Employers Must Display Updated Posters

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released a new “Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)” poster to reflect recent legal changes made under the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act. Employers must replace their older poster versions with the new version because the older versions of the FLSA poster are no longer compliant. The poster revision date is 04/23.

The DOL recently made minor changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) poster with a revision date of 04/23.

Another poster revision pertains to the “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster. The law requires an employer to post a notice describing the Federal laws prohibiting job discrimination based on race, color, sex (including pregnancy and related conditions, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, religion, age (40 and older), equal pay, disability, or genetic information (including family medical history or genetic tests or services), and retaliation for filing a charge, reasonably opposing discrimination, or participating in a discrimination lawsuit, investigation, or proceeding. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 imposes a monetary penalty for covered employers who fail to post these notices. The “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster, prepared by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), summarizes these laws and explains how employees or applicants can file a complaint if they believe that they have experienced discrimination. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is in effect June 27, 2023. Employers should ensure posted materials have the correct revision date of 6/27/2023.

Employers Must Switch to New Version of Form I-9

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on July 21, 2023, a new Form I-9 that employers should use beginning August 1, 2023.  Employers may continue to use the older version of the Form I-9 (Rev. 10/21/19) through October 31, 2023. After that date, they will be subject to penalties if they use the older form. You may download the new form (Edition 08/01/23) here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-9.pdf. Note that it expires on July 31, 2026.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule that allows the agency to create a framework under which employers could implement alternative document examination procedures, such as remote document examination. The new form subsequently has a checkbox to indicate when an employee’s Form I-9 documentation was examined using a DHS-authorized alternative procedure.

Notice to Employees Regarding I-9 Document Verification

Employers who were participating in E-Verify and created a case for employees whose documents were examined during COVID-19 flexibilities (March 20, 2020 to July 31, 2023), may choose to use the new alternative procedure starting on August 1, 2023, to satisfy the physical document examination requirement by Aug. 30, 2023. Employers who were not enrolled in E-Verify during the COVID-19 flexibilities must complete an in-person physical examination by Aug. 30, 2023.

For more information, please visit: https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-to-publish-revised-form-i-9