When the British Columbia government announced the state of emergency on March 17, 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic, employers were required to make immediate changes to their workplace practices. For many employers, temporary emergency measures have now transitioned to being on-going, potentially longer-term, changes that will need to be in place for the foreseeable future. One common example is the need to have employees work from home. As the urgent need to get employees set up to work from home has passed, employers should now put more careful thought to their work from home policy and practices if employees need to work remotely on a longer-term basis.
We have put together the following list of considerations when updating or developing your work from home policy:
1. Expectations on hours of work, availability and location
- Are employees expected to keep the same work hours at home as when they work in the office?
- Are there core hours employees must be available, with flexibility regarding other work hours?
- How are employees and managers expected to maintain contact with one another?
- How are employees expected to communicate changes to their hours of work and availability to their manager?
- If employees are expected to work partly from home and partly from the workplace, what coordination will be required?
- How are overtime hours to be tracked/handled?
- What if employees want to work somewhere other than their regular residence (e.g. out of town, in another province, out of the country, etc.)?
2. Performance expectations, productivity & efficiency
- How will you measure and/or monitor work output?
- What reporting measures are there?
- How do employees who work from home communicate what they are working on? How often?
- How will you manage under-performing employees if you don’t have “line of sight” to their work?
- How frequently will managers check in with employees?
- How will you keep remote employees engaged and part of the company culture?
- What are the work expectations if employees are experiencing cold/flu symptoms and can’t go to work, but they are able to work from home?
- How are employees expected to manage any personal responsibilities while working at home (e.g. homeschooling, lack of daycare, medical appointments, elder care, etc.)?
- When interacting with colleagues, clients and customers via video, what expectations are there for how employees are expected to conduct themselves (e.g. appearance, backgrounds, kids/pets, etc.)? When should video and audio be on vs. off? What are the protocols for using chat, sharing screens, etc.?
- Is there a dedicated work space at home? Do you need employees to have a dedicated work space?
- Is the work space safe? Are there any hazards that need to be addressed (e.g. electrical, AC/heating, plumbing, fire safety, etc.)?
- Is the office set-up ergonomically sound?
- What happens if the employee does not have the space to work from home on an extended basis but can periodically?
- Does the employee have proper insurance to be able to work from home? Does the company’s liability policy cover employees working from home? Does the employee’s home insurance cover it?
- Will the company provide any office equipment?
- Who owns the equipment?
- Do all employees get the same equipment?
- Will the company be monitoring the use of company equipment (e.g. online activities, computer usage, text messages, email usage, etc.)?
- Does any of the monitoring infringe on employees’ privacy rights?
- Is there secure internet access?
- What expectations/rules are there regarding use of software, downloading apps, personal usage of computers, etc.?
- How will IT upgrades occur on company equipment?
- How will the employee keep company information confidential and secure?
- Is there a difference in protocols for electronic data vs. physical data?
- What password protection and encryption requirements and protocols are needed?
- What are the expectations around use of company equipment for personal use?
- Is there a locked filing cabinet at home?
- What information does the employee need to keep secured?
- How will employee and customer information be protected and maintained?
- When can employees use public wifi vs. private wifi?
- What privacy/confidentiality protocols are in place regarding conducting phone/video calls in a public setting?
- What processes and protocols are in place in case there is a possible or known security breach?
- Will the company pay for any office set-up expenses?
- Will the company pay for on-going office expenses?
- What additional expenses will the company cover?
- Will the company provide reimbursement for expenses or a flat-rate?
- What is the process for reimbursement?
- Are you prepared to complete the T2200 Form: Declarations of Conditions of Employment for employees?
- Is there a basic health and safety policy for employees who are working from home?
- Have employees conducted an assessment of their home workspace and reported any hazards to their manager? What protocols are in place for evacuating from the home workplace to a safe location, if needed, and how should the employee contact the employer in case of emergency?
- Have safe workplace practices been discussed with the employees?
- How should an employee report any work-related incidents or injuries?
- Have you discussed ergonomic considerations with employees?
- Have you discussed health and safety roles, rights and responsibilities with employees as they apply to working from home?
WorkSafeBC has established several resources for working from home and for setting up your home workspace.
Please feel free to contact us for HR consulting services for developing your BC company’s work from home policy.
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