Compliance Requirements for a Remote Workforce
Remote work is the norm now, and it appears poised to remain the case for the foreseeable future. Still, employers continue to have a hard time adapting their workplace policies and solutions to the new reality. Find out all you need to know about remote work compliance, recruitment compliance, and employer responsibilities for remote workers.
What Do You Need to Consider for a Remote Workforce?
Looking forward, the future of the corporate workspace appears inexorably aligned towards remote work. 72 percent of organizations around the world are planning to permanently adopt some form of remote work from here on, and this is backed up by 86 percent of employees stating their preference for fully remote or remote-first work environments.
With employers adopting increasingly favorable mindsets to remote working, these are the considerations for maintaining a remote workforce:
1. Communication
The importance of workplace communication should not be diluted because the focus has shifted to remote work. Communication keeps everyone in sync and workflow moving smoothly.
With regards to this, it’s essential for employers to consider which communication medium suits the team’s culture best. It’s also important to strike the right balance; too much oversight is unlikely to do much for team morale.
2. Policy
Be clear on organizational policy and expectations early. If the policy is to be successful, it is critical for each employee to understand what is and is not acceptable, as well as the proper protocols that should be followed. For instance, you may need to outline the availability of each team member and ensure that they can be reached when needed.
Setting up clear policy ground rules will help your workers maintain a stable work-life balance and protect against burnout.
3. Collaboration
Collaboration remains a vital work ethos and having workers spread in different locations does not need to affect this. The internet and modern technology can ensure that workplace collaboration remains a prominent feature of your establishment.
Colleagues can collaborate as effectively as if they were in the same room, thanks to screen and file sharing, document versioning control, and video conferencing.
4. Resources
If productivity is to be maintained, it is critical that people working outside the office are properly informed on best practices. Referring to your remote working policy, assisting in the creation of a home office, or advising on the appropriate tools for certain jobs are all examples of this. It may even necessitate additional expenditures in order to offer the tools that remote workers require.
Both the employee and the business are responsible for ensuring that telecommuting does not negatively impact production and quality of work.
To help remote workers maintain appropriate workplace mindsets, you may create digital labor law posters for remote employees and mail them to them. This is one area where hiring an efficient and knowledgeable HR, benefits, and payroll administration company will pay off immensely.
Remote Work Compliance: Considerations for Businesses with Remote Employees
With about 50% of jobs projected to be fully remote in the future, and 25% of all professional jobs in North America expected to be remote by the end of 2022, it’s clear that remote work is no longer a passing fad or temporary aberration.
On the flip side, remote work throws up a few compliance challenges that can impact multiple facets of a business organization. These are compliance considerations that every employer with remote workers should know of:
1. Data and Security Compliance Issues
Sharing essential global customer data with remote workers is a necessary evil for employers these days, but this leaves you overwhelmingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and inadvertent public disclosure of data on the part of home office workers.
To prevent data loss from malicious attacks, establish stringent security guidelines and policies and research cross-border data transfer laws.
2. State and Local Taxes and Employment Laws
Remote work has introduced a new set of challenges related to taxation compliance. This is not helped by inconsistencies in the way individual states and countries interpret state and local tax laws. To avoid the pitfalls associated with payroll taxes, it’s best to have a long discussion with your financial adviser or review your company recruitment laws or onboarding rules.
Speaking of which, several states have notable recruitment laws which you must take into account to stay on the right side of recruitment compliance rules. Don’t neglect to mail labor law posters to remote employees, particularly if you operate a multinational business.
3. Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment Insurance
While state laws are at variance as to what may be defined as a work-related injury, it’s clear that employer responsibilities for remote workers have assumed heightened significance. In most states, employers are required to provide workers’ compensation insurance to their employees, and in the event of injury, remote workers may be entitled to benefits.
Further, if at least one of your employees works in a state, you will most likely be obligated to pay state unemployment insurance premiums.
4. Payroll
Remote work has made maintaining the work-life balance, or even establishing a clear distinction between work and life really challenging. To avoid falling foul of labor laws, ensure that workers log every hour they spend on the job.
Note that you may be required to adhere to payroll and employment laws in states where the work is being performed rather than where your business is located if you employ remote workers who work outside your home state or country for extended periods.
To keep track of payroll requirements, it may be best to employ the services of a top HR, benefits, and payroll administration company.
Remote Work Compliance: How to Create a Compliant Virtual Workspace
To create and maintain a fully compliant virtual workspace, pay attention to these simple and actionable steps:
- Gain a deep understanding of local recruitment laws
- Label your workers correctly
- Maintain up-to-date employment contracts
- Adhere to local tax obligations
- Guard against workplace discrimination
- Health and safety of workers are important employer responsibilities for remote workers
- Ensure the security of your corporate network
- Time track effectively, and adequately compensate overtime
- Prevent burnout by making breaks mandatory
- Adhere to local benefits regulations.
Common HR Compliance Issues for Remote Work
The surge in popularity of remote work has introduced a number of challenges for HR departments of various businesses to face. The most significant of these challenges can be identified as:
- Payroll and hour compliance issues
- Workplace Harassment and Discrimination issues
- Issues with workplace safety
- Multi-state HR Compliance Issues
Conclusion
Remote work, with its attendant advantages both to employers and employees, has silently revolutionized the global workspace and reshaped conceptualizations of the modern corporate ecosystem. On the other hand, it has introduced a number of pitfalls that several employers and HR professionals are yet to come to terms with.
To avoid these pitfalls, a clear understanding of what remote work compliance entails is key, followed by a clearly defined strategy for staying in line with its guidelines.
Alternatively, employers may entrust all remote work compliance considerations to an experienced and proven HR, benefits, and payroll administration company.