Compliance Poster Company announces their support of actions against deceptive advertising practices

In response to repeated black eyes given the labor law poster industry by a few businesses engaging in unscrupulous and deceptive advertising practices, Compliance Poster Company (CPC), an industry leader, announces their support of state agencies taking action against such practices. CPC would like to work with others in the industry to clean up this image. They have announced their interest in forming an alliance with others in the industry to unite in promoting honest, fair, and timely communication with businesses in need of assistance with federal and state labor law posting requirements.

Compliance Poster Company fully supports the actions taken by multiple States’ Labor Departments and Attorney General offices against companies engaging in deceptive advertising. At issue are advertisements mailed to companies designed to look like “official” government notices. They use terms such as “final notice” and threaten businesses with fines of thousands of dollars for non-compliance in an effort to scare businesses into purchasing their posters.

The Better Business Bureau has stated in an advertising review, “We believe that these company’s solicitations are misleading as they appear to be sent from a government agency”. The use of this type of advertisement has forced state agencies such as the Vermont Department of Labor & Industry, the North Carolina Department of Labor, the Governor of Connecticut, and the Kansas Department of Labor to warn employers about these “misleading” notices.

In addition, some of these businesses also offer to keep customers up-to-date by purchasing a “protection plan”. Usually this consists of the customer being notified when a new posting has been released and does not always include the price of a “replacement piece”. Sometimes they will send out the change, whether a mandatory change or not, and charge the customer shipping charges. Some states have frequent changes (not always mandatory) while other states do not have changes for years.

“It is unfortunate that some in our industry feel the need to deceive business owners into buying their products, instead of marketing themselves honestly,” states Patricia Blum, President of Compliance Poster Company. CPC has always operated with the belief that honest advertising and communication is the best way to provide businesses with what is required to keep them in compliance. CPC invites other compliance businesses to join them in adopting the same standards to create a “new” image for the industry. These standards simply stated are:
• Never send out notices designed to look like official government communications
• Make a distinction between “mandatory to post” and “mandatory to communicate” postings
• Never deceive businesses into believing they are out of compliance if they have up-to-date postings
• Notify the business community of legislative changes that affect their compliance status
• Maintain a stellar rating with an outside agency such as the Better Business Bureau that investigates any customer complaints

Patricia Blum states, “We have a purpose bigger than our product — keeping companies in compliance. We hope others in our industry will join in adopting these standards. We feel you don’t need to trick a business into buying posters if you have a quality product. I urge other labor law poster companies to call me personally to discuss forming an alliance to promote fair marketing practices.”

About Compliance Poster Company
Compliance Poster Company (CPC) is a privately held labor law poster provider dedicated to providing up-to-date information to assist businesses in compliance with state and federal labor law posting requirements. The innovator of the All-On-One™ State and Federal labor law poster, CPC maintains a full-time Research staff dedicated to provide clients with legislative changes as they occur. Founded in 1989, CPC maintains an exemplary AAA rating with the Better Business Bureau and is headquartered in Monrovia, CA.

Contact Information

Patricia Blum

President

Compliance Poster Company

Contact via E-mail