As more and more employees request the opportunity to perform some or all of their work from a remote location, the need has grown for organizations to have clearly defined guidelines that govern employee and company expectations and responsibilities.

This policy describes the organization’s processes for requesting, obtaining, using, and terminating access to organization networks, systems, and data for the purpose of enabling staff members to regularly work remotely on a formal basis.

From the policy:

Summary
Today’s technology allows companies to offer employees the opportunity to work from home, on the road, or from just about anywhere besides the corporate office. This can benefit both the employee and the company in various ways. But as more and more employees ask to telecommute, companies must have a viable telecommuting policy.

Objective
The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for employees who want to participate in the organization’s telecommuting program.

Compensation and work hours
The employee’s compensation, benefits, work status, and work responsibilities will not change due to participation in the telecommuting program. The amount of time the employee is expected to work per day or pay period will not change as a result of participation in the program.

Eligibility
Employees will be selected based on the suitability of their jobs, an evaluation of the likelihood of their being successful telecommuters, and the approval of their supervisor. Each department will make its own telecommuting decisions and be responsible for measuring the success of the results. Before telecommuting, employees must read and sign this Telecommuting Policy. Due to various job responsibilities, not all employees will be eligible to telecommute. The IT department can’t support any telecommuter who has not returned an Acknowledgement of Telecommuting Policy form signed by both the employee and the employee’s manager.

Equipment
The company may provide tools and equipment for employees to use in fulfilling their job responsibilities from a remote location. The equipment may include computer hardware, smartphones, tablets, routers, modems, software programs, phone lines, email, voicemail, connectivity to host applications, VPN support, and other applicable resources as deemed necessary. The use of these resources, when provided by the company for use at the remote work location, is limited to authorized persons for purposes relating to company business only.

Depending on the nature of the job, telecommuting employees may instead use their own equipment. Employees are responsible for the installation, repair, and maintenance of all personal equipment used for telecommuting. They must also understand and agree that the company may access for job-related purposes any personal equipment used while telecommuting.