While the arguments for and against telework have remained fundamentally the same over the years, the challenges in implementing a secure telework policy in the modern economy have become significantly more complex.
Even as it crippled large swathes of the global economy, the COVID-19 pandemic forced most businesses to consider alternative work arrangements in order to stay in operation. Effectively pushing “fast-forward” on the evolution of telework, the rapid adoption of remote work across organizations meant that many organizations were managing a distributed workforce without the resources or the experience necessary to properly secure or support these telework arrangements.
In fact, current data reveals that 20% of organizations have experienced a security breach caused by the actions of a remote worker [1].
So if you’re looking to implement a telework arrangement at your business, it’s good to know the benefits that telework can afford your company, and how to best establish security-focused telework policies that protect the integrity of client data and your company’s assets.
What is telework?
Telework is a remote working arrangement that allows employees to execute job functions from a home office, coffee shops, or shared workspaces away from the organization’s main office space. Remote workers who telework communicate with internal and external stakeholders through email, telephone, or video teleconferencing tools.
Why do small businesses need a telework policy?
Telework is a popular alternative to traditional in-office work arrangements. However, working outside of the office opens the door to a number of challenges and opportunities for productivity to suffer and for employees to take advantage of the lack of direct oversight. Establishing a telework policy allows small businesses to provide their employees with access to the benefits of telework while laying the groundwork to maintain operational integrity and efficiency.
What is a telework policy?
If your business allows teleworking as an optional work arrangement, it’s crucial that you have a telework policy in place. A telework policy formalizes the expectations and guidelines of employees who work outside of the traditional office space.
Telework policy checklist: What must a telework policy include?
A robust telework policy helps to ensure the experience of remote employees closely aligns with the standards and policies of the business. There are a number of considerations to take into account in crafting a policy.
Using personal property versus company property to carry out job function
An effective policy should establish which hardware and equipment will be provided by the employer and which the employee will be responsible for securing on their own. This could include computers, cell phones, printers, landline phones, and other equipment used in the process of an employee performing their duties. This can also include reimbursement for office equipment and furniture used in a home office.
Data security and records management
Working remotely means that teleworkers don’t have the benefit of the secure network and in-office document management solutions that working in a traditional workplace would provide. Your organization should have a rigorous framework in place for employees to protect and secure confidential and sensitive information and company data, which we will break down in more detail below.
Similarly, remote workers should be given access to a digital document management system to ensure all documents are maintained according to any legislative or regulatory requirements that might apply to your business.
Approved remote access, work locations, and employee mobility
Telework doesn’t always refer to fully remote positions—teleworkers can be required to work onsite at the office occasionally. Any required mix of remote versus onsite work hours can be made clear in the policy, as can any reimbursement for costs associated with traveling to the office that might be incurred.
If an employee is working outside of the office, the company telework policy can specify how they should connect and where they’re allowed to work. It can establish a certain radius from the main office which employees must live within in order to facilitate a hybrid workplace arrangement. Similarly, a comprehensive telework policy can provide the outline for being able to work out-of-state or even internationally.
Compliance with employment law relative to benefits, insurance, and workers’ compensation coverage
Telework policies are necessary to account for differences state-to-state or between countries regarding employment laws and regulatory differences that might impact the need to provide specific benefits, adhere to specific pay rates, workers’ compensation coverage, and other accommodations that might be required.
What are the benefits of a telework policy?
Telework policies provide benefits to both the business and its employees.
Telework minimizes business costs and increases profitability
Telework has a number of built-in cost reductions relative to employees.
- By eliminating the need for costly commuting, employers are able to offer remote candidates lower salaries. A recent survey showed 37% of employees would consider a 10% lower salary if given the chance to work remotely [2].
- Less workers in the office allows business owners to maintain smaller office spaces and save on office-related expenses, including rent, maintenance, electricity, and utility costs.
- The lack of office distractions in telecommuting arrangements can result in improved productivity.
- Geographic distribution improves networking opportunities and provides employees with a wider range of solutions to business challenges.
- Telework provides employers with a wider range of candidate options and improves the overall talent available to employers, allowing them to build the most skilled teams possible.
Telework gives employees the balance and flexibility they need
Telework policies create a work environment in which employees can access benefits that a traditional working arrangement doesn’t make possible.
- Teleworking reduces the costs of commuting and reduces traffic in the local community.
- Remote working provides flexibility in work/life balance and opens the door to flexible scheduling arrangements.
- Allowing employees to work remotely increases their overall satisfaction and reduces stress.
- Telework policies open opportunities for employees to work for employers they might not otherwise have access to due to their geographic location.
How to implement a telework policy
As with any organizational change, your team has to go about designing and implementing a telework policy with intent and purpose. Before trying to adopt a telework policy, however, it’s important to ensure that telework works with your business model and it’s something that enhances your team’s productivity and satisfaction. Before breaking down the major do’s and don’ts, we want to discuss the importance of prioritizing security in your telework policy.
How to enforce a secure telework policy
Remote workers are highly susceptible to cyberattacks that can result in a data breach. Because they are working beyond the protections of the onsite office’s secure network, they are often targeted by malicious actors in phishing attacks and other cyber attacks focused on users operating on nonsecure devices or networks. Because of this, well-structured telework security policies should include cybersecurity-focused measures that employees must follow, and should be structured around whether employees are using their own devices or employer-provided hardware. In either case, there are basic practices that should be followed.
Awareness and training
One of the strongest cybersecurity defense strategies a business can deploy is a strong training and education program that helps employees understand their role in protecting company data and digital assets. Providing ongoing training and education for employees helps to improve compliance and awareness, and having remote-worker specific training included will help your teleworkers remain secure.
Policies regulating the use of personal devices
Employers will often provide company-owned computers or laptops that can be used by teleworkers, but other electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices are left to employees to supply themselves. If this is the case, a secure telework policy should include what devices can be used by employees to work remotely, how they can be used, and how they should be secured if used to transmit or manage company data.
Methods for securing endpoints on home-based and public networks
In-office employees have the luxury of working under the umbrella of a network configured for and designed around securing business data. Even cloud-based networks and office servers are designed for security and safety. However, teleworkers are often working through home-based networks and public networks that are rarely configured properly for security.
Whether they’re working on employer-provided hardware or their own personal devices, teleworkers should be required to utilize basic network security tools to ensure their data is protected. This includes the use of:
- Device-level firewalls.
- Multi-factor authentication through SMS or through authentication applications.
- Strong router and WiFi passwords.
- Virtual private networks (VPN).
- A company-approved password manager.
- Up-to-date antivirus software set for regular scanning of devices used for work to prevent malware and viruses.
Telework policy Do’s and Don’ts
While we’ve laid out the basic elements above that a properly executed telework policy must include, there are a number of best practices a team looking to implement telework should also consider.
Be clear about telework eligibility
Not every business process should be allowed to work remote, and not every employee has the skills or discipline to work in a remote arrangement. The decision to allow employees to telework should not be arbitrary, but rather very clearly laid out in the telework policy. This ensures not only that productivity will be maximized, but also that you won’t encounter morale issues by allowing unequal access to flexible arrangements.
Employees must notify employer when working outside of their home state
There are significant differences in labor laws between states, provinces, or countries, and there are often severe legal ramifications for not following them. These laws range from workers’ compensation coverage to what benefits employers are required to provide.
Every remote worker should have an individualized telework policy
Every employee’s remote working situation will be different. While the overall policy should adhere to a strict set of expectations and standards, the individual work arrangement should include such things as when an employee can disconnect from work, home office reimbursements, locations the individual can and cannot work remotely from, and the necessary notice of any changes in venue when working remotely.
Avoid micromanaging remote workers
Employees who choose to work remotely tend to be much more productive and independent when they are removed from a centralized office. Not all management teams understand this and tend to try and manage remote workers as they do in-office workers, going so far as to even track employees’ work activities with tracking software. This negates one of the benefits that remote work provides to both workers and the employer—asynchronous working conditions.
Do not neglect cybersecurity and personal data protection compliance
We’ve already laid out the necessary cybersecurity elements, but it’s important that the rules for usage of VPNs and passwords are explicitly laid out in the employee agreement so that the expectations are clear. It’s also important that remote policies, both general and individual, include the necessary compliance and data protection requirements according to the laws that apply to both the parent organization and the locale where the employee works remotely.
Tools for implementing a telework policy
Telework requires a different approach to daily work tasks, as remote workers don’t have the benefit of the in-office network, hardware, and ease of access to their fellow employees. Under a remote work arrangement, a few pieces of technology are vital for being able to properly function in a remote role:
- Messaging and chat apps are used to facilitate in-the-moment and quick communication between team members who work off-site as well as with employees working from the corporate office. These tools close the gap created by remote work arrangements and help maintain morale between employees by providing fast access to solutions and collaborative engagement.
- Web conferencing tools provide teams with the ability to come together easily for more complex meetings and planning sessions. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed just how easily a video conferencing call could replace in-person meetings, increasing productivity and efficiency. These tools should also allow employees to quickly and easily screen their share, providing another channel for collaboration.
- Cloud-based data storage, collaboration tools, and web-based project management suites are necessary for remotely distributed teams in order to effectively track project progress, share files, and keep to budgets and deadlines.
- In some cases, employers will virtualize the employee workstation completely, creating remote desktops for their employees that are accessible through a secure web portal, ensuring compliance with data protection and other safeguards.
Telework is here to stay in the new economy
There’s no doubt that telework policies are something every business owner should be considering if their business supports a flexible, hybrid, or remote work model. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic taught us, not every business that can operate remotely is ready to make that transition. Coordinating with a managed service provider in information technology through the UpCity Marketplace will help prepare your team and your business to make the transition in the coming year.
This article has been updated. It was originally published in February of 2021.
Sources
- Statistics of Cyber Security Risks When Working from Home, Databasix
- 26 Proven Advantages of Telecommuting For Employers, GreatWorkLife