Our Sources
RemoteLaws cites official government sources exclusively. For U.S. content, that means .gov domains. For international content, that means the equivalent official government portals of each covered jurisdiction. This page lists the primary source categories used across the site, the specific portals cited for each currently-published international jurisdiction, and the portal types that will be cited as the planned international scope is published.
At a Glance
| Source category | Jurisdiction | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Federal agencies (.gov) | United States | Federal statutes, regulations, agency guidance |
| State agencies (.gov) | U.S. states | State statutes, administrative codes, program rules |
| National legislation portals | International | Primary legislation by country |
| Ministry portals | International | Sector-specific regulation and guidance |
| Tax authority portals | International | Income tax, payroll tax, social contributions |
| Official gazettes | International | Enacted laws and statutory instruments |
| Supra-national bodies | Cross-border | EU directives, OECD frameworks, ILO conventions |
RemoteLaws does not cite law-firm blogs, human-resources platforms, news reporting, or aggregator sites as primary sources, even when their underlying information is accurate. The reason is traceability: readers must be able to verify every claim against the governing authority.
U.S. Federal Sources
U.S. federal employment law is compiled from the agencies that administer and interpret the governing statutes.
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) — https://www.dol.gov Primary federal source for wage and hour law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and federal contractor workplace requirements. The Wage and Hour Division (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd) publishes minimum wage thresholds, overtime rules, child-labor restrictions, and enforcement guidance.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — https://www.irs.gov Primary federal source for federal income tax, payroll tax, retirement account rules (401(k), IRA, Trump Accounts under IRC §530A), health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, the No Tax on Tips provision, the No Tax on Overtime provision, and other tax-related workplace topics.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) — https://www.eeoc.gov Primary federal source for workplace discrimination law under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act, and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
Social Security Administration (SSA) — https://www.ssa.gov Primary federal source for Social Security benefits, Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, and FICA contribution rules.
U.S. Department of the Treasury — https://home.treasury.gov Primary federal source for Treasury regulations, federal tax policy announcements, and implementing guidance for tax legislation.
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) — https://www.pbgc.gov Primary federal source for defined benefit pension plan termination, premium rules, and guaranteed benefit limits.
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) — https://www.opm.gov Primary federal source for federal employee leave, retirement, and workplace standards.
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) — https://www.nlrb.gov Primary federal source for private-sector collective bargaining law and unfair labor practice procedures under the National Labor Relations Act.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) — https://www.uscis.gov Primary federal source for employment-based immigration, I-9 verification, and work authorization.
U.S. Department of State — https://www.state.gov Primary federal source for visa categories relevant to employment.
U.S. Code (Office of the Law Revision Counsel) — https://uscode.house.gov Primary federal source for the text of federal statutes.
Code of Federal Regulations (National Archives) — https://www.ecfr.gov Primary federal source for the text of federal regulations.
U.S. State Sources
State-level employment law and workplace-finance content is compiled from each state’s official portal and from the state agencies that administer the relevant programs. Sources include each state’s Department of Labor (or equivalent labor standards authority), Department of Revenue or Department of Taxation, unemployment insurance administration, workers’ compensation authority, paid family and medical leave program (where enacted), civil rights or human rights commission, and official legislative publication portal for primary statutory text. State-level sources are always accessed through the official state .gov portal. A directory of state labor departments is maintained at /state-labor-department-directory/.
Official state program portals that operate under a clear .gov endorsement — including paid family leave program sites, state-administered retirement program sites, and state wage-theft reporting portals — are treated as acceptable primary sources when the endorsement is traceable to a .gov page.
International Sources — Currently Published
International reference pages currently published cite the following official government portals.
Europe (9 jurisdictions)
- United Kingdom — legislation.gov.uk, gov.uk, hmrc.gov.uk
- France — legifrance.gouv.fr, service-public.fr, travail-emploi.gouv.fr, impots.gouv.fr
- Germany — gesetze-im-internet.de, bmas.de (Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs), bundesfinanzministerium.de
- Italy — gazzettaufficiale.it, lavoro.gov.it, agenziaentrate.gov.it
- Spain — boe.es, mites.gob.es (Ministry of Labour and Social Economy), agenciatributaria.es
- Netherlands — overheid.nl, rijksoverheid.nl, belastingdienst.nl
- Belgium — belgium.be, emploi.belgique.be, finance.belgium.be
- Ireland — gov.ie, citizensinformation.ie (operated under statutory authority), revenue.ie
- Portugal — dre.pt (Diário da República), portaldocidadao.pt, portaldasfinancas.gov.pt
Americas (4 jurisdictions)
- Brazil — planalto.gov.br, gov.br/trabalho-e-emprego, gov.br/receitafederal
- Mexico — diputados.gob.mx, gob.mx/stps (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social), sat.gob.mx
- Colombia — mintrabajo.gov.co, dian.gov.co
- Costa Rica — mtss.go.cr (Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social), hacienda.go.cr
Asia-Pacific (4 jurisdictions)
- Philippines — dole.gov.ph (Department of Labor and Employment), bir.gov.ph (Bureau of Internal Revenue)
- Indonesia — kemnaker.go.id (Ministry of Manpower), pajak.go.id (Directorate General of Taxes)
- Malaysia — mohr.gov.my (Ministry of Human Resources), hasil.gov.my (Inland Revenue Board)
- Thailand — mol.go.th (Ministry of Labour), rd.go.th (Revenue Department)
International Sources — Planned
The following portals will be cited as the planned international scope is published. Specific portal URLs are documented and verified prior to publication of the first reference page for each jurisdiction.
Europe — planned (18 additional jurisdictions)
- Austria — Rechtsinformationssystem (RIS), bmaw.gv.at, bmf.gv.at
- Croatia — narodne-novine.nn.hr, mrosp.gov.hr
- Cyprus — cylaw.org (operated under statutory authority), mlsi.gov.cy
- Czech Republic — zakonyprolidi.cz, mpsv.cz, financnisprava.cz
- Denmark — retsinformation.dk, bm.dk (Ministry of Employment), skat.dk
- Estonia — riigiteataja.ee, sm.ee, emta.ee
- Finland — finlex.fi, tem.fi, vero.fi
- Greece — et.gr (National Printing House), ypakp.gr, aade.gr
- Hungary — magyarkozlony.hu, kormany.hu, nav.gov.hu
- Luxembourg — legilux.public.lu, mte.gouvernement.lu, impotsdirects.public.lu
- Malta — legislation.mt, jobsplus.gov.mt, cfr.gov.mt
- Norway — lovdata.no, regjeringen.no, skatteetaten.no
- Poland — dziennikustaw.gov.pl, gov.pl/web/rodzina, podatki.gov.pl
- Romania — monitoruloficial.ro, mmuncii.ro, anaf.ro
- Slovakia — slov-lex.sk, employment.gov.sk, financnasprava.sk
- Slovenia — uradni-list.si, gov.si/drzavni-organi/ministrstva, fu.gov.si
- Sweden — riksdagen.se, regeringen.se, skatteverket.se
- Switzerland — fedlex.admin.ch, seco.admin.ch, estv.admin.ch
Americas — planned (6 additional jurisdictions)
- Argentina — boletinoficial.gob.ar, argentina.gob.ar/trabajo, afip.gob.ar
- Canada — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, canada.ca/en/employment-social-development, canada.ca/en/revenue-agency, plus the equivalent provincial portals (e.g., ontario.ca, quebec.ca)
- Chile — leychile.cl, mintrab.gob.cl, sii.cl
- Panama — gacetaoficial.gob.pa, mitradel.gob.pa, dgi.mef.gob.pa
- Peru — gob.pe, gob.pe/mtpe, sunat.gob.pe
- Uruguay — impo.com.uy (official gazette), gub.uy/ministerio-trabajo-seguridad-social, dgi.gub.uy
Asia-Pacific — planned (10 additional jurisdictions)
- Australia — legislation.gov.au, fairwork.gov.au, ato.gov.au, plus the equivalent state and territory portals
- Hong Kong — elegislation.gov.hk, labour.gov.hk, ird.gov.hk
- India — indiacode.nic.in, labour.gov.in, incometaxindia.gov.in
- Japan — e-gov.go.jp, mhlw.go.jp (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), nta.go.jp
- New Zealand — legislation.govt.nz, employment.govt.nz, ird.govt.nz
- Singapore — sso.agc.gov.sg, mom.gov.sg (Ministry of Manpower), iras.gov.sg
- South Korea — law.go.kr, moel.go.kr (Ministry of Employment and Labor), nts.go.kr
- Sri Lanka — documents.gov.lk, labourdept.gov.lk, ird.gov.lk
- Taiwan — law.moj.gov.tw, mol.gov.tw (Ministry of Labor), dot.gov.tw
- Vietnam — vbpl.vn, molisa.gov.vn, gdt.gov.vn
Middle East — planned (4 jurisdictions)
- Israel — knesset.gov.il, gov.il/en/departments/ministry_of_labor_social_affairs_and_social_services, taxes.gov.il
- Qatar — almeezan.qa (legal portal), adlsa.gov.qa (Ministry of Labour), gta.gov.qa
- Saudi Arabia — ncar.gov.sa, hrsd.gov.sa (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development), zatca.gov.sa
- United Arab Emirates — u.ae (UAE Government Portal), mohre.gov.ae (Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation), tax.gov.ae
Africa — planned (limited scope)
African coverage is scheduled for the final phase of expansion and will be limited in topical depth, focused on the most widely searched workplace-law topics rather than the full silo coverage applied to U.S. and European jurisdictions. Planned source portals include:
- Kenya — kenyalaw.org (operated under statutory authority of the National Council for Law Reporting), labour.go.ke, kra.go.ke
- Nigeria — lawsofnigeria.placng.org (Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre), labour.gov.ng, firs.gov.ng
- South Africa — gov.za, labour.gov.za, sars.gov.za
Supra-National
- European Union — eur-lex.europa.eu for EU directives, regulations, and case law; ec.europa.eu for European Commission guidance
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development — oecd.org for OECD tax frameworks, model tax conventions, and cross-border labor mobility standards
- International Labour Organization — ilo.org for ILO conventions and labour standards
Why These Sources Only
RemoteLaws is a reference publication. The utility of a reference publication depends on whether a reader can trace any claim back to the authority that governs it. Three consequences follow from that principle.
Primary over secondary. When a secondary source (a law-firm summary, a compliance platform article, a news report) describes what a statute requires, the reader has no direct way to verify the description. The intermediate layer may be accurate, may be out of date, may reflect the intermediate author’s interpretation, or may mix the rule with advisory framing. Citing the governing authority directly eliminates the intermediate layer.
Government over commercial. Government publications are produced by the agencies with authority over the rules they describe. Commercial publications are produced by businesses whose incentives — lead generation, client acquisition, subscription renewal — are not aligned with neutral compilation. Neither of those incentive structures is disqualifying on its own, but neither makes a commercial publication a more authoritative source than the government portal it draws from.
Written over summarized. Where RemoteLaws must choose between linking to the text of a statute and linking to an agency’s plain-language summary of that statute, both are acceptable when both are official. The linked source appropriate for a given claim is the one the claim most directly supports: statutory text for statutory claims, regulatory text for regulatory claims, agency interpretive guidance for interpretive claims, and so on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a .gov domain? A .gov domain is a top-level internet domain restricted to U.S. federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities. Registration is administered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and is subject to verification of governmental status. A .gov domain is the strongest available indicator that a site is operated by a government entity.
Why does RemoteLaws use .gov for U.S. content but not for international content? The .gov top-level domain is specific to U.S. government entities. Other countries use country-specific government domains — .gov.uk for the United Kingdom, .gouv.fr for France, .gob.mx for Mexico, .go.kr for South Korea, .go.jp for Japan, and so on. RemoteLaws uses the equivalent official government domain for each jurisdiction it covers.
Does RemoteLaws cite court decisions? RemoteLaws cites binding court decisions where those decisions materially affect how a statute or regulation applies. Citations are drawn from official court publication portals (supremecourt.gov, uscourts.gov, and equivalent official portals for international courts).
Does RemoteLaws cite proposed legislation? RemoteLaws distinguishes between enacted law and proposed legislation. Pages describe the currently enacted framework as the governing rule. Proposed legislation is discussed only where it has substantive relevance — typically on topic pages covering recently enacted frameworks with pending implementing regulations.
Can readers submit source suggestions? Yes. Readers who identify an official government source not currently cited on a relevant RemoteLaws page can email the suggestion to contact@remotelaws.com.
Does RemoteLaws cite itself? RemoteLaws links internally to related reference pages to help readers navigate across topics and jurisdictions, but internal links are not substitutes for primary sources. Every substantive claim on a RemoteLaws page is supported by an inline link to the underlying government source — not by a link to another RemoteLaws page.
What about state portals that don’t use .gov? Most U.S. state agencies use .gov domains for their official portals. A small number of state programs operate official sites under .us or under state-specific domains; where such sites are officially endorsed by and linked from the state’s .gov portal, they are treated as acceptable primary sources. Sites not traceable to an official government endorsement are not used.
Are Wikipedia, law-firm blogs, and news articles ever cited? These are not used as primary sources for statutory or regulatory claims. They may appear in context — for example, a news article might be cited for a public statement by an agency official — but the substantive legal content of every RemoteLaws page is supported by citations to primary government sources.
How are international sources verified? International pages are reviewed against the official government portal of the covered jurisdiction before publication. Translation accuracy, where relevant, is verified against the official language version of the governing text.
What happens when a planned country is not yet published? Pages for planned jurisdictions are added on a rolling basis. The portal list above documents the sources that will be cited when each new jurisdiction is published. Until a country has its first published reference page, RemoteLaws does not represent that country as currently covered.