Every state has its own rules for placing labor law posters in the workplace. These laws can pose unique challenges to companies that hire and employ remote workers. In this post, you can learn more about remote work’s impact on labor law poster compliance.
The Importance of Labor Law Posters
Labor laws are designed to protect the interests of both employers and employees. Employers are responsible for ensuring their workers are informed about their legal rights and obligations. For this reason, displaying labor law posters is a mandatory requirement.
These posters provide details about various labor laws and were originally designed to be placed in a visible location accessible to all employees. They serve as a resource for employees to understand their rights and outline the appropriate steps to take if they experience workplace issues or suspect violations. However, the recent increase in remote work makes displaying labor law posters tricky.
Legal Requirements
Despite hiring and employing remote workers, companies must still provide them with labor law posters. Those posters must also comply with and clearly outline both state and federal labor laws. Remote employees have the same legal protections as those working in physical, brick-and-mortar sites.
Accessibility
Remote employees cannot access labor law posters that employers must have onsite at physical work locations. With that, companies that hire at-home or telecommute workers must provide those employees with digital access to federally- and state-required labor law posters. On the federal level, for example, agencies overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor require these posters to be displayed.
Distribution
Remote work impacts how companies can distribute labor law posters to remote workers. Ways to make these resources available include emailing each employee copies of the required labor law posters. Employers can also make these posters available to all employees on their company’s intranet or other digital system that all employees can access.
Training
Businesses with remote workers must always keep these employees trained and informed about labor law posters. They must ensure every remote employee understands their rights as explained on the labor law posters and comply with the regulations described on the resources.
Updates
When state or federal labor laws change and lead to updates on labor law posters, employers must update the labor law posters displayed on their worksites and send out new or updated posters to their remote workers. Again, remote employees have a legal right to know about updates to labor laws and how it affects their rights and responsibilities.
Verification of Receipt and Understanding
Employers can verify that remote workers know of the labor law posters made available by hosting a virtual meeting or emailing verification forms that employees must sign and send back. The forms prove that the employee received the required posters and knows their rights and responsibilities as dictated by the various posters.
Required Labor Law Posters
As mentioned earlier, employers must display federal and state-specific labor law posters. Labor law posters inform employees of their protections and rights.
Required federal labor law posters that all employers across the United States need to provide to remote workers may include:
- EEOC “Know Your Rights” Notice
- Fed-OSHA “It’s the Law” Notice
- Federal Minimum Wage Notice
- Employee Polygraph Protection Notice
- Family and Medical Leave Act Notice
- USERRA Rights and Benefits Notice
- Payday Notice
- IRS Earned Income Tax Credit Notice / Notice 797 / W-4 Notice
- Employee “Right to Know” Notice
- USCIS Discrimination Notice
Most states also require state-specific labor law posters that must be provided to remote workers. For example, employers in Louisiana must provide not only the federal posters listed above but also specific Louisiana posters. Some Louisiana posters, as an illustration, include:
- Age Discrimination
- Out of State Motor Vehicles
- Genetic Discrimination in Employment
- Earned Income Credit
- Indoor Air Quality Act/Smoking Policy
- Military Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR)
- Minor Labor Law
- Sickle Cell Discrimination
- Timely Payment of Wages
- Unemployment Insurance
- Workers’ Compensation Notice
- Pregnancy Rights of Employees
- Workers’ Compensation Fraud
- Independent Contractor or Employee?
Some states may have less than the list of Louisiana posters regarding the number of required posters required to be provided; some states may have much more. However, the most important thing is that all remote workers can access the complete list of required federal and state-specific labor law posters.
Legal Risks Associated with Non-Compliance
When businesses employ remote workers, the company assumes the legal risk of complying with labor law poster requirements. Non-compliance can result in costly penalties, fines, and lawsuits. Businesses may have to adapt any existing labor law poster compliance strategy to accommodate their remote staff.
