In the United States many federal laws interact to ensure a fair and safe work
place for all employees. These laws provide for protections for all workers.
As employees,
we expect workplace rules, practices, policies, and behaviors to be fair
and to create an inclusive environment where all workers are valued and
respected.
As the Local Public Agency, LPA,
your job is to ensure your contractors create and maintain a safe work
environment
where everyone is treated with fairness, dignity, and respect while implementing
requirements of specific laws requiring postings.
To make sure that all workers are aware of the legal protections available to them,
all employers are required to display many federal and state
posters on the job site for their employees.
More specifically, federal-aid construction contracts also make this a
requirement for your contractors.
Postings are to be visibly displayed, easily seen,
and readily accessible to all of your contractor’s employees at the worksite.
Since the job site for most highway construction projects are outdoors,
this means the contractor may need to erect a poster board, such as the one seen here.
If located outdoors, the poster board should be covered
to protect the postings from deterioration due to weather exposure.
The poster board needs to be located in an area where the employees are most likely to gather,
such as near the contractors field office or a carpool location.
The contractor’s employees must be able to freely look at the information
without question, suspicion, or influence.
To be in compliance with federal-aid contract requirements,
the job site posters that must be displayed on the poster board are highlighted here.
Note that there are additional employer posting requirements that go beyond
these eight posters shown.
The Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law poster is a summary of all
employment laws that provide equal employment opportunity protections.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the oversight agency for these protections.
In addition to this poster, contractors should also post a copy of their equal
opportunity policy and identify their EEO Officer on the board.
The Notice: Federal-aid Project poster
is a false statements poster required on federally funded projects.
The Employee Rights under the Davis-Bacon Act poster describes what the
Davis-Bacon Act is, how it affects the Project, and who is covered.
The contractor will also need to post a list of actual wages to be paid on the project
to enable workers to confirm they are being paid correctly.
The U.S. Department of Labor requires that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s
Job Safety and Health, It's the Law poster is displayed at worksites.
This poster lists both employee and employer rights regarding workplace safety.
This poster basically states that a worker has a right to a hazard free workplace.
It lists the OSHA phone number to call for information or to register a complaint.
The Employee Rights poster describes the rights given to employees under
The Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA establishes
minimum wage rate, overtime pay, record-keeping,
and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in
federal, state, and local governments.
FLSA enforcement is by U.S. Department of Labor.
This Employee Rights and Responsibilities poster
describes the rights and responsibilities given to employees
under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, more commonly called FMLA,
requires employers to provide up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job protected
leave to eligible employees
for the specific reasons listed on the poster.
This poster must be displayed even if there are no eligible employees.
The poster also tells the employees how to file a complaint.
The Notice: Employee Polygraph Protection Act poster
advises employees of their right to refuse to take a lie detector test.
Employers are prohibited from discharge, Discipline, or discriminating against any employee
for exercising their right of refusal.
The U.S. Department of Labor enforces this protection.
The Whistleblowers Know Your Rights poster is required for projects that use
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or ARRA funds.
This act provides protections for certain individuals who make specified
disclosures relating to Recovery Act funds.
All posters that are required on federal-aid construction project job sites can
be accessed through the link provided in this module.
Most State Departments of Transportation can also provide these posters
along with any additional required information and posters required by
state or local laws.
However,
once the contractor downloads the posters,
the posters are not complete until the additional information required on some
of the posters, such as contact names or telephone numbers, is added.
To be in compliance with federal-aid poster requirements, all posters must be
legible,
contain all required information, and the information is current.
Creating a safe, inclusive environment where all workers are valued and respected
requires an understanding by both employers and employees of their
workplace rights.
Maintaining a poster board that is visible,
accurate, and readily accessible
means that employees have the information they need,
when they need it.