As with remote workers, there is a downside for employers who engage in a remote workforce. Fortunately, these disadvantages Disadvantages for the employer of remote workers ● New Security Risks: ○ Allowing remote work brings new challenges and risks to an organization. Employees have the freedom to work from wherever, often whenever and however they want. Including working in public places using public Wi-Fi or working on personal devices. ○ Establishing clear policies on working in public places, or devices used. ○ Policies should enforce conditional access (blocking access under certain conditions around networks or device properties). Password policies and multi-factor authentication. Other device policies, screen lock, remote wipe. ○ Effective policies and appropriate tools that handle remote user and device security, can give an employer peach of mind in a remote work environment.
can be mitigated with proper communication, creating effective procedures and use of the right tools:
● Lack of insight into employee activity. ● More distractions. ● Project planning, implementation, and completion management. ● Team-building difficulties. ● Finding the right employees. When an employer is willing to make the effort to recognize security and productivity issues and promotes clear policies, including smart hiring practices, the advantages of remote work generally outweigh the disadvantages. Whether the employees are remote workers or not, the organization should have an employee handbook. If employing remote workers, additional policy considerations should be made. Considerations for creating a policy for the remote workforce should include many of the following.
Remote Workforce General Policy Consideration Who is eligible to work remotely?
Consider what positions are eligible to work remotely and be transparent about the expectations.
Work hours, attendance, and availability
This is where the policy lists all of the day-to-day expectations for working hours.
Communication
Because the employer, supervisors, and remote workers are not next to one another in an office, any remote employee should err on the side of over communication. This is a section where it’s important to lay out the ideal work-from- home environment. Here expectations, such as professional back- grounds, private spaces, or external interruptions, may be identified. This section may outline the process for remote workers to request equipment, or a standard set of items that the employer provides. It may also be advised that because the employee works at home, their personal laptop, phones, and other equipment are not the company’s responsibility. Many employers now offer remote stipends to employees who are working from home, in an effort to provide more benefit equality with those who are in-office. Detailed examples of how or what the stipend can and should be used. It may include snacks, additional office equipment or supplies, lunches, coffee subscriptions, etc. Many organizations are concerned about the security and confidentiality of their company’s sensitive information. This section should note any other must-haves for the organization’s remote work policy. Here is where it should be emphasized that the Employee Handbook and other policies apply to in-office as well as to remote workers.
Environment
Performance expectations This should be no different for a remote employee than for an in-office employee. Equipment
Stipend
Security and confidentiality
Other
The importance of the employee handbook Among other things, the employee handbook is the organization’s constitution, the foundation for the workforce, and the organization’s protection against lawsuits. Let’s break it down: ● The organization’s constitution : The employee handbook is the number one resource for dispute resolution, intra- employee mediation, and performance review. HR, the organization’s leadership team, and employees will use it. It will be referred to as needed when revising policy or developing organizational infrastructure and changes. ● The foundation of the workforce : The employee handbook should be a handy definition of what the ideal employee is for the organization and what standards employees should strive for. ● Protection against lawsuits : Items, such as the disclaimer, the non- contract clause (stipulating that receipt of the handbook in no way guarantees employment), and the assumption of the organization’s right to change employment policies at will, grant the status needed to keep things
running smoothly. Other policies, such as the sexual harassment, non-discrimination, and termination policies, dictate what is and is not acceptable behavior, and releases the employer or organization from liability should unsavory events occur within the staff. The employee handbook is one of the most important documents an employer or organization will create. It is the human resource go-to source for resolving disciplinary matters. It is necessary for the employee handbook to contain certain disclaimers that should state the purposes of the employee handbook and give the employer the right to change policies at will. Such as: ● This handbook is subject to change. ● This handbook is in no way, shape or form a guarantee of employment. ● The rules and policies in this handbook supersede all others.
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Book Code: CAMFL1524
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