For a small business, keeping up on labor law and safety postings can be time-consuming. Unfortunately, the process has also been costly for some employers in Washington and 10 other states that were targeted by an unethical poster sales company.
Mandatory Poster Agency Inc. has been reprimanded by 11 states, including Washington, for giving notices to employers under names that emulate state agencies.
The letters, as well as phone calls and visits from MPA, gave business owners the impression they could face fines of up to $17,000 if they did not purchase certain posters. The posters are often free directly from government agencies, and cost about $15 to $20 from third parties.
The Michigan-based business, which was not registered to do business in Washington, sent notices on replicated government stationary, complete with state emblems and local return addresses.
Locally, notices went out under the guise of the Washington Labor Law Poster Co., Washington Food Service Compliance Center and Washington Healthcare Compliance Center. Mandatory Poster Agency is now prohibited from sending such notices and must give customers the option to request a refund.
Locally, this only applies if employers bought hand-washing posters from MPA within the last year, according to the attorney general’s office.
Washington employers are required to display 11 postings from five agencies, said Ashley Kaplan, a compliance attorney for G.Neil, a Florida-based human resources service provider. That sounds simple, but keeping up with changes to the posters and acquiring them can be time-consuming.
“There is not a one-stop (government) shop for a business to get the posters,” she said. “You have to have the time and resources to locate and obtain them. … A lot of businesses are going to third parties to keep up.”
Determining whether new posters are mandatory can be confusing, Kaplan said.
“A lot of companies out there are tricking businesses to replace the posters when any change occurs,” she said.
A list of mandatory posters is available at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries’ website, www.lni.wa.gov/IPUB/101-054-000.pdf.