Sample Remote Work Policy Guide
If you’re thinking about introducing remote work in your workplace then you will find that you need a remote work policy to guide remote employees as they start their remote journey.
This helps to ensure that remote employees have a set of measurable standards to base their remote work around and serves as some protection for the business if things go wrong with the remote work relationship.
Why You Need A Policy For Employees Who Work Remotely
Remote working is often very new to employees and that means that beyond their job duties needing to be laid out clearly, all sorts of other minor issues need to be addressed in a consistent manner that encourages the best working practices.
A remote working policy should cover everything, within reason, that employees need to work from home over and above, that is already covered in your company handbook and regular policies and procedures.
Most of all it ensures that employees are treated fairly and equally while working remotely and that team members have a set of standards by which they can measure themselves by, while they work from home or other locations.
A Sample Remote Work Policy Template For Remote Employees
A Brief Description
This should lay out an introduction to the remote work policy (you can borrow some ideas from our guide to remote work and our remote work glossary if you need them).
Keep it simple, something like; “ABC Company sets out the expectations for all remote workers working from locations that are not the main office in this remote work policy. This is to ensure bother workers and supervisors can reach an agreement on what is expected during work hours.”
Scope Of Policy
Then it’s time to define to whom the policy applies.
Something like; “This remote work policy applies to all part-time and full-time employees of ABC company when they are engaged in work activities away from the office locations.”
Standard Current Practices
If your remote employees will be following any standard policies while they work remotely, you should list them here.
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.
So, “All remote employees must continue to comply with all rules and protocols as laid down in our company handbook.“
Work Scheduling and Work Environment
This should define the scope of time that employees must follow while they work remotely.
So, for example, “Unless otherwise notified in writing, employees to work remotely shall follow their standard hours of employment and must be available during these hours and contactable.”
And the standards expected for their work environment.
E.g., “In order for employees to maintain their best levels of productivity, they should work remotely in an environment free of distractions, with a reliable internet connection and where they can focus on work during their work hours.”
Communication Channels And Response Times
The biggest part of remote work is maintaining the right level of communication between remote employees and the office.
This is easiest to do when you set standards for communication in the policy.
Such as; “All employees whether working remotely or not, must be available by Slack during their designated working hours. It is understood that an employee may take ordinary breaks during which they are uncontactable but, generally, the response time on Slack during the standard working day should be no more than 15 minutes.
In addition, employees are required to attend all work meetings and training as required to answer their work phone during their normal hours and must respond to any e-mail requests within 1 working day.”
Equipment And Security
You should list any hardware and/or software that will be supplied by the company and, ideally, what happens to such equipment at the end of the contract too.
E.g, “ABC company will ensure that the employee has access to sufficient hardware and software to carry out their duties. The remote employee is responsible for keeping this equipment safe and for returning it at the end of their contract to ABC company.”
Cybersecurity
Perhaps, the biggest threat to a business when people start working under their own steam is cybersecurity.
We would recommend you have a separate cybersecurity policy for those that work from home or remotely and that you have this audited by a cybersecurity professional.
This should include all current best practices such as no downloading or installing unauthorized software, no piracy, no adjusting network or security settings, etc.
Drafting a fully remote work policy isn’t as hard as it might seem at first and if you use our template – you should find your employees work happily with agreed-upon work expectations without too much fuss whether they’re working from home or from the office.
