Work From Anywhere Strategy
Where is Remote Working?
Working remotely doesn't always mean working from home, while for most people it is home there is a lot more discussion around being able to work from anywhere.
The first question when thinking about your work from anywhere strategy is where would be appropriate for your employees to work?
Another important area that needs to be addressed as part of your strategy if your business is remote-first is for those that don't have a space to work in from home, you may have employees who are living with parents or in shared houses and essentially only have their bedroom to work in, this is not a healthy or safe environment for your employees to be working in.
With other businesses I have worked with who have employees that don't have space we have implemented a co-working space policy, this is where the employee can claim expenses for the use of a designated workspace.
The designated or co-working spaces are also great to use for small teams to get together for brainstorming days or just to meet up occasionally and work with someone else for some face to face interaction.
There is also an increasing trend of employees wanting to work abroad, some of the considerations for a Work from Anywhere policy to address this trend are:
- Tax implications for both the employee and business
- Visa requirements for the employee to work in a country
- If the employee is needed back in the country that they were hired in for a customer meeting, who is responsible for the travel costs?
- Does the employee sign a document that they take responsibility for any tax they are charged locally?
- Is it appropriate to the employees job role to be taking calls on the beach or around a pool?
- What happens if their company equipment is lost or stolen in another country?
- Do you limit the number of days a year an employee can work from an alternative country?
As you can see it is not as simple as saying that employees can work from anywhere, at Remote Way of Working we can help you navigate some of these discussions and can provide advice based on our experience of how to approach this growing trend.
