Committee advances bill letting Ohio employers post state labor notices online

Senate Bill 33, which would allow Ohio employers to post specified state labor-law notices on the Internet rather than only in a conspicuous physical location at the workplace, advanced out of the House Commerce and Labor Committee after sponsor testimony, witness remarks and committee votes.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Wilson, told the committee the measure is “a simple, straightforward bill” that would permit employers to make the Department of Commerce’s workplace notices available electronically to employees and would not change the content of those notices. He said the bill mirrors a prior version that passed Senate committee and the full Senate in the last General Assembly but did not reach the House floor.

The bill responds to workplace changes since the COVID‑19 pandemic, including remote and hybrid work arrangements, by allowing employers — at their option — to post required Ohio notices via an online portal, QR code, or employee timesheet tab rather than only on a physical poster in a break room. Senator Wilson told the panel that the Director of the Ohio Department of Commerce already publishes the notices online and updates them annually; SB33 would make electronic availability an acceptable alternative to the existing physical-posting requirement.

Committee members asked how the change would affect enforcement and access. Representative White raised concerns about…