You hired your first employee, hung up the "Open" sign, and set up payroll. But did you put the right posters on the break-room wall? If an investigator walks through your door tomorrow, missing or outdated workplace posters are one of the fastest ways to turn a routine visit into a citation — and every single federal poster is available free from the government.
Here is exactly which federal posters your business must display, where to get them at no cost, how the rules change with headcount, and what comes next at the state level.
Why Posters Matter More Than They Look
Federal labor laws do more than set wages and safety rules. Most of them also require you to tell your employees about their rights — continuously, in a conspicuous place, where workers can readily see the notice. That is what the posters do.
A missing poster rarely triggers an investigation on its own. But investigators routinely check the wall during wage-and-hour audits, safety inspections, and discrimination inquiries. A bare wall signals that compliance is not on your radar, and some violations carry their own penalties on top of whatever else the visit uncovers. The good news: fixing this costs you nothing but a printer and twenty minutes.
The Federal Posters Almost Every Employer Needs
Three posters apply to essentially every private employer, regardless of size. Start here.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Minimum Wage Poster
Every employer with employees subject to the federal minimum wage, overtime, or break-time provisions must post the FLSA notice in a conspicuous place in each establishment so employees can readily read it. In practice, that means virtually every business with employees.
The poster explains the federal minimum wage, overtime pay at time-and-a-half after 40 hours, youth employment limits, break time for nursing mothers, and how to file a complaint. There is no size requirement, but workers must actually be able to read it — a letter-size printout on the break-room bulletin board qualifies; a poster hidden behind the cleaning supplies does not.
Get it free from the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, which prescribes the exact content. Only the official wording satisfies the requirement.
OSHA: Job Safety and Health — It's the Law
All employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act must display the OSHA poster (Publication 3165) informing workers of their right to a safe workplace and how to file a complaint. It goes up in each establishment where notices to employees are customarily placed, and it must not be altered, defaced, or covered by other material.
Two things owners get wrong here. First, you do not need to replace older versions — previous editions of the poster still satisfy the requirement. Second, never pay a third-party vendor for this poster. It is free from OSHA, which says so explicitly because poster-sale scams targeting small businesses are persistent. Download it from OSHA's site or order a free copy by calling 1-800-321-6742.
Employers in states with their own approved safety plans may post the state equivalent instead of the federal version.
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) Poster
Every employer subject to the EPPA must post and keep posted a notice explaining the Act's restrictions on lie-detector testing. There is no size requirement. An English poster is required; posting the Spanish version is optional but sensible if members of your crew read Spanish better than English.
Few small businesses ever administer a polygraph, but the posting obligation applies regardless. This is the poster most commonly missing from otherwise complete walls — check yours.
The Posters That Depend on Your Headcount
As your team grows, additional notices kick in at specific thresholds. Know the tripwires before you cross them.
EEO "Know Your Rights" Poster (15 or More Employees)
Employers with 15 or more employees must post the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal" notice in a conspicuous location where notices to applicants and employees are customarily posted. It summarizes the federal laws against discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, equal pay, disability, and genetic information, and explains how to file a charge.
Note the details that trip people up:
- The headcount includes part-time and temporary workers in most cases — count people, not full-time equivalents.
- The current "Know Your Rights" poster replaced the older "EEO is the Law" poster. The EEOC expects employers to have swapped within a reasonable time, so if your wall still shows the old version, update it now.
- The poster notes that sex discrimination includes pregnancy-related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and that harassment is a prohibited form of discrimination.
- If you have remote workers, the EEOC encourages posting the notice electronically where they will see it.
Family and Medical Leave Act Poster (50 or More Employees)
Private employers with 50 or more employees must display the DOL-prepared FMLA poster (WH 1420) summarizing employees' leave rights and the complaint process. The poster must appear at every location — even locations with no currently eligible employees.
The poster was last revised in April 2023 into a friendlier question-and-answer format, but the April 2016 and February 2013 versions still fulfill the posting requirement. If you crossed the 50-employee line recently, this is the poster to add first.
USERRA Rights Notice (All Employers)
Federal law requires every employer — no minimum headcount — to notify employees of their rights and obligations under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which protects the civilian jobs of service members called to duty. You can satisfy the requirement by displaying the official VETS-prepared notice where you customarily place employee notices.
Because there is no size threshold, brand-new employers with a single hire need this one from day one.
Where to Display Them (and What About Remote Workers?)
The standard is some variation of "conspicuous," "prominent," or "where notices to employees are customarily placed." In practice:
- Put all federal posters together in one high-traffic spot: the break room, near the time clock, or by the entrance employees use.
- Post at every physical location, not just headquarters.
- Never cover, deface, or stack other papers over them.
- For remote and hybrid teams, DOL guidance draws a line: if everyone works remotely, electronic posting can satisfy continuous-posting obligations as long as every worker can readily access the notices without requesting special permissions — and you must actively tell people where to find them. If only some employees are remote, keep the physical wall for on-site staff and add electronic access for the teleworkers. An intranet page, a shared drive folder everyone can open, or delivery through your HR system all work.
Free Beats Paid: Where to Get Every Poster
Every federal poster is free. The Department of Labor's elaws Poster Advisor walks you through a short questionnaire about your business and tells you exactly which posters apply to you, with download links for each in English and other languages. You can also order a printed DOL poster package covering the FLSA, FMLA, OSHA, EEO, and EPPA notices.
State labor offices publish their own required posters the same way, usually as free downloads. A national "all-in-one" poster from a private vendor can be convenient for multi-state employers, but it is never legally required — and because poster requirements change, a laminated all-in-one goes stale while the free government PDFs stay current. If you buy one, re-verify it every year.
Don't Stop at Federal: The State Posters That Come Next
Federal posters are only half the wall. Nearly every state requires its own notices, commonly including:
- State minimum wage and overtime rules
- Workers' compensation coverage and how to report an injury
- Unemployment insurance benefits and how to claim them
- State anti-discrimination and fair-employment notices
- Paid sick leave, family leave, or pregnancy-accommodation notices where the state offers them
- Payday and pay-transparency notices in states that mandate them
Some states consolidate these into a single combination poster; others issue several. Your state labor office website lists exactly what applies, and many states now publish guidance for notifying remote workers by email or web page. If you operate in more than one state, each location follows its own state's rules.
Industry-specific notices may apply on top: federal contractors have additional postings, agricultural employers have migrant-worker protections to display, and businesses with government contracts face Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Act notices.
A 20-Minute Compliance Routine
Treat your poster wall like a smoke detector — check it on a schedule, not when something is already burning:
- Today: compare your wall against the DOL Poster Advisor results for your business. Print and hang anything missing.
- Each time you hire past a threshold: recheck. Crossing 15 employees adds the EEO poster; crossing 50 adds FMLA.
- Each time you open a location or a state changes its laws: update that location's state posters.
- Once a year: verify every poster is current, legible, and uncovered. Tie it to something you already do annually, like renewing your business license or running year-end payroll.
- When you add remote workers: confirm they have electronic access and know where to find it.
Keep a simple log — poster name, version date, location posted, date verified. If an investigator ever asks, that log shows a habit of compliance rather than a scramble after the fact.
Keep Your Compliance Records Organized
Poster compliance is one small corner of the record-keeping that comes with having employees: payroll records that back up your FLSA poster promises, injury logs behind your OSHA poster, leave documentation behind your FMLA notice. When those records live in scattered spreadsheets and shoeboxes, even a simple audit becomes painful.
That is where disciplined bookkeeping pays for itself. Tracking labor costs, workers' comp premiums, leave liabilities, and safety-related spending in clean, auditable accounts means you can answer an investigator's questions with numbers instead of guesses. Beancount.io offers plain-text accounting that is transparent, version-controlled, and AI-ready — your entire financial history in files you own. Learn the workflow in the docs or explore the Fava dashboard for a visual overview. Get started for free and build the paper trail before you need it.
