Remote work in the US: know your rights as an employer

9 of February, 2021

Its fair to say remote working is now becoming a key element of any office company in the USA. More and more enterprises are weighing up how to implement a work-from-home system that is legal and fair. Needless to say working from home implies some legal ramifications relating to expenses, pay, working hours and other new conditions rising up. Whilst it may seem at first to be a liberation from health and safety standards, remote work is actually a more complicated way of enforcing rights between you and your employee.

You need to revise how working from home will change the practices of your HR and legal team. Any good manager knows that preparing for every eventuality is the key to a successful business. Knowing your rights as an employer is important for this. With our tips below and a helpful app we will get you on the road to understanding the challenges ahead when looking at remote working in the US.

Your rights as an employer with remote work in terms of Data Security

One of the more underrated aspects of remote working is the sheer access to data your employee can have on their. Before it was very difficult to steal data efficiently from a workplace. Now, with cloud storage and remote work, it becomes increasingly more accessible and thus you need several more layers of security to protect your data from employees who could potentially steal it, or save it to the wrong file. Make sure you take the following steps with your IT team :

• Review your internal device usage policy : You need to make sure if you employee is using office materials at home they are for office use only. An employee for example using his powerful office computer to mine bitcoin could be not only degrading the capital at his disposal but also engaging in a time wasting activities. Make sure there are documents available to the employee knowing what they can or cannot do with their work PC.
• Make sure you have a separate chat application to separate personal from the confidential : the use of Whatsapp or other social media to chat amongst colleagues and crucially exchange documents or sensitive information may be too insecure. Have a look at what your company can implement as security measures.
• Update your privacy policy if you have not already : with employees not just taking equipment but confidential data with them at home, its important you touch base with them about what is legally not allowed in terms of sharing data or mere industry and trade secrets.
• Built-in travel policies for 100% compliance: Set up your travel policy, adjust it when you want, and automate the rest. You can set the rules and processes, leaving your travelers free to book for themselves while staying within policy.

Taxation issues as an employer with remote work

Another issue you can fall upon is the taxation headaches that occur due to you have employees working from home but in an out-of-state location (i.e your employee lives in a different state to the office’s registered state, and is thus fulfilling their activity in that state). This can further be an issue if the employee was offered a compensation package with their salary related to in-state costs, such a company car or travel card. You also have to monitor your employee’s working hours to see if they conform with his or her state.

Luckily businesses can take measures that help tackle this thorny issue :

• Gather as much information about tax law in the two relevant states. It helps to make a grid comparing the two for each section and what you are required to do as an HR team.
• Remember that for most tax and employment law the state where a remote employee is working tends to be the state that is relevant to your employer-employee relationship. This is especially the case when it comes to worker compensation insurance and unemployment insurance. Failing to register for and obtain these insurances in the state where the employee is working remotely full time is a sure fire way to expose yourself to penalties.
• Remember that the rules can differ from state to state. New York State is much stricter with people teleworking from other states than Texas, for example.
• You may have to register your employee as a self-employed worker in your state in order to employ them. Consider the options between the two before taking a decision.

Using HR apps to let employees know your rights

HR technology has come across leaps and bounds. Thanks to a location tracker you can make sure your employee is working from the place agreed and that they are legally in the clear with regards to where they are earning their income.

You can also store crucial legal documents in their all-in-one app so that when they are on the go they are aware of the practices they must follow without having to ask their manager. Having the terms and conditions for working remotely is an essential cornerstone so that employees do not violate the law or company policy by accident.