Employee Telecommuting During The COVID-19 Pandemic

As employers adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and consider arrangements for employees to work from home, it is timely to review (or draft) their telecommuting policy to ensure it sets out clear objective eligibility criteria, employer expectations, scheduling and tracking hours, supervision, and the proper use of confidential information by employees working remotely. To this end, we provide some key components of a reasonable telecommuting policy:

Eligibility

To avoid the appearance of favoritism employers are advised to establish eligibility criteria as to who qualifies to work remotely including:

the type of work which qualifies for telecommuting; the employee's ability to work at home, set up an office, and maintain confidentiality when required; the level of productivity required by employees to telecommute. Employers should also be mindful of their human rights obligations and take a flexible and reasonable approach to telecommuting-related accommodation requests, which should be thoughtfully examined on a case-by-case basis. An illustration of a case where the employer failed to reasonably consider an employee's request for accommodation in the form of telecommuting is found in Devaney v. ZRV Holdings Limited 2012 HRTO 1590 where Ontario's Human Rights Tribunal found the employer discriminated against an architect for having denied his accommodation request to telecommute to allow him to care for his ailing mother.

Work Expectations

The policy should set clear expectations regarding the type and quality of work the employee is expected to perform remotely and state how work performance will be managed. It should be made clear to employees that regular work hours are to be maintained and that even though employees will be working from home, the employer has the right to and will supervise them.

Work Equipment

Employers should ensure their remote workers have the proper work equipment and be clear whether employees who use their personal device for work-related purposes will be compensated for any related costs. Employers should maintain a list of equipment provided for telecommuting purposes, including serial numbers and equipment deficiencies.

Work Space

A telecommuting policy should outline any physical work space requirements and ensure employees will work in a proper work environment; telecommuted work is to be safe and free from hazards.

Location

The telecommuting policy should state the location where employees are to work...