You’re the proud owner of a LLC (Limited Liability Company) or similar, congratulations!

Shortly after your registration goes through, you start getting mailings every day. Some of them are rather alarming - pay “x” amount of money for a labor law poster because otherwise you’ll get fined. Pay “y” to get an employee manual; if you don’t, you’re opening yourself up for lawsuits. Pay “z” to get the forms you need for your business.

You are about to start paying when you notice some wording in tiny print, almost illegible - they are not a government entity, you are not required to buy from them. But it’s printed in such a way that it’s easy to miss by a stressed new business owner. This is why I call this the “labor law document scam” because while these advertisements are technically legal, they’re using scare tactics to get you to pay for something you don’t need.

How to protect yourself
LLC filings are public and new LLC owners quickly find themselves drowning in advertisements. These particular ones are crafty because of course new business owners don’t want to fall afoul of the law. If you get a notice advising you need to fill out xyz form, post xyz poster, and so on, check to see who’s sending it. Read carefully, especially any small or fine print. Feel free to call the government agencies in question and get clarification.

If you feel that spending money on a poster or a manual will save you time, then go for it! But do comparison shopping. There are quite a few companies that compile all the labor notices that you need into one poster so you don’t need to. But don’t buy it because some scary notice says you have to.

And definitely don’t pay for forms you can access from an agency’s website. That’s just silly.