• Employers should display labor law posters to reduce the risk of a lawsuit.

Properly displayed posters at work make employees aware of individual rights under the law. Failure to properly display posters deprives employees of vital information, and may give people additional time to file a lawsuit if workers believe rights have been denied. Courts have held that if posters are not displayed, the deadline to sue an employer may be extended.

For example, in one case, an employer failed to display a notice informing an employee of the person’s rights under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. This information is on the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal poster from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Employees normally have 180 days from the day discrimination took place to file a lawsuit. Because the poster was not displayed, the employee was not aware of this time limit. The court noted that Congress included a posting requirement in the law to make sure employees would be informed of the rights.

The employer’s failure to post the notice prevented the employee from learning about the person’s rights when discharged. As a result, the court granted the employee additional time to file a lawsuit.