Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

On October 19, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released the new “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster, which updates and replaces the previous “EEO is the Law” poster.  Covered employers are required by federal law to prominently display the poster at their work sites.

The new poster updates the earlier “EEO is the Law” poster in several ways, including that it:

• Clarifies that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on pregnancy and related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity;
• Identifies harassment, including unwelcome verbal or physical conduct, as discrimination;
• Provides information on equal pay discrimination for federal contractors;
• Uses more straightforward formatting and plain English to summarize the laws prohibiting job discrimination in ways that are easier for employees to understand.

Like the earlier poster that it replaced, the new poster outlines and describes 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,
• Genetic information (including family medical history or genetic tests or services), and includes,
• Retaliation for filing a charge, reasonably opposing discrimination, or participating in a discrimination lawsuit, investigation, or proceeding.

The poster summarizes these laws and explains that employees or applicants can file a charge if they believe that they have experienced discrimination.  The poster also includes a QR code for applicants or employees to link directly to instructions for how to file a charge of workplace discrimination with the EEOC.

The poster must be placed in a conspicuous location in the workplace where notices to applicants and employees are customarily posted. In addition to physically posting, covered employers are encouraged to post a notice digitally on their websites in a conspicuous location.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that notices of Federal laws prohibiting job discrimination be made available in a location that is accessible to applicants and employees with disabilities that limit mobility. Printed notices should also be made available in accessible format, as needed, to persons with disabilities that limit the ability to see or read.

Although the EEOC has not set a compliance deadline, employers should immediately update their postings to include the new “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster at all worksites.  Covered employers will be subject to fines for noncompliance of up to $612 per separate offense (i.e., location). Copies of the poster are available in both English and Spanish on the EEOC’s website here.  For more information, employers should visit the EEOC’s website and consult with counsel to ensure that they are keeping up-to-date with all their compliance requirements.