A work from home policy is an essential remote workforce management tool. In this article, you will learn how to make a work-from-home policy for your employees. To get you started, this free work from home policy template is ready to be downloaded and tailored to your company’s needs.
Download this work from home policy template and tailor it to fit your company's needs
The best work from home policies clearly define how employees are expected to conduct themselves while they work remotely. Your policy should include references to relevant policies, procedures, and other internal support documents that your remote workers can refer to as they transition to working from home.
Not all roles are compatible with remote work. You will need to establish a formal process that dictates what your employees must do to request a telecommuting arrangement. Each request you receive will need to be reviewed to ensure that the accommodation will not disrupt the continuity of your business.
Things to consider before allowing employees to work from home
To facilitate the approval process you should determine who is responsible for reviewing and approving each employee’s request to work remotely. The most common decision makers for this are the immediate supervisor or manager of the employee and a representative from Human Resources.
You should also establish a consistent approval process. Will an email to their manager suffice or will they need to complete a telecommuting request document? How much notice is required in advance? Defining these requirements in advance will provide your employees an ample opportunity to request a remote work arrangement.
Managing the productivity of a remote workforce is a unique challenge. Your work from home policy needs to clearly communicate the productivity, availability, and communication expectations you have for your remote employees.
Performance requirements when employees work from home
Establishing clear productivity guidelines ahead of time will ensure that your employees are aware of your company’s expectations when they work from home. Having these expectations detailed in your work-from-home policy will also provide a precedent for addressing any future productivity concerns.
Your employees need a suitable workspace to complete their duties when they work from home. While many remote workers enjoy having the flexibility to work from anywhere, a dedicated home office with similar amenities as their usual office space will make the work-from-home experience more pleasant.
Important considerations for a home office
Not all of these considerations will be completely necessary, but they go a long way to improving the quality of the remote work experience.
The last thing your work from home policy needs to cover is the standards your company has for ensuring the security and confidentiality of sensitive data. If your employees need to access restricted data you will need to include a data loss prevention policy that addresses the unique security risks of remote work.
Elements for your remote data loss prevention policy
Employees that need to access sensitive data when working from home will require more stringent user activity monitoring than roles that do not interact with sensitive data. Be certain to include an employee monitoring disclosure as part of your remote work policy if you will be using these tools.
Having your policy in place is an excellent start. Now you need a plan to enforce it. In this video CurrentWare’s marketing coordinator Dale Strickland provides tips for writing and enforcing an acceptable use policy. These tips focus on employee internet usage policies but you can apply them to your work from home policy as well.
A remote work policy (work from home policy) is an agreement that communicates key expectations and responsibilities when employees work remotely. The policy outlines who is eligible to work from home, the employer’s expectations for remote employees, the resources the employer will provide, and the conditions required to work from home successfully.
Creating a work from home policy requires careful planning for each role in the company. You must consider whether the employee can work from home successfully, how the company can support remote workers, and what tools are available to make communication and collaboration with their colleagues feasible.
Remote employee monitoring software provides companies with greater visibility into the work habits of their employees when they work from home. With these tools you can track the computer usage habits of remote employees such as their internet activity, application usage, and the time they spend working.
Remote work is a working style that allows employees to work outside of a traditional office environment. Remote workers use internet-based collaboration tools such as project management platforms, instant messaging, video calls, and email to collaborate virtually with their coworkers.
Employees that work remotely often work from their homes but they may also work from coffee shops, coworking spaces, airports, or hotels. Remote employees can do their work from virtually anywhere that they can find a reliable internet connection.
Absolutely! In fact, the Work From Home Experience Survey from Global Workplace Analytics found that 76% of the employees they surveyed want to continue working from home. Their average preference is to work from home 2.5 days per week. Having a work from home policy makes the transition to a flexible working arrangement easier as you can clearly define which days employees are allowed to work off-site.
Download this work from home policy template and tailor it to fit your company's needs
Disclaimer: This template is for reference use only. It may not take into account all relevant laws of your jurisdiction and it shall not be considered a legal document. CurrentWare will not assume any legal liability that may arise from the use of this policy.
Remote work, working remotely, telework, or work-from-home is defined as any work arrangement that allows employees to work outside of their primary worksite at an alternate location at least one day a week, pursuant to an approved remote work agreement.
Personal device or employee-provided device is defined as any employee-owned device that is used for performing activities related to the employee’s role in the company.
The purpose of this policy is to define the expectations and responsibilities of applicable parties throughout the span of a remote work arrangement. <<COMPANY>> (hereafter referred to as “the company” or “company”) provides remote work arrangements to employees in an effort to support a healthy workplace, improve work-life balance, maximize the effective use of office space, and support business continuity on an as-needed basis.
Meeting the criteria stated in this policy does not guarantee approval to work remotely. The approval of each remote work situation shall be made on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of management. The company reserves the right to approve or deny any remote work request at the discretion of the company and its representatives.
How to request a remote work arrangement:
The terms and conditions of employment, provisions of relevant collective agreements, as well as the application of existing company policies and related legislation will continue to apply when employees work remotely. Under typical operating circumstances the participation in the remote work program is voluntary.
Employees shall only be permitted to work remotely under the following conditions:
Under unique circumstances (medical requirements, pandemics, inclement weather, etc) exceptions to these eligibility requirements may be made at the discretion of the employer.
Unless otherwise agreed to, employees are expected to use company-provided supplies, equipment and electronic networks exclusively for the purposes of carrying out the employee’s work-related duties.
Support Requests. Remote employees are responsible for submitting technical support requests as soon as technical faults become apparent. Requests for support can be made through <<SUPPORT REQUEST PROCESS>>.
Personal Devices. Employees that wish to use a personal device for work purposes must receive written approval from a supervisor or manager and adhere to any relevant company policies surrounding the use of personal devices. The company will make every reasonable effort to provide business related technical support for approved personal devices, however, employees are ultimately responsible for the insurance, maintenance, and repair of personal equipment unless otherwise agreed to by the company.
Business Continuity. In the event that technical failures adversely impact the remote employee’s ability to perform their duties they may be required to perform work at a pre-approved working site such as the employer’s office or a designated co-working space. This determination will be made at the discretion of the employer.
Employees that use equipment provided by the company may be subject to workplace monitoring and surveillance software. This may include but is not limited to software that tracks internet activity, application usage, the employee’s interactions with files, and time spent performing work-related tasks.
In the case of employees that have been approved to use employee-provided devices, their activity may be monitored when their personal devices are connected to the company intranet via a virtual private network (VPN).
Unless arranged otherwise the employee is expected to maintain regularly scheduled work hours agreed upon by the employee and their supervisor. Employees that work remotely must be available during scheduled work hours by phone, e-mail and/or other specified methods of communication with their supervisor, co-workers, and any others with whom job-related communication is necessary.
Returning to the Office. There may be instances that the employee’s physical presence is deemed essential. For this reason employees that work remotely must be prepared to return to the office with a minimum of 24 hours’ notice at the discretion of the company.
Communication. Employees that work remotely will be expected to be available during normal working hours via company-approved communication tools. This may include, but is not limited to, instant messaging, email, and telephone services. All client meetings are to be conducted on a client or company site. Any exceptions require permission from a supervisor or manager.
Employees that work remotely are expected to maintain a working space that meets the following minimum requirements:
At the discretion of the company some or all of these elements may be provided by the company or otherwise subsidized via a remote working stipend.
Remote employees are expected to adhere to the same level of security and confidentiality as expected at other worksites used for the operation of the company. Remote employees agree to abide by all relevant security and confidentiality requirements outlined in other current company policies.
Data security & confidentiality guidelines:
The conditions of employment for employees that work remotely shall remain the same as for non-remote employees; wages, benefits and leave accrual will remain unchanged unless there is a change in employment status or scheduled hours that impact benefit eligibility.
Time Tracking. Non-exempt employees that are compensated on an hourly basis must adhere to the company’s time tracking policies. Requests to work overtime require the explicit approval of the employee’s manager.
Stipends. Employees that work remotely may be provided with a stipend to assist with costs associated with working remotely. The amount provided and the expenses covered are at the discretion of the company and any relevant legislation.
I have read, fully understand, and accept the terms and conditions described in this document. I understand that by signing this document I am acknowledging that I agree with all the expectations, duties, obligations, and responsibilities discussed in the document.
Employee Name
Employee Signature
Supervisor Name
Supervisor Signature
HR Contact Name
HR Contact Signature
Download this work from home policy template and tailor it to fit your company's needs
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__cfruid | session | Cloudflare sets this cookie to identify trusted web traffic. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
JSESSIONID | session | The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application. |
LS_CSRF_TOKEN | session | Cloudflare sets this cookie to track users’ activities across multiple websites. It expires once the browser is closed. |
OptanonConsent | 1 year | OneTrust sets this cookie to store details about the site's cookie category and check whether visitors have given or withdrawn consent from the use of each category. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__cf_bm | 30 minutes | This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. |
_zcsr_tmp | session | Zoho sets this cookie for the login function on the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_calendly_session | 21 days | Calendly, a Meeting Schedulers, sets this cookie to allow the meeting scheduler to function within the website and to add events into the visitor’s calendar. |
_gaexp | 2 months 11 days 7 hours 3 minutes | Google Analytics installs this cookie to determine a user's inclusion in an experiment and the expiry of experiments a user has been included in. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_ga_GY6RPLBZG0 | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gcl_au | 3 months | Provided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
CONSENT | 2 years | YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_opt_expid | past | Set by Google Analytics, this cookie is created when running a redirect experiment. It stores the experiment ID, the variant ID and the referrer to the page that is being redirected. |
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile. |
NID | 6 months | NID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. |
YSC | session | YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. |
yt-remote-connected-devices | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
yt-remote-device-id | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
yt.innertube::nextId | never | This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
yt.innertube::requests | never | This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_dc_gtm_UA-6494714-6 | 1 minute | No description |
_gaexp_rc | past | No description available. |
34f6831605 | session | No description |
383aeadb58 | session | No description available. |
663a60c55d | session | No description available. |
6e4b8efee4 | session | No description available. |
c72887300d | session | No description available. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-tracking | 1 year | No description |
crmcsr | session | No description available. |
currentware-_zldp | 2 years | No description |
currentware-_zldt | 1 day | No description |
et_pb_ab_view_page_26104 | session | No description |
gaclientid | 1 month | No description |
gclid | 1 month | No description |
handl_ip | 1 month | No description available. |
handl_landing_page | 1 month | No description available. |
handl_original_ref | 1 month | No description available. |
handl_ref | 1 month | No description available. |
handl_ref_domain | 1 month | No description |
handl_url | 1 month | No description available. |
handl_url_base | 1 month | No description |
handlID | 1 month | No description |
HandLtestDomainName | session | No description |
HandLtestDomainNameServer | 1 day | No description |
isiframeenabled | 1 day | No description available. |
m | 2 years | No description available. |
nitroCachedPage | session | No description |
organic_source | 1 month | No description |
organic_source_str | 1 month | No description |
traffic_source | 1 month | No description available. |
uesign | 1 month | No description |
user_agent | 1 month | No description available. |
ZCAMPAIGN_CSRF_TOKEN | session | No description available. |
zld685336000000002056state | 5 minutes | No description |