labor law poster fraudAvoiding Labor Law Poster Scams

All employers are required by law to display labor law posters, but how do business owners know that the posters they use are authentic and up to date? It’s a challenge facing millions of businesses, many of which have lost money to poster scam artists.

Those seeking to purchase labor law posters from sources outside government agencies should note that many companies often engage in what’s known as the poster scam. 
These so-called reliable and legitimate businesses typically play at convincing employers that they’re actually government agents, and then proceed to notify that a new poster must be purchased due to a variety of reasons, primarily because “your current posters are outdated” and you’d no longer be in compliance without buying their posters hinting that the penalties for such could be severe. Overall, they approach business owners and managers with a threatening presence that outwardly conceals their false claims. Unsurprisingly, what with the fines facing businesses that aren’t compliant, many fall for this scam.

Similarly, HR departments and managers frequently receive emails regarding their supposed in-compliance with the law. These companies will quickly shove the idea that the victim must post a new poster kindly provided by the emailing company for only a small fee of anywhere from $30 to $100. Again, unfortunately, this tactic often succeeds in conning employers.

Do not become victim of misleading solicitation practices

With these scam methods exposed, how do you avoid them? Both occur frequently enough that it’s a cause of concern – though of course a few are legitimate. Well, the first thing to do is verify. If someone is at your door offering posters and selling themselves as a government agent, ask to see some ID. If it’s an email, check to see if anything was really changed in the labor laws relevant to your business, then do some basic research on the company that emailed you to see if they’re actually selling real, updated posters. If you have to conclude that you can’t trust them, but a law did in fact change, you do still have to bring your posters up to date.

A legitimate company will never send you a threatening email regarding outdated posters and instead will only inform you of actual changes in labor laws that took place in a certain period of time.

OSHA’s publications and posters are available free to anyone who asks simply by visiting the publications page on the agency’s Web site at http://www.osha.gov/pls/publications/publication.html