To determine which federal posters are required, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has an elaws Poster Advisor and a compliance assistance webpage. The poster advisor assists employers in determining which federal employment law posters apply to their organization. For state poster requirements, most state departments of labor websites provide a list of state employment poster requirements, or SHRM members may access our Multi-state Law Comparison Tool to determine requirements. Employers can generally download posters from the state and federal websites, or they may choose to order laminated all-in-one-type posters from a poster vendor, such as the SHRM Store.
Employers are required to have posters conspicuously posted at each organizational facility. Required posters must be displayed so they are easily visible to the intended audience, according to the DOL. There are also some posters that must be visible by applicants.
In response to the large number of employees working remotely in 2020, the DOL issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-7, addressing when the DOL will consider electronic posting by employers via email or an internet or intranet website to satisfy the employer's requirement to provide employees with required notices under a variety of federal labor laws. Previously, employers were left to speculate about how to comply with posting requirements for employees who worked fully remote. The new bulletin provides welcome guidance on electronic postings.
If all employees work on-site, employers must continue to display the posters in the physical workspace.
If there is a hybrid of on-site and remote workers, employers must continue to display the posters in the physical workspace and are encouraged to also post the notices electronically.
If the workforce is fully remote, employers can satisfy the posting requirements by delivering the posters electronically if three conditions are met:
- All of the employer's employees exclusively work remotely.
- All employees customarily receive information from the employer via electronic means.
- All employees have readily available access to the electronic posting at all times.
In addition, the DOL bulletin indicates that, "if the employer has not taken steps to inform employees of where and how to access the notice electronically, WHD will not consider the employer to have complied with the posting requirement."
For notices such as the Service Contract Act that are a one-time notice requirement and not a continuous posting obligation, employers may use email to distribute the notice to remote employees if the employees customarily receive emails from the employer.
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