Choosing Your Work at Home Employees

A Home Business Article Contributed by Sharon Hill

Making a Good Decision about Who Works at Home

There are some basic precepts and steps to remember and follow when deciding which of your employees can work at home. Not only will these help you decide, but they will protect you from the resentment and wrath of those not chosen and will help protect you and your firm from charges of discriminatory employment practices.

Getting the Work at Home Plan in Writing

First you need a formal, written telework policy - and you need to follow that policy, so that your decisions on who works at home are not dependent on whim or personal likes or dislikes. You need a telework agreement signed by the teleworker and the immediate supervisor that spells out the procedures for their successful work at home experience.

Your policy should clearly state the safety and security requirements for the home office, the stipulation (for non-exempt employees) that overtime must be preauthorized, and a statement that telework is voluntary and can be ended with a written notification by either party with a clearly stated number of days for notification.

Guidelines for Choosing Home Workers

There are 3 very important documents that you and your firm should use prior to making the decision about allowing an employee to work at home.

The first is an application. This should compel the telework candidate to explain her or his job tasks and why they are convinced they can be accomplished at home. It should also include some self-examining questions about self-discipline, organization, job knowledge, lonelines, home environment, etc. that will be food for thought for the person who must decide if telework is right for him or her. You may find that these questions are better addressed in a separate document - the self-assessment.

Once the application and self-assessments are returned to the immediate supervisor, that supervisor must then do a written assessment of the work at home candidate and her or his likelihood of telework success. The manager will also address the job tasks and note whether all or part can be accomplished from other than the employer's office. She or he should also be asked to note the equipment and supplies that would be required in the work at home office to allow that employee to succeed.

The Final Steps in Choosing the Work at Home Employee

If an employee completes a self-assessment and from that determines that she or he wants to pursue telework and the immediate supervisor agrees, you will probably want to start out with a pre-determined timeframe - usually six months. More than likely you will want to have the employee work in the main office at least a couple of days a week. You will also want an agreement from that employee that should an important meeting be called the teleworker would rearrange their work at home schedule to be able to attend the meeting.

If, however, an employee completes the self-assessment portion, still wants to telework and you, the supervisor, do not agree, you will want to use this as a counseling tool. "I applaud your motivation and while you do such and such well, I do have an area of concern. Your reports are quite often late. If, however, you can turn in those monthly reports on time for the next six months, then we can reevaluate your telework application at that time."

Try not to say no to a telework candidate - use this as an ideal opportunity to encourage, motivate and change unacceptable work patterns.