Department of Labor Issues Guidance on Electronic Posting of Required Notices

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-7 which allows employers to post required labor law notices via electronic means due to the COVID-19 pandemic in certain circumstances.

This bulletin affects the employer continuous posting requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Section 14(c) of the FLSA, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, and the Service Contract Act.

The DOL will consider electronic posting an acceptable substitute for the continuous posting requirement when: (1) all employees exclusively work remotely, (2) all employees customarily receive information from the employer by electronic means, and (3) all employees have readily-available access to the electronic posting at all times. If any employer has both on-site and remote employees, the employer may supplement the hard-copy notices with electronic posting. The DOL encourages both methods of posting the required notices.

The electronic posting can be done through an intranet site, internet website or shared network drive or file system posting, however, the DOL makes it clear that these electronic methods must be at least as effective as the hard-copy notices and the employer must already customarily post notices to employees electronically.