By now, most employers have experienced the full spectrum of work arrangements. Gone are the days of the “new normal”, where remote work was the norm. We’ve now arrived at a new-new-normal, where return-to-office (RTO) policies are cropping up more than ever (CNBC reports that about 34% of U.S. firms now require workers to be in-office full-time).
No matter where your workplace sits on the fully-remote to five-days-in-office spectrum, every employer should have a work-from-home (WFH) policy. In this article, we’ll show you how to create one that supports employees while maintaining productivity.
Why create a work-from-home policy?
Especially if your workplace is fully bought into the RTO movement, you may be wondering why you need a WFH policy at all. There are three good reasons:
1. Talent and retention. Allowing employees to work remotely (even occasionally) widens the hiring pool and signals trust. When evaluating potential new roles, workers continue to prioritize flexible work arrangements. A FlexJobs Workplace Study found that remote jobs slightly outranked salary and benefits (35% and 33%, respectively) as the most important deciding factor when considering a new job.
2. Consistency and legal risk reduction. Without a written policy, WFH decisions get made ad hoc by individual managers, which can lead to claims of favoritism or unequal treatment. A policy creates one documented standard that everyone can follow.
3. Business continuity and accommodation. A policy gives the business a ready framework for one-off disruptions (weather, illness, transit issues) and requests, rather than having to improvise each time a WFH issue arises.
Your WFH policy should be included as a section in your employee handbook, and you should revisit it often to make sure it still reflects your business goals, company culture, and the realities of your workforce.
Steps to create a work-from-home policy
With the right considerations and accommodations in place, any employer can create a WFH policy that aligns with business goals and gives employees the direction they need to be successful from anywhere.
Here’s what to include in your remote work policy.
1. Determine your eligibility criteria
Not every role, or every employee, is a fit for remote work. Before you write anything else down, decide who will be eligible.
First, look at the roles themselves. Those performed primarily on a computer and a phone can be easily done remotely. Anything that needs a front desk, shop floor, or specialized on-site equipment is a different story. Group each role accordingly before you consider individual employees.
Consider setting a tenure minimum. Some companies require 90 days to six months on the job before an employee can work remotely, since some new hires need in-person mentorship and relationship-building to ramp up.
Tie eligibility to standing. If someone's on a performance improvement plan or has a live disciplinary issue, you can reasonably hold off on allowing them to work remotely until they're back on track.
Decide which of your remote work guidelines are fixed rules versus up to managers’ judgment. If it's the latter, build in guardrails so two similar employees on different teams don't get different answers.
And remember, there are special situations in which remote work requests should run through a separate process. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations, pregnancy-related requests, and other legally protected situations shouldn’t be held to the same criteria as the rest of your workforce. And if you have hourly employees, remote work adds wage-and-hour tracking requirements (breaks, overtime) that salaried remote work doesn't.
2. Decide on tools and equipment
Whether you have one or 100 employees working remotely, depending on how often your employees may work from home you need to make sure they have the basic equipment (laptop and headphones with a good mic) and tools (software and a stable internet connection) that they need to do their work with a proper home office setup.
In your work-from-home (WFH) policy, note whether you’re providing the equipment or if you’ll have a “bring your own” approach to devices (in this scenario, many employers offer a reimbursement for any equipment the employee has to buy on their own—in some states, doing so is a requirement). If you’re providing a laptop, outline your expectations for how it should be used.
For software, describe what you’re using as a team and make sure everyone is running the latest versions. This is important, as your communication protocols will largely depend on everyone being able to access the right software.
A sample of your work-from-home policy might sound something like this:
For immediate communication during work hours, use Slack.
For client-facing communication, use email.
All files should be stored in Google Drive (bonus points for specifying which folders contain what).
When you have a call scheduled, default to virtual meetings using Zoom or Slack.
Here are a few other questions to ask yourself as you develop your WFH plan:
Will you use time tracking software?
Does your project management tool lend itself for co-located work, or do you need to consider a different tool?
Continue to list all possible tools your team should use so that everyone follows the same protocol.
3. Establish core hours
One of the main benefits of a WFH policy is that it gives employees the ability to maintain work-life balance by working outside the confines of the regular 9-to-5 day. Still, it’s helpful to have set online hours for your team so there’s at least one part of the day where everyone is reachable.
Some teams start the workday with a stand-up meeting, or a 15-minute gathering where everyone says what’s on their plate for the day. Others schedule weekly sprint calls where they plan what everyone will work on for the next week or so.
Putting online hours in your remote work policy helps guarantee overlap while still providing flexibility. And if you have any doubts about whether your setup is too flexible, remember to ask yourself, “Is the work getting done?” If it is, keeping a flexible schedule around core hours can go a long way in providing certainty and helping your team focus.
4. Write it all down
Documentation is the secret ingredient that makes remote work—well, work. Workflows, processes, and standard protocols need to be clearly outlined and easily accessible to anyone who needs them.
Think contact lists, chain of command for big issues, workflows, best practices (like a dress code or a company-provided background to use during virtual meetings) and—if you don’t have it—org charts.
Creating this documentation accomplishes a few things:
Helps you clarify ideas and makes sure you know how you want your team to operate
Builds confidence by helping your team get immediate answers and clarity
Encourages team communication and collaboration by outlining who to contact when
5. Double down on security and IT
Protecting information security and data privacy is especially important with remote employees. You never want to be in a situation where, for example, confidential information is exposed because someone was working from a cafe without taking the right security measures. So it’s time to start asking questions like, does your team need a VPN? Or two-factor authentication to access work software?
If you have IT support, have them help you through this transition. If you don’t, now’s a good time to look into it.
Your data security and IT protocols should be clearly outlined in both your cyber security policy and your remote work policy. Many employers also create mandatory IT and security training for all employees to complete at least once a year.
5. Think about consequences
Building a stellar WFH policy is great—but what if someone refuses to follow it? It’s important as a manager to check in regularly with remote employees, hold regular performance reviews, and have a plan for disciplinary action if a remote worker abuses their privileges by failing to honor their remote work agreement. If you fail to follow through, things may go off the rails quickly.
Best practices for communicating a WFH policy
Almost as important as creating your remote work plan is thinking through how you’ll roll it out.
Some practices can feel questionable or more strict than when your team is in-office, but they’re important in a remote setting to build trust and accountability across the team.
Here are a few other tips for communicating your approach:
Be confident and clear
You’ve done all the work to put together a great WFH policy, so be sure to be confident and clear in how you roll it out to the company. An effective work from home policy needs consistency and structure to survive, so stick to your guns in terms of what your policy means for your employees.
It’s always a good idea to have employees sign off on a remote work agreement that clearly defines the purpose and scope—as well as the limitations—of your WFH policy. This can be included as part of your employee handbook.
Be understanding
When employees aren’t in the office, managers face more ambiguity. What you gain in employee engagement and increased worker autonomy, you lose in knowing exactly what your employees are working on at any given time. Use this as an opportunity to build trust and accountability within your team. To go back to a question we asked earlier, is the work getting done? If so, you’ve done things right.
FAQs
How often should you update your work-from-home policy?
Review your work-from-home policy at least once a year, or any time your business changes significantly—new office locations, new roles, shifts in RTO expectations, or new state hires. Treat it as a living part of your employee handbook rather than a one-time document, since outdated tools, tenure rules, or eligibility criteria can quickly fall out of step with how your team actually works.
Is a work-from-home policy legally required?
No federal law requires a written work-from-home policy, but having one substantially reduces legal risk. Without documented criteria, WFH decisions get made ad hoc by individual managers, which can expose employers to claims of favoritism or unequal treatment. A written policy creates one consistent standard everyone follows, including for ADA and other legally protected accommodation requests.
Does letting an employee work from home in another state affect my business's tax obligations?
Yes. When an employee works from a state different from where your business is registered, you may need to register with that state's tax agency, withhold state income tax based on where the work is performed, and pay into that state's unemployment insurance program. Requirements vary by state, so check before the employee starts working there.
Do I need to register my business in every state where a remote employee works?
Generally, yes, once an employee is regularly working from that state. Registration is typically triggered by where the work is physically performed, not where the employee is hired from or lives on paper. Some states also require workers' compensation coverage tied to the employee's actual work location.
What happens if I don't comply with multi-state payroll and tax requirements?
Noncompliance can lead to back taxes, penalties, and interest from the state tax agency, plus liability for unpaid unemployment insurance contributions. States can also audit your full remote workforce once an issue surfaces, which makes fixing it retroactively far costlier than registering correctly from the start.
Quick note: This is not to be taken as tax, legal, benefits, financial, or HR advice. Since rules and regulations change over time and can vary by location, consult a lawyer or HR expert for specific guidance.
