Senator George Lang and Senator Steve Wilson — House Commerce and Labor Committee, Senate Bill 33 (April 1, 2025)

Summary

Sponsor testimony from Senator George Lang and Senator Steve Wilson to the House Commerce and Labor Committee, dated April 1, 2025, on Senate Bill 33, which would allow employers to post certain labor law notices on the internet. The testimony states that during the previous General Assembly the same bill passed out of Senate Committee by a vote of 11-0 and passed on the Senate Floor by a vote of 30-0. It says the bill does not replace, remove, or alter provisions of current law on the content of the notices and lets employers choose how the notices are made accessible. It states that the Director of Commerce is already required to make the notices available on the Department of Commerce's website.

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“Senator George Lang and Senator Steve Wilson — House Commerce and Labor Committee, Senate Bill 33 (April 1, 2025).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-04-02-commerce-labor-testimony-testimony-4931-19df7de13c/, SHA-256 a5fedd0d626a7fbcd97e9e927792740d985bbf1755ee397023e74693f1f3b47a.

Full text

SENATOR GEORGE LANG
SENATOR STEVE WILSON

House Commerce and Labor Committee
April 1, 2025
Senate Bill 33

Chairman Johnson, Vice-Chair Lear, and Ranking-Member McNally – thank you for allowing me the
opportunity to testify on Senate Bill 33 – which would allow employers to post certain labor law
notices on the internet. Senate Bill 33 is a simple and straightforward bill. In fact, during the previous
General Assembly, this same bill passed out of Senate Committee by a vote of 11-0 and it passed on
the Senate Floor by a vote of 30-0.

Currently, Ohio employers are required by the Department of Commerce to display labor law notices
in a conspicuous and accessible location at the physical workplace. These notices address various
topics regarding employees’ rights and workers’ compensation; Ohio minimum wage; minor labor
laws; public employee risk reduction; workplace domestic violence; and the Fair Employment
Practices Law. According to a research report from the LSC Office of Research and Drafting, Senate
Bill 33 does not conflict with any federal posting requirements that are mandated by the U.S.
Department of Labor or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

We live in a world where many employees have instant access to the internet in their pocket and
where much of the private sector utilizes remote work. This bill does not replace, remove, or alter
any provisions in current law regarding the content of these notices. It simply and permissively
allows Ohio employers the flexibility of posting these notices on the internet instead of at the
physical workplace. If an employer believes that posting these notices on the internet, instead of at
the physical workplace, makes sense for their business model and their workforce, then this bill will
afford the employer that flexibility. Whether these notices are provided to employees via a QR code
on some sort of recurring basis, or if they are made available through a website link on the
employees’ online portal, or if they are made available in a separate tab on the employees’ online
timesheet, the employer will ultimately decide the manner in which these notices will be accessible
to their employees. Under current law, an employer is in violation of the Ohio Revised Code if these
notices are not displayed in a conspicuous location at the workplace. Under this legislation, an
employer would be in violation of the Ohio Revised Code if they do not make these notices available
via the internet to their employees.

As this Committee may know: under current law, the Director of Commerce is already required to
make these notices available on the Department of Commerce’s website. Additionally, the Director is
required to update those online notices annually. This legislation builds upon that piece of current
law.

Members of the House Commerce and Labor Committee, this is a simple bill. Thank you for
allowing me this opportunity to present sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 33. I stand ready to answer
any questions the Committee may have.

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