How to Create a Remote Work Policy: Components + Template

By now, you’ve likely heard about the many benefits of remote work arrangements. But do you know how to unlock them? The key lies in your policy.

While flexibility is good, a lack of structure leads to inefficiency, burnout and disengagement. Which is why it’s so important to put strong guidelines in place.

Worried you’re approaching remote work requests the wrong way? Don’t panic! By the time you finish reading this guide, you’ll have everything you need to get back on track with a strong remote work policy.

What is a remote work policy?

A remote work policy is a formal set of guidelines defining the expectations and conditions you want employees to follow when working outside the office. They’re designed to help remote employees work wiser, and include several key factors including:

• Who’s eligible to work remotely
• What acceptable work schedules look like
• How noncompliance is handled

Depending on the types of flexible work arrangements offered, a strong policy typically outlines expected work hours, acceptable remote work locations, data security protocols and available support.

Why a remote work policy matters

Remote workers need your support, and a policy shows them exactly how you’ll provide it. Your guidelines help people understand what remote work means at your organization, as well as what’s expected of them. They also provide a framework for where, when and how to work effectively.

But that’s not the only reason to formalize remote work guidelines. Your policy plays a crucial role in legal protection for your business. Think of it as a safeguard for clarifying expectations, ensuring compliance with labor laws and lowering risks related to cybersecurity and confidentiality.

The most successful remote organizations use real-time employee data to create policies that:

• Improve productivity: With the right guidelines, remote employees often outperform workers who report to the office.
• Increase engagement: It’s easier for remote employees to engage with day-to-day work when they know exactly what’s expected of them.
• Prevent issues: Setting organization-wide standards helps put everyone on the same playing field.

Key components of a remote work policy

A remote work policy is only effective if it’s specific. The more clarity you provide, the easier it is for employees to follow — and for managers to enforce. While the specifics vary, every policy must cover a minimum of five core areas.

1. Clear expectations and accountability

Not every role is suited for remote work, and not every employee wants it. Spell out eligibility on a case-by-case basis to eliminate confusion. Define job duties that work well remotely and note any exceptions.

The more specific, the better. Use subheadings and bullet lists to break down elements like working hours, benchmarks, productivity goals, deliverables, and response times. For example, depending on your industry and roles consider including sections on:

• Schedule adherence and how you’ll monitor shift coverage.
• Accountability standards describing your expectations for daily habits.
• Monitoring strategies outlining any methods you’ll use to track progress on remote work.

The key is to maintain insight on remote work, without killing trust or culture. The most successful policies rely on outcome-based metrics rather than invasive video surveillance or time-tracking methods.

2. Performance and communication protocols

Describe what remote team collaboration looks like at your organization. Provide recommendations on how to cover synchronous vs asynchronous communication, as well as standards for using communications and scheduling meetings.

The goal is to prevent communication overload issues before they start. A strong policy tells people when not to schedule a meeting, as well as how to avoid distractions and protect focus time.

Without clear guardrails, communication overload creeps in — and remote employees spend too much time on low-value activities that don’t drive results. Use workforce analytics to monitor how much time employees spend collaborating versus concentrating, then adjust your policy to strike a healthy balance.

3. Technology and security standards

Outline your company’s standards for device use. For example, do you require remote employees to use corporate devices, or can they access work apps on personal laptops and smartphones? Do you mandate use of a virtual private network (VPN)?

Decide how you want to balance usability with security and write it all down. In addition, create a checklist of mandatory software and security protocols so employees know exactly what you expect of them. Include any essential software categories teams must use along with your expectations for each.

4. Culture and support

In addition to keeping people productive, a strong remote work policy includes parameters for monitoring burnout and ensuring employee well-being. Include a section explaining your expectations for managers when it comes to balancing workloads and supporting work-life balance.

For some organizations, that means letting employees set their own schedules within the parameters of overlapping core hours. For others, it’s more important to designate preferred channels for communicating across time zones.

And don’t forget to touch on culture. Spell out how your organization fosters connection remotely, whether through virtual events, shoutouts or transparent all-hands updates. Then stick to those policies.

5. Inclusivity and equity considerations

Remote workers should never feel like second-class employees. Describe how you handle promotions, recognition and access to projects so everyone has a fair shot. Normalize asynchronous contributions, standardize evaluation methods and make equity a leadership responsibility — not an HR afterthought.

Remote work policy template

Feeling overwhelmed? ActivTrak is here to help. Our productivity experts work with more than 9,500 organizations to monitor remote and hybrid work. And they created a remote work policy template to help you get started. Use it to customize guidelines for your organization while baking in best practices from day one.

Tips for successfully implementing your remote work policy

A well-written policy only works if people embrace it. Implementation is where the real work happens. The most successful companies:

• Tie policies to measurable outcomes: Tie policies to things you can measure such as retention, engagement and output. Use remote workforce management software to set a baseline and track progress so leaders know your policy drives real business value.
• Engage employees in development: Involve employees early and often. Surveys, pilot programs and open forums create buy-in and help surface blind spots you might overlook.
• Provide training and resources: Offer workshops, quick reference checklists and centralized documentation so employees know where to turn for guidance.
• Foster a strong remote culture: Policies shouldn’t feel mechanical. Balance structure with human connection through recognition programs, transparent communication and intentional community-building. Position this as a leadership priority to show it matters.
• Monitor and measure productivity: Calculating productivity helps you see which part of your policy works, and where you need to make adjustments. Regularly track team productivity trends to see where and when people work best — and adapt your guidelines as needed.

Create and monitor your remote work policy’s effectiveness with ActivTrak

A remote work policy is more than an HR document. It’s the foundation for productivity, engagement and a flexible workforce that drives business results.

With ActivTrak, leaders gain the visibility needed to keep policies relevant and effective. More than 9,500 organizations use ActivTrak’s remote workforce management software to:

• Measure collaboration vs. focus time
• Compare remote and in-office productivity
• Monitor workload balance
• Identify early signs of burnout
• And more

Ready to strengthen your remote work policy with real-time insights? Set up your free account to get started right now.