“For some time, we struggled with how to manage work from home requests,” lamented a vice president.  “We clarified a lot of issues by developing a coherent policy.”

According to surveys, about six in ten employees favor companies that allow remote work. Mat D’Angelo in Business News Daily suggests that remote work policies cover the following:

            1. Eligible positions—Criteria for working remotely may include type of job, performance history, personality, and days the employee is expected to work onsite. 

            2. Required “business hours”—Are remote workers expected to be at their workstations for certain hours during the day?  If so, identify the time. For example, remote workers must be available via phone, chatting or virtual meetings 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. 

            3. Cybersecurity—If the organization provides devices for working at home, the devices should be used for work only.  If contributors use their personal devices, the policy should stress password, encrypted data and GPS requirements.

            4. Communication technology—The policy should identify the required applications for communication, information sharing and collaboration.

            5. Abuse—The policy should explicitly state that working remotely is a privilege which may be revoked if abused.