Topics
HR Support for Telecommuting Employees (Teleworkers)
Editor's Note: Meet management challenges by offering telecommuting options.
Overview: Telecommuting (also called flexiplace, telework, working from home and flexible working) aids in retaining employees and engenders positive employee relations. Employers may offer telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation to employees with disabilities. In addition, telecommuting can be a valuable tool in retaining workers with caregiving responsibilities.
Telecommuting options allow employers to ensure business continuity when faced with a natural disaster or other business interruptions. In addition, telecommuting can be viewed as a valuable recruitment tool for hard-to-fill positions.
However, telecommuting can pose management challenges for supervisors seeking to comply with health and safety regulations in remote locations. In addition, fines and penalties await an employer that misclassifies a telecommuter or that fails to accurately record and pay any hours worked.
Trends: Telecommuting agreements continue to evolve. Employers should ensure their internal telecommuting policies and procedures offer optimal protections against regulatory hurdles, while promoting compliance with work rules regarding time theft and other abuses.
Marta Moakley, J.D., Legal Editor
Latest items in Telecommuting
-
Best Buy Follows Yahoo's Lead on Flexible Work Arrangements
Best Buy Co, Inc., the Minnesota-based consumer electronics retailer, announced on March 4 that it will discontinue its workplace flexibility program (known as the Results-Only Workplace Environment or ROWE) for corporate employees. Best Buy's actions mirror those of the Silicon Valley-based Yahoo! Inc. in late February.
-
How to Handle Requests for Flexible Work Arrangements
Demographic shifts, technological forces, and the Americans with Disabilities Act have incentivized the adoption of more flexible work arrangements for some jobs. This How To discusses the best means of handling requests from employees for an accommodation involving a flexible work arrangement.
-
How to Manage Telecommuters
Telecommuting programs have numerous advantages for both employees and employers, including combatting absenteeism, boosting productivity and morale, and increasing employee retention. Employers should follow the steps in this How To on managing telecommuters.
-
Manage Telecommuters
-
Telecommuting Agreement
An employer may use this form to create an agreement between the employer and an employee who has been granted telecommuting privileges.
-
Managing Telecommuters - Supervisor Briefing
This Supervisor Briefing examines the law and best practices regarding managing telecommuters, including topics such as telecommuting policy enforcement, monitoring telecommuters, evaluating telecommuting requests, potential consequences and a self test.
-
Telecommuting Policy
An employer may use this policy to ensure employees understand under what circumstances telecommuting might be an option, and the parameters for such an arrangement. A Telecommuting Policy can reduce overhead expenses, improve employee productivity and increase available employee work time.
-
Flexible Working
This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses the importance of flexible working, the issues involved in drawing up an organizational policy and the main types of flexible working.
-
Managing Employees in Special Situations
In-depth review of the spectrum of Federal employment law requirements HR must follow with respect to Managing Employees in Special Situations
-
HR and Workplace Safety (OSHA Compliance)
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) gives each employee the right to a safe workplace and requires employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free from any dangers. This section details employers' and employees' rights and responsibilities under the OSH Act.
About this topic
HR guidance on the legal risks and benefits of telecommuting.