Are you helping your stressed hybrid/remote workers understand what constitutes issues on the job vs. during personal time? For instance, if a car accident occurs during work hours, but the employee is running personal errands, it does not fall under workers compensation. Have you defined what represents an appropriate work from home environment? Such as, will you allow children to be present during virtual meetings? If not, do you have a policy that addresses childcare or elder care and what your expectations are during working hours?

 

What started as a temporary, chaotic hybrid situation has led to over 75% of companies using a hybrid model and 25% of all professional jobs fully remote. Has your company written a new general remote work policy? Don’t expect your employees to accept “permanent flexibility” and adapt to constantly changing expectations and policies. It is now time to replace temporary policies and implement permanent processes and policies. 

 

First determine if you want employees to work hybrid, fully remote, or completely in the office. Be sure to allow reasonable accommodations for anyone with a disability, if you won’t allow everyone remote work options. If allowing for hybrid and/or fully remote options, there are several points to consider.

 

While amazing remote tech tools have been developed allowing more efficient remote/hybrid work, they are not without issue. 38% of employees experienced harassment in 2021 through chat apps, email, or virtual meetings. It is time to examine how to deal with harassment and update your HR harassment policies to include virtual harassment. Employer monitoring is another potential issue with use of remote tech tools. It is best to be transparent about how, what, and why you are monitoring through an official policy.

 

Additionally, companies are now hiring out of state employees who are fully remote. Things to review when updating your policies:

 

1. State registration requirements

• • • What are they? (workers compensation, FMLA, taxes)
    • Why they matter?
    • How do they differ from state to state?

2. Laws that differ from state to state

• • • At-will employment
    • Minimum wage
    • Exempt/non-exempt implications
    • Pay frequency requirements
    • Required training
    • COVID regulations
    • Insurance coverage in new states

3. Limitations on what you can request from potential employees during the hiring process

• • • Inquiring about criminal history 
    • Requesting credit reports 
    • Background checks 
    • Drug tests

4. Labor Law posters and required notices

• • • State signage requirements vary drastically from one state to another
    • Distribute electronically to remote-based workers
    • Requirements at the federal, state, county, and local level

5. Employee handbook versions

• • • Universal
    • State-specific
    • Addenda
    • Multiple

6. Define guidelines and expectations in writing for work that is:

• • • Flexible
    • Hybrid
    • Remote 

 

A hybrid-working policy aims to ensure fairness, collaboration, and productivity as workers move freely back and forth between the office and their desired remote environments. A successful hybrid-work policy will provide the basic outline of the expectations of each role and how it will function.

 

Still struggling with how to write/implement hybrid work policies? Let’s set up a free consultation to discuss how we can help!