The workplace posters every Massachusetts employer has to hang

Key takeaways

• Mass.gov’s workplace poster page lists 13 entries: 11 Massachusetts notices and 2 pointers to federal posters from OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor.
• Every Massachusetts employer has to display the Paid Family and Medical Leave poster from the Department of Family and Medical Leave, and the fine for a first violation is $50 per employee.
• The veterans’ services notice under M.G.L. c. 115, s. 2E applies only to employers with more than 50 full-time employees.
• The federal FMLA poster applies to private employers with 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
• The EEOC’s penalty for a covered employer that fails to post its “Know Your Rights” notice is $680 as of November 13, 2026, and it is adjusted every year.

A workplace poster is a government-written notice of employee rights that an employer has to display where staff can read it. If you have even one employee at a shop, restaurant or office in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline or any other Massachusetts city or town, you owe your staff a wall of them. Massachusetts workplace poster requirements come from two levels of government: state agencies such as the Attorney General’s Office set most of the list, and federal agencies add several more. Every one is a free download.

This guide lists the state posters and the agency behind each, the federal posters, the ones that depend on your headcount or industry, where and in which languages to post, where to download them, and the fines written into the law.

Which posters does Massachusetts require employers to hang?

Massachusetts requires employers to hang the notices listed on the state’s Massachusetts workplace poster requirements page, which names each poster, the agency that issues it and the statute behind it. Mass.gov says the list may not be complete. The table shows the state posters that apply to private employers.

Poster	Issuing agency	Statute cited by Mass.gov
Massachusetts Wage and Hour Laws	Office of the Attorney General	M.G.L. c. 151, s. 16
Earned Sick Time Notice of Employee Rights	Office of the Attorney General	M.G.L. c. 149, s. 148C
Fair Employment Law	Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD)	M.G.L. c. 151B, s. 7
MCAD Parental Leave Notice	MCAD	M.G.L. c. 149, s. 105D
Information on Employees’ Unemployment Insurance Coverage (Form 2553A)	Department of Unemployment Assistance	M.G.L. c. 151A, s. 62A
Notice to Employees (workers’ compensation)	Department of Industrial Accidents	M.G.L. c. 152, s. 22
PFML mandatory workplace poster	Department of Family and Medical Leave	M.G.L. c. 175M
Veterans’ services notice	Executive Office of Veterans Services	HERO Act (M.G.L. c. 115, s. 2E)
Temporary Workers Right to Know	Department of Labor Standards	M.G.L. c. 149, s. 159C
Notice of Rights for Domestic Workers	Office of the Attorney General	M.G.L. c. 149, s. 190

One more state poster, Workplace Safety and Health Protection for Public Employees, is marked “Public Agencies Only” and does not apply to a private business.

Which federal posters does a Massachusetts employer need?

Federal posters for a Massachusetts employer come mainly from the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Department of Labor’s workplace posters page says “posting requirements vary by statute” and that not every employer is covered by every law. The federal posters most small private employers meet are these:

• Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, from the Wage and Hour Division. The current version was last revised in April 2023, and the division says earlier versions no longer satisfy the rule.
• Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law, from OSHA. Mass.gov marks this one “Private Companies Only.”
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act notice, from the Wage and Hour Division.
• Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal, from the EEOC, for employers covered by federal anti-discrimination law.
• Your Rights Under USERRA, from the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. Employers can meet this duty by posting the notice or by handing it out.

Which posters depend on the size or type of your business?

Posters that depend on size or type include the federal FMLA poster, the Massachusetts veterans’ notice and three industry notices. The Family and Medical Leave Act poster applies to private employers with 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year, according to the Wage and Hour Division’s FMLA questions page. A covered employer displays it at every location, even one with no eligible employees.

The Massachusetts veterans’ services notice applies to “every employer in the commonwealth with more than 50 full-time employees” under M.G.L. c. 115, s. 2E. The Massachusetts Parental Leave Act applies to employers with six or more employees. The Temporary Workers Right to Know notice is for staffing agencies, which post it at each office. The Notice of Rights for Domestic Workers concerns people who employ domestic workers.

Earned sick time works the other way. Employers of every size post the Earned Sick Time notice; headcount only decides whether the leave is paid. Employers with 11 or more employees provide paid sick time, and smaller employers provide unpaid sick time.

Where do the posters have to be displayed?

Posters have to be displayed where employees will see them, and each law words that slightly differently. The Department of Family and Medical Leave wants the PFML poster “in a location where it can be easily read” and suggests hanging it beside your other mandatory posters. The Department of Industrial Accidents wants the workers’ compensation Notice to Employees “on a bulletin board in a suitable public area” on the premises. M.G.L. c. 151, s. 16 calls for wage orders to be posted in a conspicuous place in every room where people work.

Federal rules read the same way. The EEOC asks for a conspicuous location where notices to applicants and employees are customarily posted, and it says electronic posting in most cases supplements the physical poster.

The workers’ compensation notice is a form you fill in. It has to show your insurance carrier, the carrier’s address, your policy number and the person to contact about an injury, and a blank copy does not meet the rule.

Do the posters have to be in languages other than English?

Posters in languages other than English are required in some cases. The PFML poster has to be available in English and in each language that is the primary language of five or more people in your workforce, if the Department of Family and Medical Leave offers that translation. The department’s PFML poster and notices page offers the 2026 poster in English and 12 other languages.

The Department of Industrial Accidents tells employers to post the Notice to Employees in English and “other appropriate languages,” and supplies eight translations. The Attorney General’s Office publishes the Wage and Hour Laws poster in six languages.

Where can you get the Massachusetts and federal posters for free?

Massachusetts and federal posters are free from the agencies that write them, so you do not have to buy a laminated set from a vendor. To assemble a set:

1. Open the Mass.gov workplace poster requirements page and download each state PDF that applies to you.
2. Get the Attorney General’s posters in other languages from the workplace rights publications page.
3. Answer the questions in the U.S. Department of Labor’s elaws Poster Advisor, which tells you which federal posters fit your business and links the files.
4. Download the EEOC notice from the EEOC poster page and the OSHA poster from OSHA’s publications page.
5. Fill in the workers’ compensation notice, then print and hang the set.

OSHA requires any reproduction of its poster to use at least 10-point type.

What happens if you do not post a required notice?

Failing to post a required notice can bring a fine, and the amount depends on the law. The figures below are the ones official sources state as of November 13, 2026:

• PFML poster and notices: $50 per employee for a first violation and $300 per employee for each later one, according to the Department of Family and Medical Leave.
• Fair Employment Law poster: $10 to $100 for refusing to post, and $100 to $1,000 for a repeat offense more than 60 days after a conviction, under M.G.L. c. 151B, s. 7.
• EEOC notice: $680, adjusted annually for inflation.

The Department of Industrial Accidents says an employer that leaves the required details off its notice “is subject to a fine” but does not publish the amount on its notice page. A willful failure to post the FMLA notice can bring a civil money penalty for each offense, according to the Wage and Hour Division.

Do you have to give employees notices as well as hanging posters?

Several laws require notices handed to each employee as well as a poster on the wall. The Department of Family and Medical Leave requires a PFML notification form for each new employee within 30 days of hire, on paper or electronically. The Earned Sick Time rules, described on the Attorney General’s earned sick time page, tell employers to post the notice and also either give each worker a copy or put the sick time policy in a handbook.

Employers with more than 50 full-time employees give the veterans’ notice to each employee at the start of employment and again every year.

What should you recheck before you act?

All figures below were checked on November 13, 2026.

• PFML poster year: the Department of Family and Medical Leave listed both a 2026 and a 2027 poster. The 2027 version was English only, and the general Mass.gov poster list still linked a 2025 version. Download from the department’s own page.
• PFML fines of $50 and $300 per employee: confirm with the Department of Family and Medical Leave.
• EEOC penalty of $680: adjusted every year.
• Federal FLSA poster: the April 2023 revision was current. Check the Wage and Hour Division for a newer one.
• Workers’ compensation notice fine and the FMLA civil money penalty: amounts not confirmed here. Ask the Department of Industrial Accidents at (617) 727-4900 and check the Wage and Hour Division.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change; confirm the current requirements with the agency named before you file or pay.

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