Policy required document Workplace
Remote Work Policy
A remote work policy sets who may work away from the office, how hours are recorded, what equipment and expenses the company covers, how company information is protected at home, and which laws apply to an employee who lives somewhere the company does not. The last point is the one that generates claims.
An employee's rights follow the employee, not the headquarters: a remote worker in California is owed California's meal periods, paid sick leave, expense reimbursement and cannabis protections whether or not the company has any other presence there, and a remote worker in New York is owed the New York monitoring notice and pay-transparency rules.
Companies acquire states by hiring, often without noticing, and every policy on this site has a state schedule for that reason.
Two duties are specific to remote work. California Labor Code 2802 requires the employer to indemnify employees for all necessary expenditures incurred in direct consequence of their duties, and the courts have applied it to a share of home internet and phone costs for employees required to work remotely; the section also awards attorney fees to the employee who has to sue for it.
Illinois has a similar statute (820 ILCS 115/9.5) that lets an employer cap reimbursement in a written policy, but only if the policy exists and the cap is not trivial.
The other duty is timekeeping: the FLSA regulation that management must see that unwanted work is not performed (29 CFR 785.13) is harder to meet when the work happens at a kitchen table, so the policy has to make recording hours, taking breaks and stopping at the end of the day explicit rules with a reporting route, not assumptions.
Obligation ledger
Who requires it, and what each one says.
| Source | Applies when | What it requires | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| California Labor Code, indemnification for necessary expenditures Cal. Lab. Code 2802 | Every California employer, including for employees working remotely in California | Indemnify the employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred in direct consequence of the discharge of their duties; necessary expenditures include attorney fees incurred enforcing the section. Applied by the courts to a reasonable share of home internet, phone and similar costs of required remote work. Legally required. | Mandatory |
| Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, reimbursement of expenses 820 ILCS 115/9.5 | Every Illinois employer | Reimburse all necessary expenditures incurred within the scope of employment and directly related to services performed; the employer is not liable for amounts beyond a written expense policy's limits unless it authorized or required the expense, and a policy providing no or de minimis reimbursement does not protect it. Legally required. | Mandatory |
| FLSA regulations, hours worked, duty of management 29 CFR 785.13 | Every covered employer, for nonexempt remote employees | Management must see that work it does not want performed is not performed; a rule against it is not enough; management must make every effort to enforce it. Remote work is where this duty is hardest to meet and most often litigated. | Mandatory |
Required sections
- Eligibility and approval: which roles, how requests are decided, and that arrangements can be changed
- Work location and the rule that the employee's state and city determine which laws apply; a duty to tell the company before moving
- Hours, availability and, for nonexempt staff, how time is recorded, that off-the-clock work is prohibited, and how breaks are taken and logged (cross-referenced to the timekeeping policy)
- Equipment: what the company provides, ownership, return on separation
- Expense reimbursement: what is covered, the rate or method, how to claim it, and the state rules that override the policy's limits
- Information security at home: devices, networks, screens, printing, where company data may be stored, and what happens on a personal device
- Electronic monitoring and the state notices, cross-referenced to the electronic communications policy
- Workspace safety and injury reporting, since workers' compensation reaches the home office
- Tax and registration consequences the company will handle when an employee works in a new state, and that the employee must disclose it
- How the arrangement ends
What the examiner asks for
What changed
Change log.
Frameworks
Where this document is required.
Need a hand implementing it?
Find a Consultant for Remote Work Policy
Tell us what you need done and we will point you to firms that do this work. Your details go to a firm only when you choose it.
From the publisher
Manage This Document in AllyMatter
Route it for approval, keep every version, and record a named acknowledgment from everyone who has to read it.
Questions
What people ask.
An employee moved to another state without telling us. What changed?
Their rights. From the day they started working there, that state's wage and hour, leave, sick leave, notice and pay rules applied, and the company likely owes payroll registration and withholding there. The policy's duty to disclose a move exists so that this is discovered by HR rather than by a claim.
Do we have to pay for home internet?
In California, a reasonable share of it, if remote work is required; the courts have read Labor Code 2802 that way, and the section awards attorney fees to the employee who has to sue. In Illinois, a written policy may set a reasonable cap. Elsewhere it depends on state law and the employment agreement, but a stipend with a written method is the low-risk approach everywhere.
How do we stop remote hourly staff from working unrecorded hours?
The regulation says a rule is not enough; the employer has to enforce it. In practice: a written prohibition, a tool that records start, stop and breaks, a duty to report any unrecorded time, and managers who do not send evening messages that expect a reply. The policy is the first of those; the others are what a court checks.
Is a home injury a workers' compensation claim?
It can be, if it arose out of and in the course of employment, and states have compensated home-office injuries. The policy should require a safe workspace and immediate reporting of injury, the same as on site.