Friday, March 14, 2008

Minimum Wage Propaganda Poster

From my understanding of the research that I have done with the minimum wage posters is that different states have different requirements regarding the minimum wage posters. Many states require that employers have the poster whereas some states merely recommend that an employer post the minimum wage poster. The U.S. Department of Labor says that posting requirements vary by statute; that is, not all employers are covered by each of the Department's statutes and thus may not be required to post a specific notice. Not only are there minimum wage posters, but there are other posters that are required or suggested as well. On the U.S. Department of Labor website, they have a chart to inform the public of which posters are required for employers to post in the workplace.
The minimum wage poster only includes two images. One image resembles a United States flag. On the opposite side of the flag image, there is a United States of America Department of Labor seal. The entire poster is red, white, and blue, which are the infamous colors of the United States. There is also a large image of a telephone number for people to use if they have questions or comments. By placing the number on the poster, I think the Department of Labor is trying to convey is that like America, they are willing and ready to help anyone who may have issues or concerns with employment and minimum wage. The poster is very patriotic and serious. There are not any fun colorful pictures. I think the poster is supposed to look serious to force employers to feel that it is necessary to have the minimum wage poster in their workplace. Also the poster is intended for those who are employed which are usually an older group of people who take their job seriously. The words “employee rights” are very large to stress that employees are important and to catch the attention of employees.
The following information for purchasing a minimum wage poster was found on a website called Business Know How where employers are able to purchase most types of posters that may be required by their states. It reads,” Compliance with labor law posting requirements has never been easier. The combined State, Federal & OSHA laminated poster for Tennessee includes current (at the time you order), up-to-date posting requirements so you don't need to search for all the required labor law postings yourself. The Tennessee labor law poster is available in English or Spanish versions.” Even though some of the posters can be downloaded for free, this website charges different rates for package deals. I decided to play around with the website a little more and I came across a part of it that allow browsers to choose which state the poster is needed. I chose Tennessee to see what kind of propaganda I could find. On this page the website targets the employers with sincere gestures, as if by purchasing the poster from the Business Know How site it will make life easier by saying,”Save time and gain peace of mind. Order the combined all-in-1 State/Federal & OSHA poster for your Tennessee workplace today. Then, when your order arrives, hang it in a place in your business that your employees visit regularly. If you have more than one office location, you'll want to order one poster for each location.”
I was also able to locate a page on the same website that offers a labor law poster kit, “Comply with both federal and Tennessee labor laws by displaying these labor law posters in your office. Each kit contains two laminated posters - one Federal labor law poster and one Tennessee state labor law poster - that contain the latest, most up-to-date labor notices required for your state.”
In my opinion, this minimum wage poster is another tool that people have decided to make money from. It seems to have begun as a simple poster to inform employees of their rights in the workplace so that they will not be treated unfairly, instead employees do not pay attention to them and others are getting rich from it. The poster itself contains so much patriotic detail that it demands attention from any American, not just an employee.