Companion Guide to Video August 2012

www.fhwa.dot.gov/federal-aidessentials

Project Construction and Contract Administration

Contract Administration

Job Site Posters Compliance

Why Field Checks are Necessary 

As employees in the American workforce, we 

have a right to work in an environment that is a 

fair and safe workplace for us. As such, 

employers are required by Federal law to make 

sure that their employees are aware of the legal 

protections available to them by physically 

displaying several Federal and State posters on 

the job site.

As the local public agency, LPA, your role is to 

verify that your contractors as employers on 

Federal-aid funded construction projects are in 

compliance with the requirement to display 

employment-related posters on the job sites. As 

a suggested good practice, provide a list of the 

required job site posters to your contractors prior 

to the actual start of work on your construction 

contract. This will allow the contractors to have 

their worksites ready in advance of the workers 

reporting to the worksite.

Field Site Spot Checks

To verify that your contractors on federally 

funded construction projects are in compliance 

with this requirement, perform detailed spot 

checks on the worksite as part of your contract 

administration responsibilities. 

The purpose of the spot checks is to confirm that 

the posters are properly displayed and are 

serving the intended purpose of providing 

accurate information to the employees.

While your contractors may meet the initial 

requirement of displaying the posters, they must 

understand this is not a “one-and-done” 

requirement. The contractors should maintain 

their poster boards to ensure the posters remain 

current, legible, and reflect accurate information. 

Regardless of when you choose to conduct a 

spot check, the job site poster boards at your 

contractor’s worksites should be in compliance.

How to Conduct Field Site Review

If you provided the contractor a list of required 

posters, use that list as a checklist to answer the 

following questions while visiting the contractor’s 

worksite:

Contractors must have appropriate Federal and State posters 

on display at job sites for workers to view
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

• Are all posters visibly displayed, easily seen, 

and readily accessible to all of your 

contractor’s employees at the worksite?

• Is the poster board located where their 

employees are most likely to gather, such as 

the contractor’s field office or carpool 

location?

• Are employees able to freely look at the 

information, without question, suspicion or 

influence?

• Are the posters legible and properly 

completed to include current contact names 

and telephone numbers?

Upon completion of your job site review, make 

sure you document and communicate your 

findings to your contractors. If deficiencies are 

found, let your contractor know how and when 

the deficiencies must be corrected and place 

documentation in the contract administration 

records.

Bottom line, make sure your contractors and 

their employees are aware of the workplace 

protections available to them by means of 

properly displayed posters.

Summary

As employers, contractors on federally funded 

projects are required to make their employees 

aware of the protections available to them as 

American workers, without question, suspicion 

or influence. For you, the LPA, this means 

confirming that contractors on Federal-aid 

projects have properly displayed the required 

posters to make employees aware of the 

workplace protections available to them.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

The content of this 

document is not a 

substitute for 

information obtained 

from State departments 

of transportation, 

appropriate FHWA 

Division Offices, and 

applicable laws. 

Scenarios have been 

simplified for emphasis 

and do not necessarily 

reflect the actual range of 

requirements applicable 

to the scenario or this 

topic. This document

was created under 

contract number

DTFH63-11-F-00066 by 

the Federal Highway 

Administration, U.S. 

Department of 

Transportation, and is 

offered to the public to 

heighten and focus 

awareness of Federal-aid 

requirements within the 

local public agencies 

community and 

reinforces the 

importance of these 

necessary policies, 

procedures, and 

practices.

This companion resource 

is the script content for 

the video production of 

the same name. 

Additional Resources

• FHWA list of required job-site posters 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts/poster.cfm

• Regulations covering form FHWA-1273 dealing with Federal-aid contracts

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/textidx?c=ecfr&SID=2f2ef2bacf77078a9240f766d42ea55e&rgn=div5&view=tex

t&node=23:1.0.1.7.22&idno=23

• Information on workplace poster requirements for small businesses 

http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/osdbu/sbrefa/poster/matrix.htm

• Information on Federal workplace posting requirements

http://www.shrm.org/LegalIssues/StateandLocalResources/StateandLocalS

tatutesandRegulations/Documents/stateposting.pdf