How To Make A Remote Work Policy

Post A Job For Free, Promote It For A Fee

There was a major transition to remote work during the pandemic, and many workers are reluctant to go back. That means that it’s up to employers to come up with a policy that works for both employees and employers. A remote work policy sets out rules and guidelines for remote work, allowing remote workers to contribute fully.

With competition for talent being fiercer, having a remote work policy is almost a requirement. Many employees, particularly younger ones, value being able to work remotely. That means that they will search for and favor jobs that allow them to telecommute. Having a policy in place allows this to happen while making sure that it works for both the workers and the workplace.

Key Takeaways:

A remote work policy lays out rules and guidelines for remote work.
A remote work policy can cover full telecommuting, a flex schedule, or a hybrid schedule.
Having a policy in place will prevent confusion, set expectations and will help prevent accusations of favoritism or discrimination.

What Is a Remote Work Policy?

A remote work policy is the rules and guidelines for working remotely – or from home – in a particular workplace. With the pandemic, working from home has become more prevalent as well as more popular, meaning that having that option can be to a business’s benefit in terms of talent acquisition.

However, if your organization allows working from home, it’s important to have rules in place in order to stave off questions and make sure that the policy is implemented fairly. Not only does that help prevent issues of perceived favoritism, but it also decreases the risk of accusations of discrimination.

How to Create a Remote Work Policy

As remote work is relatively new, it’s a good idea to lay out expectations and other requirements. This can be the case for someone transitioning from the office to work from home or for a new hire who’ll primarily telecommute.

Here are some factors to keep in mind when writing up your policy.

Scope of remote work. Are your employees going to be fully remote? Have a couple of remote days a week – like Monday and Friday? Or are you going to implement a sort of flex time, where employees can work from home when they think they might be sick – but don’t want to take a sick day – or if they have caretaking responsibilities.

It’s also possible to have a mix of the above circumstances. Some employees like coming to the office, and some don’t. Some jobs are more easily done in an office setting, while others are just as easily done from a home office.
Eligibility. Depending on the nature of your workplace, not all employees may be able to reasonably work from home. In that case, the policy should lay out who is and isn’t eligible. It should apply to positions – or perhaps seniority – and be the same across the board for purposes of fairness unless there’s a valid reason for an exception, of course.
Expectations. In all jobs, what exactly the expectations are for the position should be clear. But when it comes to remote work, there should be additional information. This could include an expectation that employees come in once a week or check in at certain times.

Other workplaces will just expect their employees to get their work done on time. If they don’t need to coordinate with other employees, then whether or not they work regular hours may not even be an issue.
Availability. There are a few aspects to this. Just because a person’s working remotely doesn’t mean that they aren’t expected to be able to respond to phone calls, emails, or other communications. If there’s a set time they’re expected to be available – such as the usual nine to five hours, for instance – that should be stated.

Another aspect of this is responsiveness. Having someone not in the office can make it harder to get a hold of them quickly. It doesn’t have to, as almost everyone has cell phones and high-speed internet. However, if being quick to respond is necessary or expected, that should also be made clear.
Location. One of the benefits of remote work is that so long as they have an internet connection, they can be anywhere and still work together. Some businesses will allow remote workers from anywhere in the country so long as they have connectivity. Others will expect workers to come into the office every so often, which limits location.
Socialization. Part of a workplace is socializing with and getting to know the other people who work there. Having someone working remotely can make it difficult for the employees to get to know one another. Depending on the culture and the work you do, that may not be an issue, but having good working relationships is still important.

If you want to include your remote employees in social activities with other employees, then there are a few options. One is to have get-togethers outside of work so that the remote employee can attend (assuming they live locally). Another is to occasionally require them to come to the office. Yet another is to have virtual events.

Remote Work Policy Template

Remote work policies are going to be particular to each organization, making it difficult to have a one size fits all template. However, there are some broad categories that are a good idea to have in any plan, as well as what’s recommended to go in each category.

Sample Remote Work Policy

Purpose:

This is where you explain the purpose of your policy. It can be strictly business, like this:

This policy sets guidelines for employees working remotely. This ensures that remote work will benefit both the employees and the employer.

Or it can talk about the potential benefits of remote work, such as:

Remote work has been shown to up employee productivity, encourage diversity, and make it easier for caregivers to balance their work and caregiving responsibilities.

Scope (or eligibility):

This would be the place where you’d explain who’s able to work remotely and who isn’t. Also, if you’re doing a flexible work schedule or partially remote work, then this would explain that. A few different possibilities:

For fully remote work: Employees are allowed to work remotely once they have gotten permission from their supervisor. So long as they meet project deadlines and keep up with other metrics, working remotely can be done indefinitely.

Or for hybrid schedules: Employees are permitted to work from a different location two days per week (or on Mondays and Fridays, Thursdays and Fridays, etc.)

For flex schedules: So long as projects are completed on time, employees are allowed to leave the office for the afternoon or not come in in the morning. (a certain number) of remote days are permitted per month.

Remote working agreement:

This part of the policy would explain expectations for remote work. For instance, how often they’re expected to check in or if there are strict availability requirements. It may also go into other types of eligibility, such as if remote work is allowed for a time during certain circumstances, such as moving, caretaking, or injury.

Whether or not employees are allowed equipment to use when working remotely or if they’ve been given a stipend to get what they need would also be listed here. (This would be purely based on your policy).

Compliance:

It’s a good idea to lay out potential consequences for an employee breaching the policy. How strictly these will be enforced will depend on how rigid the rules are and the nature of the violation. However, it’s best to be as consistent as possible in order to avoid issues with favoritism. That being said, a bit of compassion goes a long way.

Compensation and benefits:

Preferably, these wouldn’t be altered by remote work. But if anything is different due to working from home rather than in the office, it should be stated here.

Remote Work Policy FAQ

What’s the difference between being fully remote, having a flexible work schedule, and having a hybrid work policy?

The difference between the three is that a fully remote policy allows workers to work from a different location for all working hours; a flexible policy allows leaving work when needed, working from home part of the day, or for a day here or there; and a hybrid policy allows workers to split their time between the office and their home office.

A work-from-home policy can be any of the three above options, though generally, a flex schedule isn’t truly considered remote.
How do you manage remote workers?

Managing remote workers is very similar to managing workers in an office. That being said, it does require a bit more outreach on the manager’s part. Make sure that you engage with your workers regularly to make sure they have everything they need to do their jobs and aren’t struggling. This can be via meetings or one on one talks.

It may be helpful to make a communication platform available, such as Slack, to encourage employees to contact you. It’s also helpful if you can foster a rapport between the different employees so that they can work together without your direct supervision.
How should a remote work policy be evaluated?

As with the majority of evaluations, remote workers should be assessed individually. That being said, if productivity has dropped overall after implementing or changing a work-from-home policy, then there are clearly issues with the policy itself. Otherwise, it’s likely best to work with individual employees to fix issues.

References

How to Create a Remote Work Policy – HRD Magazine

Workplace Policies

Author

Di Doherty

Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.