In addition to individual telecommuting agreements, a company should have a telecommuting policy that outlines the program for all employees, as well as clarifies any issues.
Here is what a basic telecommuting policy should include:
- What type of technology is going to be available
- What the expectations are for who is providing the technology and who is paying for it
- What the equipment requirements are
- What the parameters are for the “home space”
- What the work hours will be
- What the accountabilities for each employee working remotely will be
- If employees ever have to come to the office (and if they do, when, why, etc.)
A policy should cover basic “housekeeping” stuff. It’s important to communicate to employees what your expectations are and how the employees will be measured.
Address Everything and Don’t Be Too Restrictive
I think the biggest mistake employers make when it comes to creating telecommuting policies is that they make the policy either too restrictive or they don’t address enough.
When a policy is too restrictive, it can cause problems.
For example, I once worked with a company who was trying to implement a telecommuting policy and it almost got stalled due to home office parameters that were way too restrictive. The company wanted to designate what the home office space should look like, what the office furniture should look like, what the exact equipment had to be, etc.
It almost seemed like this company wouldn’t be able to successfully implement a telecommuting policy, but then they took a step back and asked the employees what they already had at home, what they still needed and how the company could ensure the safety and security of its information, processes, etc.
This company also looked into different insurance companies with respect to protection in case something happened in the home office space.
For instance, if something occurred while the employee was telecommuting, would the home owner be liable or would the business be?
The company fortunately decided to ease up a little and be less restrictive, which helped with the things the company couldn’t control.
When a policy doesn’t address enough, however, it can still cause problems.
For example, the policy needs to address child care and whether or not children can be home during the time the employee is working.
Companies tend not to think of things like this, but it could turn out to be a problem if the employee is too distracted by his/her kids to get any work done. It could also be a problem if the employee is on a conference call with the office and there are kids screaming in the background.
That’s why it’s important to cover all angles, but in a general sense as to not place too many restrictions.
It’s really a balancing act in making sure you cover the important points—such as expectations, work environment, etc.—but not be absolute on the things like the type of chair the person needs to be sitting in or the location of the space in the home where he/she will work.
In my next Insight, I’ll give some steps to take to implement an effective telecommuting policy at your company.