Remote Employees: 2021 Strategies to Reduce Risk and Avoid Non-Compliance Penalties

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Sheri Heller: Good afternoon, everybody i’m going to give people just a couple minutes to continue logging in and we’ll get started.

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Sheri Heller: right again good afternoon and welcome to compliance considerations for remote employee ease.

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Sheri Heller: For those of you who are not familiar with MP MP, is a full service human capital management service company.

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Sheri Heller: We offer a full suite of products and services, including HR payroll benefits administration time and attendance and compliance.

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Sheri Heller: We support our clients with cutting edge technical solutions, as well as proactive reliable service in really deep HR payroll expertise and PS wire for HR and we help clients succeed by tying their operations to their business objectives.

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Sheri Heller: And with that I am your presenter today sherry Heller I am one of the HR partners on our HR services team.

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Sheri Heller: And we always start out with a legal disclaimer because we are going to be talking a lot about various employment laws today, but this training is intended for educational and informational purposes only.

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Sheri Heller: A while you do hope you want a lot today, we are not attorneys in the information should not be construed as legal advice.

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Sheri Heller: Okay, with all of that said first we’re going to start with talking about how to determine work location for your remote employees.

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Sheri Heller: New hire considerations state and local waves laws state and local employment laws, hopefully we’re going to have some time, towards the end for a live Q amp a so please.

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Sheri Heller: Use the Q amp a feature at the bottom of your screen to sending questions along the way we’ll get to as many as we can, at the end of it.

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Sheri Heller: And then there’s also a pH of department of Labor resources, I think you’ll find helpful, we will be sending a link to the recording as well as the slide deck to all registered attendees and with that let’s jump in.

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Sheri Heller: So a pandemic has significantly increased the number of remote workers in the United States, in addition, many remote employees have moved out of state from their office locations for personal or financial reasons.

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Sheri Heller: So today we are going to be focusing on considerations for hiring remote employees, but there’s been an unusual trend of employees moving out of state without letting their employers know.

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Sheri Heller: This is just a consideration for those of you who have remote employees to stay ahead of legal landmines employers with remote employees should keep track of where employees actually live in work.

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Sheri Heller: Ignorance is not a Defense against violating employment lives employers should prevent me check in with remote employees.

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Sheri Heller: So how do employers determine work location for the remote employees, what are your obligations for taxes and employment laws before we answer these questions, we need to differentiate between remote workers and employees who telecommute.

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Sheri Heller: So remote work and telecommuting, are often terms that are often used interchangeably but there can be small differences between the two.

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Sheri Heller: Remote work suggests that the employee is just that remotely located while telework telecommuting, also referred to as telework can mean that the employee might be working on site, some of the time so for purposes of this presentation we’re primarily going to focus on remote work.

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Sheri Heller: Alright, so determining work location, there are some of the questions that you should ask in determining work location.

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Sheri Heller: Where is the work being performed so, generally speaking, tax obligations follow the rules of the state where the work is performed.

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Sheri Heller: Not necessarily with a business is based, so if you have an employee who is a remote worker you’re based in Massachusetts and this employee is in iowa that is a true remote employee and their work location would be iowa.

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Sheri Heller: Is remote work temporary or permanent, this is an important question, since many remote workers may eventually be returning to the office full time or in a hybrid model.

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Sheri Heller: Excuse me, the length whether whether a position, a remote position is temporary or permanent may not be the deciding factor as to where you should list the work location, but it is a consideration.

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Sheri Heller: What is the threshold for an income tax nexus so the term access is used in tax law to describe a situation in which business has a tax present in a particular presence in a particular state.

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Sheri Heller: Employers should be aware that remote working arrangements during the pandemic may inadvertently trigger steep payroll registration and filing requirements.

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Sheri Heller: When an employee is working outside of the state where the employer operates the employer may be responsible for the other states taxes, including income taxes.

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Sheri Heller: Each state income tax and withholding requirements vary significantly and maybe based both on personal residence and or work location.

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Sheri Heller: So, to make it even more complicated States also have different thresholds for when an individual working remotely in that state triggers attacks nexus so, for example in Illinois that threshold is 30 days, while in New York state it’s 14 days.

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Sheri Heller: next question would be is remote work an option or requirement.

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Sheri Heller: So for the general rule for state withholding is that the attack should be with how where the employee works.

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Sheri Heller: However, if the employee is exercising an option to work from home part of their work week, then the employer may not be required to withhold taxes from the employees state of resonance.

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Sheri Heller: This happens frequently with employers who are located near border states such as new Hampshire Massachusetts and maine.

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Sheri Heller: So if you have an employee you’re based in Massachusetts you have an employee who lives in southern maine and does maybe commute to the office a couple days a week.

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Sheri Heller: comes in for meetings but predominantly works from home that work location very likely could be that base of operation or that that where the our the businesses, local is based, excuse me.

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Sheri Heller: Is there a reciprocity agreement so some states that border each other, have entered into agreements related to allowing an employee.

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Sheri Heller: who lives in one state, but works in a neighboring State to have their withholding tax paid to either the state where the employee works or the State in which they live.

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Sheri Heller: So for an example, an employee who lives in Maryland but commutes to northern Virginia or DC for their job can have their withholding tax paid to Maryland rather than the work state.

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Sheri Heller: Because they have a reciprocity Agreement currently there are 16 states in the district of Columbia with reciprocity agreements So these are all questions you should be asking yourself in order to determine where that work location it’s.

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Sheri Heller: So Stephen unemployment jurisdiction in determining work location for the purposes of unemployment insurance.

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Sheri Heller: The US Department of Labor has created a set of rules to guide employers on which state to remit city or state unemployment insurance payments.

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Sheri Heller: That is generally we we like to say that’s a good rule of thumb for determining what the work location should be, and therefore we should be paying taxes in following employment laws so that that unemployment.

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Sheri Heller: Excuse me, the unemployment responsibility really is a good is a good jumping off point is to turn on work location.

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Sheri Heller: So first off the criminal Labor says it looks at localization of services so until the following factors that we’re going to.

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Sheri Heller: Review, they should be using consecutive order to determine the current state so localization of services, this is where the employee works, the majority of the time.

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Sheri Heller: If it has determined that the employees services are localized within a state the salary for that employee is reported to that State and the additional factors don’t have to be considered so again, you based in Massachusetts you’ve got an employee who lives and works from home in iowa.

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Sheri Heller: localization of services is what comes into play, this is where you’re going to be expected to remit your sweet payments to the state of iowa and also consider that the work locations which has all the other tax and employment law implications.

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Sheri Heller: So base of operations, this is where the employee has a base of operations and performs some services, so if the service is not localized so if if number one doesn’t apply.

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Sheri Heller: Excuse me, but the base of operations and some of the services performed within the state than the employees entire service should be reported to the state.

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Sheri Heller: So a good example of this would be a sales REP maybe reports to the office once a week or twice a week, but as on the road, the remainder of the week are working from home.

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Sheri Heller: In this case, the base of operations would be the office location and, therefore, that is, the state, you would report, you would remit your sui payments to.

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Sheri Heller: The third consideration would be place of direction and control Now I know a lot of employers use this as the.

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Sheri Heller: The the definitive way to decide where the work location is, is where the direction and control is coming from, but, as you can see from this department of Labor.

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Sheri Heller: set of guidelines it really isn’t the primary determination.

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Sheri Heller: So place of direction and control is where the employee receives direction and control from the employer and perform some services.

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Sheri Heller: So if the employees work is not localized and there’s no base of operations, but there is direction or control in one of the states where the employee perform services and the entire service should be reported to this state.

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Sheri Heller: Number four would be residence, this is where the employee he resides and perform some of their services.

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Sheri Heller: In rare instances where none of the three previous factors can be applied in the state of the employees residents will have jurisdiction.

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Sheri Heller: And then, finally, and, as discussed before this this reciprocal agreements if the states have reciprocity, the employer can sometimes choose the state of coverage.

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Sheri Heller: So, now that we’ve hopefully determine what our work location is let’s talk a little bit about new hire considerations.

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Sheri Heller: So you determine proper work location and there are a number of things to consider in regards to the various state and local laws that impact recruiting and onboarding as well as applicable wage and employment laws so first let’s start with these new hire considerations.

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Sheri Heller: So there are a number of considerations when recruiting remote employees, one of the first things you need to do is make sure that your job applications are compliant in all 50 states.

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Sheri Heller: There are more than 20 states in a number of cities that prohibit employers from asking about salary history on employment applications in or during the interview process.

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Sheri Heller: So you want to make sure that if you’re using an application to cover any state, you want to make sure that you’re not asking about salary history on applications.

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Sheri Heller: In addition, there are currently 14 states in 20 cities and counties that have ban the box lies which prohibit employers from asking about criminal history unemployment applications.

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Sheri Heller: So the other consideration is in drug testing so For those of you who do drug testing as a condition of employment.

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Sheri Heller: You may want to consider exceptions for off duty marijuana use, although it’s still illegal at the federal level there are 36 states in the district of Columbia that allow the use of medical marijuana.

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Sheri Heller: In 19 States plus the district of Columbia that have legalized recreational marijuana use many of these state lines how protections built in for medical and or off duty marijuana use where you can’t discriminate against somebody based on that use.

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Sheri Heller: So again, these are just things to consider when you’re getting started recruiting remote employees.

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Sheri Heller: All right now we’re going to move on to the onboarding process, so we we are we’ve made the offer we’re going to we’re going to bring on some remote employees.

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Sheri Heller: One of the first things we need to do as part of new hire paperwork is the form, I nine.

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Sheri Heller: So employers are expected to verify employment eligibility by reviewing original documents in person, when completing the employer portion of the I nine.

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Sheri Heller: The immigration reform and control Act does not permit employers to use copies or pictures of documents to verify employment eligibility, nor can they use video technology.

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Sheri Heller: This really does presenting the unique challenges of course for remote employees.

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Sheri Heller: So, in order to comply with the I nine requirements and employer can designate someone local to act as an agent to review the documents or complete the aim to complete the employer portion of the night.

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Sheri Heller: There are services available throughout the country to take care of this task for you or you can use any notary, you can just call any usually can call a local bank that you do business Web.

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Sheri Heller: and arrange for a notary, where a new hire can go in bring their employment verification documents into the notary and have them fill out that portion of the I.

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Sheri Heller: know the consideration is workers compensation so States generally require that the employer register for and obtain workers COMP insurance in the state where the employee is performing the services.

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Sheri Heller: So it’s really important to contact your workers COMP carrier or broker, to make sure your remote employees are covered under the workers COMP policy so workers COMP rates do vary by states, you want to make sure your your have your employees work location.

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Sheri Heller: Set with your workers COMP carrier some states like Ohio, for example, actually require separate state workers COMP policy for remote workers, very important to make sure you’ve got that covered you don’t think about workers COMP issues for remote employees, but they do come up.

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Sheri Heller: Another thing to consider is disability and assurance, there are a number of states that require employee or employer is to participate in state disability programs.

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Sheri Heller: Some states like New York require employers to provide this benefit through their insurance carrier, while others like New Jersey are provided by the state, so you want to make sure what your obligations are for disability insurance.

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Sheri Heller: Excuse me, the fourth.

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Sheri Heller: Consideration on onboarding is direct deposit many states do not allow employers to require employees to get paid via direct deposit and, in addition, there are some state laws.

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Sheri Heller: Regarding the use of P cards for those employees who don’t have direct deposit so state laws vary considerably so it’s really important again to be aware of the laws in the state in which you have employees working.

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Sheri Heller: And then, finally, finally, the state withholding forms so most States have their own withholding forms that needs to be included in your new hire package.

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Sheri Heller: As a default, a lot of employers just use the same deductions for.

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Sheri Heller: For state as they do for the Federal w two, however, if anybody is filled out a w two recently, you know that has changed significantly.

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Sheri Heller: In it there’s no longer a number of exemptions that you’re claiming it’s actually dollar amount.

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Sheri Heller: So that’s not going to translate to most of the State withholding forms, so now it’s becoming more important to make sure that the employee fill out both the federal w two and the State withholding form.

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Sheri Heller: Alright, so some of you may have heard about it, I nine flexibility during the pandemic.

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Sheri Heller: Back on march 20 2020 due to precautions implemented by employers and employees associated with proven 19.

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Sheri Heller: The Department of Homeland Security announced that it would defer the physical presence requirements associated with the for my nine please know that this policy only applies to employers and workplaces that are operating remotely during.

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Sheri Heller: So if there are employees physically present at a work location, no exceptions are being implemented at this time for in person verification of identity, identity and employment eligibility docs due to the continue precautions related to.

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Sheri Heller: DHS has extended this policy until December 31 2021 so again it’s really important to have let’s say, for example, I know here at MP, we are some of us are back to the office, but we do have employees in 17 different states so because we are not operating fully remotely do the.

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Sheri Heller: We still have to meet those requirements for the physical verification of documents related to the name.

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Sheri Heller: All right next up a steep wage and hour laws, excuse me and players need to be aware of, when you hire remote employees.

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Sheri Heller: Right first is pay frequency so every state has different requirements for P frequency states so Connecticut, for example, only allow for weekly paid for equipment, if you can see, unless there is a waiver from the Labor, Commissioner.

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Sheri Heller: Some states like Massachusetts require non exempt employees to be paid on a weekly or bi weekly basis, but they do permit exempt employees to be paid less frequently.

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Sheri Heller: States also have different requirements as to when employees must be paid after the close of the pay period again here in Massachusetts where.

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Sheri Heller: Employers are required to pay employees within six days of the close of the pay period.

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Sheri Heller: Other states are within two weeks, some are within seven or eight days, so it is really important to make sure that your pay frequency.

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Sheri Heller: is compliant in the state new states in which you’re going to be operating.

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Sheri Heller: On one side note to that is that if you do it let’s say you’re in a State that does allow semi monthly pay and that’s how you pay, and then you start hiring employees and states that require.

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Sheri Heller: At minimum bi weekly pay frequency some States Massachusetts is one of them require written notice here mass you actually have to provide 90 days written notice when you’re going to be changing pay frequency.

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Sheri Heller: So it’s really important to make sure you are up to date on any state and local wage laws regarding pay frequency.

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Sheri Heller: Next up is the minimum wage, the minimum wage laws, not only vary by state, but a number of cities and counties have varying minimum wage requirements.

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Sheri Heller: So, for example in California that are 30 cities 30 you heard that right with their own memories requirements so minimum wage laws even vary by the number of employees, whether you have under 25 or 25 employees.

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Sheri Heller: So it is again really important, if you have minimum wage workers that you are aware of the minimum wage requirements in the states in which you’re hiring employees.

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Sheri Heller: Next up is overtime.

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Sheri Heller: overtime pay requirements also different by state so under federal law overtime has to be paid for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a work week.

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Sheri Heller: However, in California, for example, non exempt employees have to be paid overtime for any hours over eight hours worked in a work day so again really important to be aware of the overtime requirements in different states.

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Sheri Heller: Next is employee classification and i’m talking about whether you’re classifying somebody as exempt meaning exempt from overtime pay laws.

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Sheri Heller: or non exempt which is usually how we refer to as hourly employees, but non exempt employees can be paid salary as well, but still have to be paid overtime.

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Sheri Heller: So under the fair Labor standards act, there are specific requirements in order to classify an employee is exempt from overtime pay.

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Sheri Heller: which include the salary basis so threshold and do these tests, however many states have more stringent requirements so at the federal level the salary threshold for a non.

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Sheri Heller: exempt employee is 35,005 68 so in California, the exempt salary threshold is 54,000 an ad.

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Sheri Heller: In New York state the threshold is 48,007 50 while in New York City, the threshold for exempt employees is 58,500 so as you can see, even if you’re complying at the federal level if the state level provides better benefit to the employee then fed us to the State law with trump.

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Sheri Heller: federal law and you would have to comply with the State Law, so if you’re hiring if you’ve got.

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Sheri Heller: exempt employees that are hiring around the country in your in your beast state you’re paying say $45,000 a year, but then you hire somebody to do the same work in California New York New York City.

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Sheri Heller: you’ll have to make sure that their salaries are increased in order to make sure that you’re complying with those state laws for exempt employees.

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Sheri Heller: And finally, one thing about final wage payments, I know when we’re hiring people we’re not thinking about also letting them go.

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Sheri Heller: But it is really important to know when you do have to terminate somebody what those final wage payment requirements are or if somebody just resigned.

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Sheri Heller: So it’s not a surprise by now that final words requirements also different misty.

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Sheri Heller: Many states differentiate final peer requirements, depending on whether with termination is voluntary or involuntary.

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Sheri Heller: So in Massachusetts, for example, employees who are in voluntarily terminated must be tp that time of termination so when you’re letting them go you got to have that check in hand.

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Sheri Heller: But for voluntary terminations in Massachusetts you can pay them on the next regularly scheduled payday.

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Sheri Heller: In New Hampshire an employee who quits and gives at least one key periods notice actually has to be paid within 72 hours of termination.

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Sheri Heller: So in addition to the final pay a lot of States require written notices or termination letters, as well as unemployment, information or brochures.

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Sheri Heller: To be provided at time of termination so again it doesn’t matter whether it’s a it’s a voluntary termination or involuntary termination it’s really important to know what those final weeds requirements are.

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Sheri Heller: All right, so because state employment laws vary widely legal compliance can quickly become complicated when remote workers move around the country.

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Sheri Heller: A regional employer that have had only had to comply with one states employment laws me suddenly have to comply with laws of another state, and potentially the laws of many other states.

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Sheri Heller: So again, very important as you’re hiring remote workers to be cognizant of all of the state and local employment.

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Sheri Heller: So let’s talk about a few of the things that you need to consider and in regards to employment law.

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Sheri Heller: So employers should be mindful that the employment laws of the state where the remote employee is working.

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Sheri Heller: Generally, will apply to that employment relationship so let’s take a look at some of those employment laws that employers should be aware of when hiring remote employees.

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Sheri Heller: So first of our our employment posters and players are required to post various federal state and local employment laws usually you’re going to have one nice big.

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Sheri Heller: All in one Federal and State unemployment poster that you’re going to put up in the break room or a you know some place in the office where everybody can see it, however, this doesn’t really work for your remote employees so for remote employees, you can either post those.

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Sheri Heller: notices or federal posters and state posters electronically on an Internet site, for example, or you can email them to the remote employees you don’t necessarily have to have them put them up in their living rooms.

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Sheri Heller: But you definitely have to have them available, so they know what employment laws apply to them.

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Sheri Heller: but also in there are a lot of required notices so many states have notices that have to be provided to employees at higher to some of these.

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Sheri Heller: notices can be included in your employee handbook to satisfy the requirement, but others actually need to be given to a new employee at higher.

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Sheri Heller: So, for example here Massachusetts employers have to provide notices at higher for paid family and medical leave for the pregnant workers fairness act in for earned sick time.

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Sheri Heller: In California, there are actually nine required notices for new hires so again making sure that you know what states your employees are working in and what notices have to be given out.

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Sheri Heller: Excuse me, local local and state leaves, so this is getting more and more complicated as more and more states.

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Sheri Heller: Cities and counties are putting various laws into play so many state and local laws require employers to provide paid and or.

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Sheri Heller: unpaid time off for sick time parental leave, domestic violence, need family medical leave and a host of other job protected needs so it’s very important to make sure you know what applies to your employees.

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Sheri Heller: and to make sure your complain, so let me give you a good example in Massachusetts you know that we have earned sick time and.

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Sheri Heller: And everybody has to be, it has to accrue at least one hour for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 40 hours well California, for example.

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Sheri Heller: California, they have to accrue up to 48 hours and, in addition to that, excuse me, in addition to that they have to be able to carry over that 48 hours.

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Sheri Heller: And one other caveat to the California law is that the the accrual have to be shown on the pay stubs not a requirement here in Massachusetts, but it is a requirement in California, these are the little nuances when it comes to leave that you want to make sure you’re aware of.

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Sheri Heller: Also, harassment training currently California Connecticut Delaware Illinois mean New York state in New York City require harassment prevention training for employees and managers.

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Sheri Heller: Some of these trainings have to be a minimum of one hour or two hours, many of them have to be done on an annual basis or biannual basis so it’s really important again to know what what laws and what trainings are required in the states in which you have employees.

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Sheri Heller: Alright reimburse expenses this one’s getting even more confusing so employers need to determine whether expenses, such as equipment Internet cell phones, etc, need to be reimbursed.

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Sheri Heller: For currently there are 10 states and the district of Columbia that have enacted laws requiring employers to reimburse employees.

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Sheri Heller: For certain remote work expenses so, for example in California and players are required to reimburse employees for all necessary expenditures.

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Sheri Heller: or losses incurred by the employee as a direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties.

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Sheri Heller: Well, this law has been interpreted to require employers to reimburse employees for a reasonable percentage of their monthly Internet or mobile phone bill.

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Sheri Heller: For work related uses, even in instances where the employee has an unlimited wireless plan or whether Internet bill doesn’t increase based on usage so it’s again very important to know, because employees who are working remotely oftentimes have to.

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Sheri Heller: Get maybe upgrade their Internet or upgrade their phone cell phone service in order to be able to do their jobs.

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Sheri Heller: So again, every state is going to very, very important to know which states have those have those requirements for reversible expenses.

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Sheri Heller: And again, this is going to different different to.

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Sheri Heller: For those, and again I know we’re talking about hiring remote employees.

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Sheri Heller: But for those employees in a hybrid environment, so if you go again you’re based in Massachusetts and you’ve got an employee who lives in new Hampshire.

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Sheri Heller: And they have the option to work from home so most of the time they work from home, but their work location is where their company is located in Massachusetts they get their direction from.

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Sheri Heller: From their main office they oftentimes come in for meetings and in other reasons to work in the office those employees may not necessarily be required to have.

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Sheri Heller: expenses reimbursed while and employee who is truly remote doesn’t commute into the office would have to have some expenses reimbursed.

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Sheri Heller: Alright So hopefully I haven’t totally dissuaded you from hiring remote employees that the benefits of remote workers really often outweigh some of the challenges.

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Sheri Heller: So one of the big benefits for employers of remote work is the cost savings, such as rent utilities building maintenance cleaning equipment and furniture, a lot of employers once they went remote because of coven.

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Sheri Heller: realized that remote works so many industries where we never thought remote work wasn’t even that consideration and now we’re realizing hey this works well and our employees like it.

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Sheri Heller: So the employees, like it and it’s working well for us let’s keep it going, but in doing so they’ve.

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Sheri Heller: realized that they don’t need the same amount of office space that they had before they’re reducing the amount of money they’re spending on coffee in the office or bringing in lunches and things like that.

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Sheri Heller: So they can really be some serious cost savings to hiring remote employees the other big advantage is increasing your pool of talent.

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Sheri Heller: Because once you are opening up positions that can be that can work remote to everybody in the country, rather than just in your local area, you have so many more options for applicants.

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Sheri Heller: The other big benefit of remote workforce is reduce absenteeism you know if somebody is not feeling up to par and doesn’t really feel like working you know it doesn’t feel like they can be in the office today, maybe you know they.

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Sheri Heller: get some congestion and a cough and they’re not sure if they’re coming down with something.

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Sheri Heller: And they would if they’re if they’re not a remote worker if they work in an office or in a manufacturing environment a retail store they might be inclined to call out sick.

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Sheri Heller: But somebody who is working from home oftentimes can work under those conditions, so you actually can reduce absenteeism sometimes people have to take time off request time off or follow because of emergencies at home you’ve got to you know have.

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Sheri Heller: A water heater that’s burst or you’ve got some maintenance that’s going to be done for remote workers, they can make all of that work around their workday so again reduces absenteeism.

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Sheri Heller: And most studies have shown that, working from home actually increases productivity.

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Sheri Heller: there’s when you’re in the office and I know personally I have found this for sure, because I used to be office space, and right now I am still working remotely.

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Sheri Heller: When i’m in the office as much as I love working with my co workers is so many more distractions in the office so many more people coming up to your desk or walking into your office, and he can ask you a question, can you help me with this.

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Sheri Heller: Those those interruptions kind of go away so there’s a lot more increased productivity from remote workers.

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Sheri Heller: And then, finally and most importantly, it can really lead to improved employee retention So all in all there’s a lot of benefits from remote work that that are realized then some of the issues that you have to contend with so let’s see what kind of questions we’ve gotten so far.

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Sheri Heller: All right, um let me see is this only for new hires or if a current employee moved to California, for example, where they need to be given these notices so it’s a great question So yes, so if you have an employee.

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Sheri Heller: who’s currently based in Massachusetts working remotely and again, especially during the pandemic, a lot of employees who went to remote work said.

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Sheri Heller: You know why am I going to be sitting here in my apartment all by myself when I could go back to California Florida iowa wherever their families from.

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Sheri Heller: And you know and then your work in a in a bubble that I can then be with my friends and family.

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Sheri Heller: So yes, so if an employee moves out of State for where your offices located and moves to a new state if there are any notices that are required any posters.

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Sheri Heller: That you will be required to put out all of that you definitely do need to provide that once they move, this is a really important for those of you who have remote workers now.

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Sheri Heller: To make sure that you know where your remote workers are moving to so whether you do, maybe a quarterly check in.

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Sheri Heller: Your twice a year check in, or at least make sure your managers and supervisors are aware.

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Sheri Heller: they’re probably the first ones to know if an employee is.

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Sheri Heller: moving to a new state because they’re usually talking to their to their manager or supervisor and they have to take a day off a couple days off to move.

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Sheri Heller: So if the manager or supervisor knows Somebody needs to let HR know, to make sure that we change the work location number one we make sure we’re we’re paying taxes to the right state.

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Sheri Heller: That will withholding the proper taxes from the employee and oftentimes this might also have implications for benefits, so when somebody moves to a new state that actually is a.

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Sheri Heller: A trigger for somebody to possibly change their their insurance, maybe to make changes to their FSA.

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Sheri Heller: And it may be that let’s say you’re in one location and you offer an hmo and then you have an employee that moves out of steam, you may now have to add a PPO policy to your plan so all of those things are really important to consider.

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Sheri Heller: All right, what are the kind of questions do we have come in.

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Sheri Heller: Alright, we recently hired an employee who lives in Virginia, but visits our headquarters in mass as needed to support their team is this still considered a hybrid employee or remote employee.

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Sheri Heller: So again, when they are really out of state they’re not commuting they’re just maybe coming in a couple times a year, maybe once a month.

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Sheri Heller: The bulk of their work is being done in Virginia Virginia, then, is the work state think of that that list from the Department of Labor localization of services would be what come in, first and foremost, even if they’re just coming in, once in a while.

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Sheri Heller: And, excuse me from meetings in your headquarters in Massachusetts.

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Sheri Heller: Workers COMP dilemma is an employer is an employer liable for a worker who chips and falls will working at home.

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Sheri Heller: How do you police, this is there a requirement to inspect their home workplace, so this is a great question for your workers COMP carrier.

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Sheri Heller: And yes, it is possible that a remote worker who has an accident at home might be covered under your workers COMP plan it’s important one, of the one of the best practices is to make sure that you have a remote work agreement and in a remote work agreement you’re going to outline.

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Sheri Heller: The expectations for a Home Office, so you want to make sure that the Home Office that the employee has sufficient Internet service that the employee has.

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Sheri Heller: Limited distractions in order to complete their work things like that, and you want to make sure that you’re providing them any of the.

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Sheri Heller: tools resources equipment that they need, so if somebody needs say an ergonomic mouse or ergonomic chair, you may be required to provide that.

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Sheri Heller: And yes, somebody has let’s say, for example, somebody develops back problems because they are.

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Sheri Heller: Sitting all the time working remotely that could be covered under workers COMP so you may consider a sit stand desk arrangement that you provide them so yeah it, how you police, that is a darn good question.

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Sheri Heller: There are no requirements to the best of my knowledge to inspect home workspace but it’s a good idea to have some guidelines that you’re providing and please.

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Sheri Heller: Excuse me, one of the questions that has come up with one of my clients, is that this is a client that.

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Sheri Heller: Is a retail store they have stores in Massachusetts in new Hampshire they had an employee who lived in maine but worked in an actual location that employee was insistent that they have their main taxes withheld.

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Sheri Heller: Instead of new Hampshire taxes, however, the work location is what determines what taxes, the employer and the employee obligated to pay so.

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Sheri Heller: The employer really does not have to register as an employer and mean in with all those taxes.

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Sheri Heller: They could choose to do so if they wanted to for the convenience of the employee he, but it is not required you only required to withhold the taxes from the State in which they work and excuse me all right, let me see if we got any other questions coming in.

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Sheri Heller: Alright, that looks like the bulk of our questions so.

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Sheri Heller: here’s a few resources are the Department of Labor has a few really good resources for you, if you are trying to find information about state laws.

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Sheri Heller: You can from this one site, you can get to the department State Department of Labor offices and sites there’s also a link for the minimum wage laws in the various States.

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Sheri Heller: which will also include P frequency and then state PD requirements are also there’s also a link there on the Department of labor’s website that I would encourage you to check out.

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Sheri Heller: um any other questions that come up please feel free to send us an email at MP dash H r.com i’m sorry marketing at MP dot dash hr.com.

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Sheri Heller: And one of us will reply back to you, and again we are going to be sending out a copy of the recording and the slide deck so thanks for joining us today, and we look forward to seeing you next week.