How to Set Up an Effective Work from Home Policy?

Many organizations have allowed their staff to work from home to combat with the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. And, if employers set up an effective work from home policy, then remote work becomes a big success for companies.

Below are some tips which HR can consider while developing policies for remote workforce:

• Be crystal clear on who can work from home as not every employee can work effectively during working hours. This ‘remote work’ method is good for those employees who have good professional qualities like, good work ethics, disciplined, organized and self-motivated.

• Define company expectations clearly to remote workers, including working hours, modes of communications, etc. Be sure that your staff will always be available during office hours for communication. Make them understand the quality and output of every employee’s work. If necessary, set priorities and reasonable deadlines.

• Ensure device and data security because ‘digital security’ is the biggest concern while managing a telecommuting workforce. Ask your IT department to ensure that every system which accesses the company network has adequate security levels in place.

• Set an approval procedure! When employers outline the process for approval, then it becomes easier for employees to request for work from home. Mention the duration for approval and who will be approving.

• Make a list of acceptable reasons to work from home and also make it clear that the listed reasons do not guarantee approval. HR can include some basic reasons like parenting illness, unsafe weather conditions, personal emergencies, etc in the list.

• Streamline tracking channels for work and attendance so that HR team can process accurate and timely payroll. Take help of timesheet management software to track how many hours remote workers spent on tasks. With the help of the online attendance system, HR can manage the attendance of work from home employees.

Implementing HR software like, Pocket HRMS, help companies to track how productive their remote workforce is! This data will also help the human resource team to update the work from home policy with time.