FAQs: Employees in non-traditional workspaces

With more employees working remotely or in hybrid work arrangements than ever before, it follows that employers have questions about home offices, injury and illness recordkeeping, and more. Here are some of the most popular questions we receive.

Does OSHA inspect home offices?

OSHA issued a policy on home offices in February 2000, long before remote work became prevalent, that indicates that employers are not responsible for inspecting an employee’s home to be sure it’s safe, that employers aren’t liable for employees’ home offices, and that OSHA will not inspect home offices.

However, employers are still responsible for the safety of employees who work at home, and it’s possible that an employee will sustain a recordable injury in the home office that arises out of employment. This brings us to our next question.

What about injury and illness recordkeeping?

Just because your employees aren’t physically at a corporate office doesn’t mean an occupational injury they experience as a remote worker doesn’t have to be recorded on your OSHA injury logs.

Employers who are required, because of their size or industry classification, to keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses will continue to be responsible for keeping such records, regardless of whether the injuries occur in a factory, home office, or elsewhere, as long as they’re work-related, and meet the recordability criteria of 29 CFR Part 1904.

An injury is considered recordable if it results in a work-related:

• Death,
• Loss of consciousness,
• Days away from work,
• Restricted work or transfer to another job,
• Medical treatment beyond first aid, or
• Significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed healthcare professional.

Home-based or remote workers must be linked to a fixed establishment, and any work-related injuries would be included on the 300 forms for that location. Employers shouldn’t create a unique 300 Log for their remote workers. An establishment, as defined at 1904.46, is a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. This is typically the location from which the worker was hired, receives job assignments or work instructions, is supervised, or from which they’re paid.

An injury or illness that occurs while an employee is working from home is considered work-related if it occurs while the worker is performing work for pay or compensation and is directly related to the activities of the job rather than the home environment.

Can we provide electronic access to employment law posters for remote employees?

Generally, workers who rarely or never come into the office have the same protections as those who do, and they must be able to view employment law posters that pertain to them. For employees who work remotely 100 percent of the time, electronic posting alone is acceptable if employees usually get information from the employer electronically and they always have readily available access to electronic postings.

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