Running a remote or hybrid team

This guide is for directors and boards of small charities whose staff work from home some or all of the time, or who are thinking about it. Remote work can widen who you can hire and cut rent, but it brings its own rules and habits. After reading, you'll know how federal wage rules apply to people working from home, what to do about posters and expenses, what changes when someone lives in another state, and how to keep a spread-out team connected and secure.

For the basics of a first hire, see hiring your first employee. This guide covers what's different when the work happens somewhere else.

Write down how you work

Before anything else, agree a short remote work policy, approved by the board or the director, and add it to your personnel policies. It should say:

• Who can work remotely, and whether it's every day, some days, or by agreement.
• Core hours when everyone is reachable, and how quickly people should answer messages.
• Where work can happen: home only, anywhere in your state, or anywhere in the US. This matters for tax and labor law, as explained below.
• Equipment: what the charity provides, who owns it, and what happens when someone leaves.
• Expenses: what the charity pays for, such as part of an internet bill, and how to claim it.
• Security: the basic rules for devices, passwords and private information.
• Safety: how to report an injury while working at home.

Our personnel policies template is a good home for this section.

Hours and breaks for non-exempt staff

Non-exempt employees, those who must be paid overtime, must be paid for all hours worked wherever they work. The Department of Labor's Field Assistance Bulletin 2023-1 (February 9, 2023) says the federal rules "apply equally to employees who telework" as to people working at an office or any other site.

• Count all the time. If you know or have reason to believe someone is working, that time counts, even if it's an email at 9 p.m. Set clear hours, and tell people not to work off the clock.
• Short breaks are paid. The bulletin says breaks "of 20 minutes or less" must be treated as paid hours worked, whether the person works from home or the office.
• Meal breaks can be unpaid. Real meal breaks, typically 30 minutes or more, when the person is completely relieved of duty, are not work time.
• Track hours. Use a simple timesheet or a time-tracking tool, and have the employee confirm it each pay period.
• Nursing employees. Employees who telework keep their right to reasonable break time to express breast milk, in a place shielded from view. The bulletin notes this includes being free from observation by any employer-provided or required video system, including a computer camera.

Family and medical leave

For the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the bulletin says a teleworker's home is not their worksite. Their worksite is "the office to which they report or from which their assignments are made," and they count toward that office's total of 50 employees within 75 miles, one of the tests for whether staff are eligible for FMLA leave. If your charity has fewer than 50 employees within 75 miles of that office, staff won't meet this test. Some states have their own family and medical leave laws with different rules, so check yours.

Posters and notices

Federal labor laws require some notices to be posted where employees can see them. The Department of Labor's Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-7 says that, in most cases, an electronic posting can replace the paper one only if:

1. all your employees work remotely, exclusively;
2. all of them usually get information from you electronically; and
3. all of them have readily available access to the electronic posting at all times.

If some staff still come to an office, post the paper notices there and add the electronic version for the people at home. Tell everyone where to find the notices online; the bulletin says a posting isn't readily accessible if employees must ask for access or file permissions to see it. State notices have their own rules, so check your state labor department.

Expenses and equipment

Under the federal wage law, wages must be paid "free and clear" (29 CFR 531.35). If an employee has to buy tools or equipment the job requires, and the cost cuts into the minimum wage or overtime they're owed, that's a violation. For staff paid near the minimum wage, provide the equipment yourself or reimburse it.

Some states have their own rules on reimbursing work expenses, such as a share of phone or internet costs. Check your state's labor department. Whatever the law requires, a clear rule in your expense reimbursement policy avoids awkward conversations.

Staff in another state

When someone works from home in a different state from your office, you may become an employer in that state too. The rules vary, but expect to check:

• New-hire reporting. The federal Office of Child Support Services says employers must report new hires "within 20 days of hire to the state where the new employees work," and some states require it sooner. If you have employees in more than one state, you can instead register with the federal Department of Health and Human Services as a multistate employer and report all new hires to one state where you have employees.
• State income tax withholding for the state where the employee works, and whether your home state also expects it.
• Unemployment insurance and workers' compensation in the employee's state.
• That state's wage, leave, notice and pay-timing laws, which may be stricter than yours.
• State registrations for the charity itself. Ask whether having staff in that state means your charity must register to do business or to fundraise there. See our guide to charitable solicitation registration.

A payroll service that handles more than one state can do most of this for you. Ask before you agree to someone moving.

Hiring remotely

You still need a Form I-9 for every new employee. If you take part in E-Verify and are in good standing, USCIS allows an optional alternative to seeing documents in person: you examine copies, then hold a live video call where the employee shows the same documents. If you offer it at a hiring site, you must offer it consistently to everyone there, and you may not use it to treat people differently because of citizenship, immigration status or national origin. Otherwise, USCIS says employers "must physically examine documents."

Keeping a spread-out team connected

• Meet regularly. A short weekly team call, with cameras optional, and a monthly longer one to plan.
• Write things down. Decisions, tasks and deadlines belong in a shared place, not just a chat thread.
• Have one-to-ones. Each person should talk with their supervisor at least every two weeks.
• Meet in person when you can, even once or twice a year, if the budget allows.
• Watch for isolation and overwork. People at home can feel cut off, or find it hard to stop. Ask how they're doing.
• Include hybrid staff fairly. In a hybrid meeting, give remote people a way to speak first, and don't make decisions in the hallway afterward.

Security and privacy

Remote work moves your charity's data onto home networks and personal devices. The basics:

• multi-factor sign-in on email and every shared account;
• devices with screen locks, updates turned on and, ideally, owned by the charity;
• files kept in a shared drive, not on personal laptops;
• no client or donor information printed at home unless it's really needed, and shredded afterward;
• a clear way to report a lost device or a suspicious email quickly.

See cybersecurity basics and data privacy basics for more.

Remote and hybrid checklist

• We have a written remote work policy in our personnel policies
• Non-exempt staff track all hours, and short breaks are paid
• Required notices are posted where every employee can see them, on paper, electronically or both
• Equipment and expenses are covered so no one's pay drops below what the law requires
• We know which states our staff work in and have registered where needed
• Offer letters say where staff may work from
• Every shared account uses multi-factor sign-in
• Each team member has a regular one-to-one with their supervisor