Remote and Hybrid Work Policy: What to Include and Why

A remote or hybrid arrangement that lives only in emails and hallway agreements tends to drift. One manager lets people work from anywhere, another wants everyone in four days a week, and nobody is sure who pays for the second monitor. A short written policy fixes that by putting the same expectations in front of everyone.

This guide walks through what a small or midsize organization's policy usually needs to cover and points to the federal rules that shape several sections. It is general information, not legal advice. Federal law sets a floor, and state and local laws can add requirements, so have an employment attorney or your state labor department review your draft before you adopt it.

Decide who is eligible and what arrangements you offer

Start by naming the arrangements you actually support. Most organizations use some mix of these:

• Fully remote: the person works away from your premises as a regular practice.
• Hybrid: a set pattern of office days and remote days each week.
• Occasional or situational: remote work for a specific need, such as a contractor visit at home or bad weather.

Then explain how eligibility is decided. Tie it to the work itself, not to the person: does the role need on-site equipment, walk-in customers or hands-on supervision? Describe how someone requests an arrangement, who approves it, whether there is a trial period, and how either side can end or change it with reasonable notice. Applying the same written criteria to everyone is the simplest protection against arrangements that look like favoritism.

Add one sentence on disability accommodations. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) explains that allowing an employee with a disability to work at home may be a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, even if the employer has no telework program. If you do offer telework, the EEOC says it "must allow employees with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate." The employer may choose among effective accommodations, so the policy should route these requests to your accommodation process, not to the general eligibility rules.

Hours, breaks and timekeeping

Wage-and-hour rules follow the employee home. In Field Assistance Bulletin 2023-1 (February 9, 2023), the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division explains how the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies to teleworkers who are nonexempt (eligible for overtime):

• Short breaks of 20 minutes or less count as hours worked, whether the employee is at home or at the office.
• Bona fide meal breaks, typically 30 minutes or more, are not work time if the employee is completely relieved from duty. A lunch repeatedly interrupted by work calls counts as work time.
• Longer off-duty periods in a flexible schedule, such as a split day with a break for school drop-off, are not hours worked if the employee is fully relieved and chooses when to resume.
• If the employer knows or has reason to believe work is being done, it must count the time. A reasonable way to report unscheduled time, plus paying for all reported time, helps meet that obligation.

The Department's Fact Sheet 22 adds that "work not requested but suffered or permitted to be performed is work time." In practice, your policy should say how nonexempt staff record time, how they report work done outside scheduled hours, and whether after-hours email and chat are expected.

The same bulletin covers nursing employees. Employers must provide reasonable break time and a private space to pump, including while the employee teleworks, and must make sure the employee is free from observation by any employer-provided or required camera or web conferencing tool during those breaks.

Equipment and expenses

Spell out what you provide (laptop, headset, monitor, software), what employees supply themselves (often internet service and a workspace), who repairs and replaces equipment, and how it is returned when someone leaves.

Expenses have a federal angle too. Under the FLSA regulation at 29 CFR 531.35, wages must be paid "free and clear." If an employer requires employees to buy tools of the trade for the job, it violates the law in any workweek where those costs cut into the minimum wage or overtime owed. That matters most for lower-paid nonexempt staff. Check whether your state sets its own expense-reimbursement rules, which is one more reason to have the draft reviewed locally.

Security and data handling

NIST Special Publication 800-46 Revision 2, the federal guide to telework, remote access and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) security (July 2016), recommends planning telework security on the assumption that external environments contain hostile threats. It treats lost or stolen devices as a planning assumption, recommends encryption or keeping sensitive data off client devices, and points to strong authentication, "preferably multi-factor," for remote access.

It also suggests tiered access: for example, company-owned computers can reach many systems, while personal phones reach only a few lower-risk ones. Your policy does not need technical detail, but it should state which devices may be used, that multi-factor sign-in is required, how to handle printed documents and conversations at home, and how to report a lost device or suspicious message right away.

Workspace safety, injuries and location

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) directive on home-based worksites (CPL 02-00-125, effective February 25, 2000) states that OSHA will not inspect home offices and will not hold employers liable for employees' home offices. Two points still matter:

• Employers that must keep injury and illness records still have to record work-related injuries that meet the criteria, whether they happen in the factory or a home office.
• For home-based work beyond office tasks, employers are responsible for hazards caused by materials, equipment or work processes they provide or require.

A short self-check on desk setup, tripping hazards and electrical safety is a reasonable addition, and the policy should explain how to report a work-related injury that happens at home.

Address location as well. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the bulletin explains, a teleworker's home is not a worksite; their worksite is the office they report to or receive assignments from. More broadly, working from another state or country can raise payroll, tax and employment-law questions, so require approval before anyone changes their regular work location.

Write it plainly, roll it out and review it

Keep the policy short enough that people will read it. A clear structure is: purpose, eligibility and requests, schedules and availability, hours and timekeeping, equipment and expenses, security, safety and injuries, location changes, and how the policy is reviewed. Use plain words and say who does what.

Roll it out with a conversation, not just a document. Walk managers through how to apply it consistently, ask employees to acknowledge it, and set a date to revisit it, for example once a year or after any major change in how you work. Keep a simple log of approved arrangements so you can see whether the policy is applied fairly.

For example, imagine a 20-person design firm writing its first policy. It might offer hybrid work to everyone whose role does not require on-site printing, require two shared office days, supply a laptop and headset, give a modest internet stipend, require multi-factor sign-in, and ask nonexempt staff to log any after-hours messages they answer. That fits on two pages and covers the questions people actually ask.

Key takeaways

• Define the arrangements you offer and base eligibility on the work, applied the same way for everyone.
• For nonexempt staff, short breaks of 20 minutes or less are paid time, and known after-hours work must be counted.
• Required work tools cannot cut into minimum wage or overtime under the FLSA, and some states require more.
• OSHA does not inspect home offices, but injury recordkeeping and accommodation duties still apply.
• Have the final draft reviewed against your state's laws before you adopt it.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Field Assistance Bulletin 2023-1: Telework Under the FLSA and FMLA (February 9, 2023)
• U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (revised July 2008)
• eCFR, 29 CFR 531.35 "Free and clear" payment; "kickbacks"
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Work At Home/Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation (February 3, 2003)
• OSHA, Directive CPL 02-00-125: Home-Based Worksites (February 25, 2000)
• NIST, SP 800-46 Rev. 2: Guide to Enterprise Telework, Remote Access, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Security (July 2016)