EEOC Releases New Mandatory Workplace Poster

Published: Employment Law Business Guide
October 28, 2022

On October 20, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published a new poster entitled “Know Your Rights.”  This new poster replaces the previous “Equal Employment Opportunity Is the Law” poster.  All employers subject to federal EEO laws must display the “Know Your Rights” poster on their premises in a conspicuous place.  The EEOC encourages employers to post it online as well.  An exclusively digital posting of “Know Your Rights” is permissible, but only if the employer does not have a physical location or its employees work remotely and do not come into the office regularly.

The primary update on the new poster is the use of more straightforward language and formatting, designed to easily inform employees of their rights and of the avenues available to them to redress grievances.  “Know Your Rights” replaces long paragraphs of text with a series of questions and bullet point answers to simplify the law for employees.  It also provides a QR code that employees can scan for more information and to submit a charge of discrimination.

Additionally, the EEOC incorporated the information from its 2015 supplement of the “EEO Is the Law” poster into “Know Your Rights” to advise employees that sexual orientation and gender identity are protected categories, and that applicants and employees are protected when inquiring about, disclosing, or discussing their compensation or the compensation of other employees and applicants.  Unlike the previous poster, “Know Your Rights” clarifies that union members and union applicants are protected equally with non-union employees.  While the general substantive rights protected under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act have not changed, the EEOC has packaged them in a more employee-friendly way with “Know Your Rights.”

Employers should review the new poster and hang it as soon as possible.  Although the EEOC has not provided a specific deadline for displaying the new poster, it has advised that, “Employers should remove the old poster and display the new one within a reasonable amount of time.”  Failure to comply may result in a fine of $569 for each separate offense.

To compare here are links to the old and new EEOC posters:

Old poster: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf

New poster: https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights_10_20.pdf