Remote work isn’t going away. Even as some teams return onsite, hybrid arrangements have become a permanent part of the workplace. This shift brings new compliance responsibilities, particularly around ensuring consistent access to labor law postings for all employees, regardless of location.
Here’s the latest government guidance to help you stay compliant across today’s diverse work environments.
Is Your Labor Law Posting Coverage Current?
By law, U.S. employers must provide mandatory labor law information to every employee, not only those who work onsite Federal agencies, like the Department of Labor (DOL), indicate that digital labor law posters can supplement physical copies if employees are remote or split their time between home and office. DOL guidance further specifies that electronic postings should be made available to employees who don’t visit a location with physical postings at least 3-4 times per month.
To be clear: Hybrid workplaces require both physical postings at work locations and electronic postings for remote access. A fully digital approach is only acceptable if your entire workforce is remote, regularly receives updates electronically and has easy access to these postings.
Employment laws typically follow the state where an employee performs their work, not necessarily where they live, affecting rules like minimum wage and overtime.
Providing Multi-State Compliance for Remote Workers
For companies with remote employees across different states, meeting labor law posting requirements becomes more complex. Generally, the laws in the state where an employee works (not necessarily where they live) govern employment rights, like minimum wage and overtime.
Moreover, your business’s primary location may also impose compliance requirements. If your remote employees report to your main office but work from another state, the safest approach is to provide state-specific postings for both locations.
Avoid Off-the-Clock Work for Non-Exempt Remote Employees
In other compliance areas, the DOL emphasizes the importance of tracking hours and paying non-exempt (hourly) remote employees for all time worked. Here are some best practices:
- Explain expected work hours for remote employees
- Use an electronic system for clocking in and out, or weekly timesheets as an alternative
- Prohibit off-the-clock work, such as responding to emails or calls while not clocked in
- Require prior approval for any overtime
Clarification on FMLA Coverage for Remote Employees
Does FMLA apply to companies that operate entirely online? While we await further clarification from the DOL on this issue, employer law attorneys predict that FMLA eligibility might extend to fully remote workforces in the future. Until then, companies that deny FMLA leave to otherwise-qualified remote employees risk potential litigation.
The current FMLA criteria for employee eligibility include:
- 12 months of employment with the company
- A minimum of 1,250 hours worked in the past 12 months
- The employer has 50+ employees within a 75-mile radius of the work location
For remote employees, the designated work location is where they report and receive assignments, not necessarily their home office. This means a remote worker may still qualify for FMLA leave if the reporting office has 50+ employees within a 75-mile radius, provided the other eligibility requirements are met.
Complete Labor Law Posting Compliance for Remote Employees
Poster Guard Plus offers two easy ways to keep remote and hybrid teams informed of federal, state and local labor law posting regulations. Choose between Poster Guard® E-Service for Remote Workers, which delivers required postings to employees by email and tracks their acknowledgments, or the Intranet Licensing Posting Service, which allows you to host current postings on your internal web portal for convenient, company-wide access. Both options include automatic updates and year-round legal monitoring to ensure full compliance across all locations.
