Personnel Concepts’ Letter Not Out of Compliance?

Personnel Concepts uses a slick mailer that tends to put the fear of Uncle Sam in its recipients, and it thus elicits strong reactions, some positive, some negative. Observers in the blogosphere have termed PC’s Final Notice too “tricky” or “deceiving” and even “out of compliance.” The latter is a cute take on words since the company’s business is helping other businesses stay in labor law notification compliance.

But at least one marketing hancho finds the Final Notice “brilliant” for what it accomplishes. The person never reveals his or her name but goes to great lengths with legal disclaimers. So the site all looks quite on the up and up.

The site is called Eyeing Marketing, and here’s what it says about Personnel Concepts and its marketing letter:

So I read the entire letter, which seemed like it came from the government (even though it wasn’t, but you get the point) telling me about the laws and the reasons why I needed to purchase the Massachusetts and Federal Law Posters from them, etc.   This damn marketing piece is BRILLIANT.  Personnel Concepts was able to design a piece and incorporate the “fear factor” very well into their promotion…..BRAVO!!!

If you’ve never gotten a copy of the Final Notice, you can read it here.

Personnel Concepts and the Dreaded ‘Final Notice’

Personnel Concepts claims to be the pioneer in the “labor law poster compliance industry.” I have no idea if that claim is correct, but I’ll take them at their word.

I’ve used Personnel Concepts for employment posters and labor law information for quite some time, so I’ve never been on the receiving end of one of their infamous Final Notices, letters sent out to prospects advising them they could be fined if their labor law posters aren’t up to date. From what I understand, these mailings look like letters coming from the IRS or some government agency.  Scary.

Some recipients have freaked out and written about the Final Notice online. Some of the comments seem downright comical, like they’re taking mass mailings too seriously. I know on some of my snail mail subscriptions to magazines, I get “final notices” to renew frequently. If I don’t want to renew, I just heave them.

Another common criticism I’ve read is that these posters are available for free from different government agencies. This is all true. However, finding which posters you are required to display is a really time-consuming job. Try going to OSHA.gov and figure out what your business needs to post. It ain’t easy.

Also, even when you find the posters, they’re just electronic files. So unless you want to just tack a bunch of easily destructible and defaceable laser printouts on your wall, you’ll have to aggregate them in some way and then protect them behind glass or some such. Places like Personnel Concepts put all the posters together in both a logical and easy-to-read combination that is available already laminated. Voila, instant compliance.

Personnel Concepts will also keep you advised when any of the individual posters changes on your overall poster. For instance, this past January some 12 states changed their minimum wage laws, so if your business was in one of those states, you needed to update that portion of your labor law poster. PC will warn you in advance and offer you an update. If you follow all their advice, they’ll even guarantee to pay your fines should you be zapped for not having your posters up to date.

Anyway, I totally sympathize with people who get a chill up their spine when they receive a “Final Notice” and confuse it with a government mailing. Like I said, I’ve never received one, but I have had fairly good success using Personnel Concepts.

I suggest you take a view at the Personnel Concepts Web site if you’re in business and want to stay current with all the government laws and regulations affecting you.

POSTSCRIPT: Since this was written, Personnel Concepts did indeed end its use of the Final Notice.