Yesterday the Department of Labor (DOL) issued the required poster that employers subject the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (those with fewer than 500 employees) must place on their premises to satisfy the employees of rights requirement under the Act.

Since a vast majority of employees are now working remotely, the DOL has advised that employers may satisfy the standard notice requirement of hanging the poster in a conspicuous place on the employer’s premises (i.e., a kitchen, breakroom or other accessible area) by emailing, or directly mailing, the notice to employees, or by posting the notice on the employer’s internal or external website. Employers that are not fully remote must also post the notice. Similarly, employers who are currently all remote must remember to post the notice once in-office operations resume.

Employers may obtain a free copy of the poster by either contacting the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-4-USWAGE (1-866-487-9243), or by downloading the notice from the DOL website. Employers should check the DOL website for potential updates to the poster. In addition to the poster itself, the DOL issued a “Frequently Asked Questions,” which can be found here.

Employers must post the notice on or before April 1, 2020, the enactment date established by the DOL.

Note that the current poster contains what appears to be an error, stating that the 10 weeks of paid sick leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act expansion is capped at $12,000 (instead of $10,000). We anticipate the DOL will fix this oversight, and employers may want to hold off on notifying employees until a revised poster is published, but no later than April 1. Once the revised poster is made available, we will provide an updated link.

For more information on the Act please visit Reed Smith’s dedicated Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center.

Since this blog was posted the DOL has updated the FFCRA notice poster.  Read about the update here.