Posting Requirements in Remote Work Setting

The United States Department of Labor, DOL, notice requirements still apply in remote work settings and the organization has published guidance to help employers meet them. Typically, notices have been in the form of posters or other postings in a “well-trafficked” area, like a break room, where everyone can readily see them. With remote work, there is no shared public space.

The DOL has shared the following guidance regarding electronic postings:

• One-time notices
  • Email delivery is sufficient if employees customarily receive emails from the employer.
• Continuous-posting notices – FLSA, FMLA, OSHA, etc. 
  • An electronic posting on an intranet or shared network drive accessible to all employees can only satisfy the requirement if the following criteria are met:
    • All of your employees exclusively work remotely.
    • All of them customarily receive information from your company via electronic means. 
    • All employees have readily available access to the electronic posting at all times. 
    • It contains fully legible text. 
• Notices required to be visible to job applicants as well as employees – Employee Polygraph Protection Act, EEOC, Whistleblower, etc.
  • Electronic-only posting is permitted if the hiring process is conducted remotely, and the applicants have readily available access to the electronic posting at all times. 

Our three key take-aways from the new DOL guidance are:

•  Electronic notices cannot replace hard-copy notices unless the entire workforce is exclusively performing remote work. Employers using a blended or optional remote work model should continue providing traditional hard-copy notice. Employers are encouraged to provide electronic posting for remote working employees.

• Electronic notices are not considered readily accessible if an employee has to request access to a file or online system to view it. If an electronic notice is used, it’s important to make sure any company intranet or network drive is readily available to all employees at any given time.

• This guidance does not address posting rules that are enforced by federal agencies other than the DOL, like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or National Labor Relations Board.

https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/Pages/DOL-Issues-New-Guidance-Posting-Notices-Remote-Hybrid-Workplaces.aspx