Working from home is no longer an emergency workaround. For many employers, it is a permanent operating model that affects wage and hour compliance, accommodations, information security, safety, performance management, and employee experience. A sound remote-work program begins with a written policy and consistent manager practices, not with assumptions about where productive work can happen.
This guide updates JER HR Group's original COVID-era work-from-home tips for today's workplace. It is designed to help private employers evaluate remote and hybrid arrangements, document expectations, and identify issues that require state-specific or legal review.
Key takeaways for employers
- Define eligibility, schedules, work locations, equipment, security, communication, and review procedures in writing.
- Pay nonexempt employees for all hours the employer knows or has reason to believe were worked, including authorized and unauthorized work.
- Use a reliable method for reporting all working time and correcting missed time.
- Evaluate disability-related telework requests through an individualized accommodation process.
- Apply performance and conduct standards consistently across remote, hybrid, and on-site employees.
- Review the law where each employee physically works. Wage, expense-reimbursement, leave, privacy, and notice requirements can vary by state and locality.
1. Put the remote-work arrangement in writing
A remote-work policy should tell employees who may work remotely, who approves the arrangement, and whether it is ongoing, temporary, or subject to a trial period. It should also make clear that business needs, role responsibilities, performance, security, and legal requirements may affect continued eligibility.
At minimum, address:
- Approved work location and whether work from another state or country requires advance approval
- Expected schedule, availability, core collaboration hours, and attendance
- Timekeeping, meal and rest periods, and overtime approval
- Performance standards, deliverables, response times, and meeting participation
- Employer-provided and employee-provided equipment
- Expense reimbursement and how expenses are submitted
- Confidentiality, records handling, cybersecurity, and incident reporting
- Safety, ergonomics, and work-related injury reporting
- Accommodation requests and the correct HR contact
- Review, modification, and termination of the arrangement
The policy should fit within the organization's broader employee handbook. Individual remote-work agreements can then document role-specific details without contradicting the handbook.
2. Track all compensable time for nonexempt employees
Location does not change the Fair Labor Standards Act's basic requirement to pay covered nonexempt employees for all hours worked. The U.S. Department of Labor explains that employers must exercise reasonable diligence to determine whether teleworking employees are performing unscheduled work. A reasonable reporting process is important, but managers must also act when they learn through messages, work product, system activity, or other sources that an employee worked time that was not recorded.
Employers may require advance approval for overtime and may address violations of that approval rule through appropriate, consistent discipline. However, a policy against unauthorized work does not eliminate the obligation to pay for work the employer knew or should have known occurred.
Practical controls include:
- A simple timekeeping system that employees can access remotely
- Written instructions to record start time, stop time, interrupted time, and all work outside the regular schedule
- A prompt correction process for missed punches or unreported time
- Training for managers not to encourage off-the-clock work
- Periodic review of workload, after-hours messages, and repeated timecard corrections
The Department of Labor's current telework guidance also addresses compensable breaks and the treatment of work performed away from the main worksite. Employers should review the Wage and Hour Division's telework guidance and obtain advice for unusual schedules or travel patterns. JER HR Group's article on paying remote workers provides additional compensation considerations.
3. Review the law where the employee works
Remote work can unintentionally place an employer in a new jurisdiction. An employee who moves or works for an extended period from another state may trigger registration, payroll withholding, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, wage, leave, posting, expense-reimbursement, or privacy obligations.
Require employees to obtain approval before changing their regular work location. HR, payroll, tax, benefits, IT, and legal stakeholders should assess the request before work begins. A workforce risk assessment can help identify policies and practices that need closer review.
4. Handle telework accommodation requests individually
A general return-to-office rule does not replace the obligation to consider a disability-related accommodation request. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that working from home may be a reasonable accommodation when a disability prevents successful performance at the worksite and the job, or part of it, can be performed at home without undue hardship.
Employers do not have to grant every employee's preferred arrangement. They should engage in a timely interactive process, identify essential job functions, consider effective options, document the analysis, and avoid blanket assumptions. If the organization already offers telework, employees with disabilities must have an equal opportunity to participate.
Review the EEOC's telework and reasonable-accommodation guidance. Train managers to send medical or disability-related requests to HR rather than deciding them informally.
5. Protect confidential information and systems
Remote-work rules should reflect the sensitivity of the employee's role and data access. At a minimum, coordinate with IT on approved devices, multifactor authentication, software updates, secure networks, access permissions, records retention, and rapid incident reporting.
Employees should know whether they may print records, use personal devices, store documents locally, take confidential calls in shared spaces, or transport equipment. The policy should also disclose monitoring practices accurately and be reviewed for applicable state privacy and notice requirements.
6. Address safety without intruding into the home
OSHA's current home-based worksite directive says the agency does not inspect employees' home offices and does not expect employers to inspect them. Employers remain responsible for recordkeeping when a home-office injury or illness is work-related and otherwise recordable. Different rules and risks can apply when the employee performs manufacturing or other hazardous work at home.
Provide a practical self-assessment covering workstation setup, electrical safety, trip hazards, emergency contacts, and prompt injury reporting. Review the OSHA home-based worksite directive and applicable workers' compensation requirements.
7. Manage outcomes, communication, and inclusion
Remote employees should understand how success is measured. Managers should establish priorities, deadlines, decision rights, meeting norms, and check-in routines. Evaluate output and behavior rather than relying on online presence alone.
Remote and hybrid programs can also create unequal access to information, development, recognition, and promotion. Audit who receives visible assignments, feedback, mentoring, and advancement opportunities. JER HR Group's leadership training and development services can help managers lead distributed teams more consistently.
Remote-work implementation checklist
- Identify roles that are operationally eligible for remote or hybrid work.
- Confirm each employee's approved work location and applicable jurisdictions.
- Review exempt and nonexempt classifications, timekeeping, breaks, and overtime.
- Document schedules, availability, equipment, expenses, security, and safety expectations.
- Create a clear accommodation-request pathway.
- Train managers on off-the-clock work, performance, inclusion, and escalation.
- Obtain employee acknowledgment of the policy and individual agreement.
- Review the program at defined intervals and after significant legal or operational changes.
Frequently asked questions
Can an employer require remote employees to keep a fixed schedule?
Generally, an employer may establish schedules and availability expectations, subject to applicable wage and hour, leave, accommodation, predictive-scheduling, and other laws. The expectations should be written and applied consistently.
Can an employer refuse to pay unauthorized overtime?
No. If a covered nonexempt employee performs work the employer knows or has reason to believe occurred, the time generally must be paid. The employer may separately enforce a lawful advance-approval rule.
Does the ADA require every employer to offer remote work?
No. The ADA does not require a general telework program. Telework may still need to be considered as a reasonable accommodation for a qualified individual, depending on the essential job functions, effectiveness, and undue hardship analysis.
Should a remote employee be allowed to work from any state?
Not automatically. A new work location can create legal, tax, payroll, insurance, benefits, and operational obligations. Require advance approval and complete a cross-functional review first.
Build a remote-work policy that fits the organization
A strong policy connects compliance with daily management. JER HR Group can help employers review remote-work rules, update handbooks, assess risk, and train managers. Contact JER HR Group to discuss a practical review.
This article provides general HR information and is not legal or tax advice. Requirements vary by employer, employee location, industry, and facts. Have qualified counsel review policies and specific decisions before implementation.
