A number of federal labor and employment regulations require employers to put up posters in common areas for their employees to read. But what do you do when your employees are working remotely because of the Covid 19 pandemic?
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has an answer when it comes to posters about protections afforded by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and several other laws DOL enforces.
A Field Assistance Bulletin issued Dec. 29 says employers are permitted to distribute the poster information solely in electronic form only when all employees exclusively work remotely, all those employees customarily receive information from the employer via electronic means, and all of them can access the electronic posting at any time.
For employers with some – but not all – employees working remotely, physical posters are still required for on-site employees, and DOL also “encourages” electronic posting for teleworking employees.
The DOL guidance only applies to federal posting requirements enforced by the Labor Department, which also includes such agencies as the Office of Safety and Health Administration and Mine Safety and Health Administration. It does not address posting requirements of other federal agencies or state and local governments.
There are generally two types of notice requirements: a one-time notice and continuous postings. One-time notice requirements (such as those required by the Service Contract Act) can be met by email delivery if employees customarily receive emails from the employer. For continuous posting, all employees must have “readily available access” to the electronic posting at all times. Methods can include an internal or external website or a shared network drive or file system.