore, we recommend that you replace the poster as soon as practical.
The new poster describes how employees and job applicants can file a complaint if they believe that they have experienced unlawful discrimination. It also includes a QR code for applicants and employees to quickly access a webpage that contains instructions on how to file a charge of workplace discrimination with the EEOC.
The poster must be displayed in a conspicuous location where other notifications of workplace rights and employer rules and policies are posted and where it can be readily observed by employees and applicants for employment. The EEOC encourages employers to also post the notice on the employer’s website in a conspicuous location. According to the EEOC, in some situations (for example, for employers without a physical location or for employees who work remotely and do not visit the employer’s workplace), an electronic posting of the notice may be the only posting.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that the poster be made available in an accessible format to applicants and employees with disabilities. For example, the EEOC recommends that printed notices be made available in an accessible format, as needed, to persons with disabilities that limit the ability to see or read. In the alternative, notices can be recorded on an audio file, provided in an electronic format that can be utilized by screen-reading technology or read to applicants or employees with disabilities that limit the ability to see or read.
Covered employers are subject to a maximum fine of up to $612 for each separate offense of failing to post the EEOC poster.
If you have any questions regarding the updated EEOC poster, whether the posting requirement applies to your workplace or your other workplace poster requirements, please contact Lauren Schnitzer, Adam Ross or one of our other attorneys by calling 631-694-2300.
THIS MEMORANDUM IS MEANT TO ASSIST IN GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CURRENT LAW. IT IS NOT TO BE REGARDED AS LEGAL ADVICE. THOSE WITH PARTICULAR QUESTIONS SHOULD SEEK THE ADVICE OF COUNSEL.
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