Creating effective hybrid work policies: Top tips & template

Hybrid work offers employees the best of both worlds – the flexibility of remote work and the camaraderie of in-office time. But managing a hybrid workforce is not an easy feat, which is why you need to ensure you have the right hybrid work policy.

Often, homeworkers end up working longer hours with fewer career advancement opportunities than their in-office counterparts. Additionally, a lack of a formal hybrid work policy could leave your employees anxious or demotivated. In some cases, it could also create two classes of workers, remote and in-office, with remote employees being treated as “second-class.”

‍So, once you've established your business is ready for hybrid work, you need to create a strong hybrid working policy that:

• Is equitable and fair to everyone
• Provides the right working conditions to all employees
• Outlines all available hybrid arrangements and requirements
• Sets clear rules for remote and office work, including working hours, required office presence, and communication channels and tools

We also advise you to use hybrid work software to make desk booking and attendance management easier.

Just as workplace policies or employee handbooks outline dos and don'ts for employees, hybrid working policies should lay down clear criteria and rules around hybrid work and also provide best practices for employees.

Below, you'll find a hybrid work policy template you can grab and use for free, plus our top tips on how to build a sensible flexible policy that works well for you and your employees – but first, let’s clarify what hybrid work actually is.

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Defining hybrid work

Hybrid work is a flexible work model that allows employees to divide their work time between the office and their home – or different locations, such as coworking spaces, libraries, or even coffee shops. It recognises that not all tasks require a physical presence in the office, and some can be effectively completed from a distance, especially if you provide your employees with the right communication and project management systems.

By implementing a hybrid work model, you can offer your people the freedom to choose where they work and enable them to strike a better work-life balance. This, in turn, can lead to better job satisfaction and retention – and improved employee well-being.

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Your free hybrid workplace policy template

The template below is yours to use; you can simply copy and paste it and tweak it to fit your organisation's needs. ‍

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Policy overview

Beginning [Date], [Company] will implement a hybrid work model. All employees are eligible for hybrid work. Schedules must fit within one of the models described below and be cleared by your manager.

Please read the entire policy and sign to confirm you have read it. Contact [name and email of contact person] if you have any questions.

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Hybrid work schedule

Hybrid schedules depend on your department; you have flexibility within the hybrid model below. Contact your direct supervisor with questions.

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All departments should book office space for in-office days with Officely.

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‍Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Your manager will discuss with you all relevant key performance indicators and how they might be affected by hybrid work.

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In-office amenities

Employees working at the office more than 3 days a week will have a dedicated desk, parking space, and access to the company gym or childcare services.

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Equipment and software

For all employees, the company will provide:

• Laptop
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Headset
• Cellphone

Employees working remotely more than 2 days a week will also receive stipends to cover internet costs.

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Compensation and benefits

Compensation might be subject to adjustments if relocating to a different city or area.

Employees will also receive the following additional stipends:

• Gym memberships/related health membership
• Virtual health consults
• Virtual mental health counseling
• Childcare
• [Add more benefits here]

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Communication tools and guidelines

Use the following tools for remote communication:

• Email for weekly updates, updates for clients, delivery of material to clients
• Slack for team-wide communication, client groups (if requested), quick announcements
• Google Meet for meetings, presentations, stand-ups
• Officely for updating your work location (remote or from the office) and booking desks

Prioritise the use of public channels of communication and be respectful of others’ time and show up punctually for meetings.

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Commitment to equal opportunities

We’re committed to providing a similar experience to remote and in-office employees. To ensure everyone has equal access to opportunities, managers must:

• Use public channels to announce new work opportunities and projects
• Review how often employees are promoted with respect to their work preferences

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10 tips for building a successful hybrid and remote work agreement

Below, you’ll find our top tips on how to manage the transition to a hybrid work model – and how to ensure that it works well for you and your team.

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1. Determine eligibility for hybrid work

Before you start building your hybrid policy, define the roles for which hybrid work is possible and those for which it is not.

Here are some examples:

• Roles suitable for hybrid work: Most roles in project management, software development, design, marketing, finance, accounting, and admin
• Roles that require mostly in-office presence: Front desk and customer-facing roles, field staff managers, facility management staff, any role involving physical work

You might still want to offer employees in the second category some flexibility, for example by providing occasional WFH days. You might even have team members from other departments like marketing or finance cover office-based roles like the front desk from time to time to allow for more equitable access to remote work.

If your team has been working remotely but you'd like to switch to a hybrid work schedule, use an employee return-to-work survey to uncover potential concerns.

Make sure to consider resource utilisation and how exactly you'll manage your office space. One of the best ways to do that is with the help of desk booking software.

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2. Define the right hybrid work model and schedule

Hybrid work isn’t one-size-fits-all. 

Your hybrid work model might be remote-first, where employees are allowed to work remotely most of the time, or lean toward more in-office presence.

Because the term "hybrid" can mean so many things, outline the number of remote workdays allowed in your office and the advantages for each preference. For example:

• Remote 1-2 days per week: Because these employees are in the office more frequently, consider offering them a dedicated office or desk and parking space.
• Remote 3-5 days per week: Employees might have to surrender dedicated office desks but will be provided a hot desk or common area to work in the office. They may be eligible for visitor parking.
• Fully remote: These employees don’t have dedicated workspaces and may be eligible for visitor parking. They might visit the office on occasion for a few hours or a day and reserve a hot desk when they do. 

Desk booking software like Officely can make it easy to manage different schedules and give everyone the visibility they need to organise their work – and come to the office when others are there.

If you offer fully remote roles, specify if these roles are based out of specific countries, states, or cities. If you need remote employees to come to the office occasionally for client meetings and events, you might prefer to hire in your city or region.

For employees choosing hybrid work arrangements, specify if they'll set their own flexible schedule or if schedules will be manager-led. Employee-led hybrid work schedules usually provide better results, because employees know best where and how they work best.

Whatever style you choose, define when you'd expect team members to be available for work-related communication. Certain roles like customer support might need to work specific hours, even remotely.

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3. Review employee compensation

Be clear about how an employee’s location and work preference (in-office, remote, hybrid) affect their compensation and benefits, so employees can weigh the pros and cons of their choice.  

For example, if you have 100% remote positions with the option to relocate to another city or country, you might consider adjusting employee salaries to the cost of living – or decide against it. Or you could provide in-office or hybrid workers with a commute allowance.

Remote-first company Buffer has shared their salary calculator publicly, and you might want to use a cost of living calculator when defining salary ranges. However, you need to make sure you're not penalizing employees who opt for a hybrid model or those who choose to work remotely.

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4. Expand wellness and health benefits

Hybrid work offers ample flexibility, but it also has a few downsides. Employees who often work remotely might feel more isolated and some might need additional support to avoid burnout.

Here are some ways to safeguard employee health and mental wellbeing in remote and flexible working arrangements:

• Offer virtual health consultations on platforms like Teladoc and Wellthy and provide access to mental health services like Talkspace and Lyra Health
• Provide a few hours of free mental health counseling in addition to virtual consulting, if they’re not part of your Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
• Normalise taking time off not just for vacation but also for mental health and to care for family
• Offer stipends for exclusive in-office perks like childcare and gyms
• Encourage managers to make video optional during some meetings and reduce the number of mandatory calls per week

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5. Make sure you know the legal requirements for hybrid work

Ask your legal counsel or HR department about all local and national laws you should comply with in relation to hybrid work. Explain how you’ll fulfill legal requirements in your flexible work policy.

Here are some questions to get you started:

• Where is your business legally allowed to operate? This might affect the locations from which employees can work remotely.
• Do you need to reimburse employees for home office equipment? In states like California, laws require employers to reimburse employees for office equipment like computers, laptops, and desks. 
• Do you need to reimburse employees for office travel? While daily commutes are generally not reimbursable, for employees who work primarily from home, you might need to reimburse office travel.
• Do you need to pay overtime? Federal US laws require employers to pay overtime if employees work for more than 40 hours in a week, or in some states, more than 8 hours a day. If such laws apply in your country or state, you’ll need to define how you'll track time and whether employees require manager approval to work extra hours.

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6. Implement the right tech to uphold your new policy

The success of your hybrid work policy depends on the tools you use. Hybrid work software like Officely makes desk booking simple – and gives your employees and admin staff visibility into office attendance, making it easier to manage hybrid schedules and resources effectively.

With Officely, employees can easily reserve desks, see who’s in the office, and plan their workdays for better collaboration or focused work, all directly within Slack or Microsoft Teams. 

Other tools you should consider include: 

• Project management platforms like Asana or ClickUp
• Video conferencing software like Zoom, MS Teams, or Google Meet
• Knowledge sharing platforms like Confluence or Notion

For more ideas, check out our article on the best productivity tools for hybrid work.

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7. Set up information security measures for hybrid work

In your office, you're in control of all security measures like firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs), on-premise servers, data centres, antivirus software, and authorised company equipment. And, while you can replicate most of these measures in a remote setting, your employees might need extra guidance to comply with data security measures.

When drafting your hybrid workplace policy, outline best practices for employees to keep your data safe, like:

• Set strong passwords and update them regularly
• Install security and software updates on a regular basis
• Avoid downloading suspicious, illegal, or unauthorised software
• Block suspicious websites and report any phishing attempts
• Use only work devices for work, and not their personal computers or smartphones
• Report any loss of equipment or information immediately
• Use a VPN as needed

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8. Create clear communication guidelines

Clear guidelines help eliminate communication silos. For hybrid teams, defaulting to remote-first online communication works best because it's equally accessible to in-office and remote employees.

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In your hybrid workplace policy, mention:

• Channels or tools for meetings, quick messages, updates, stand-ups, announcements, and reports
• Expected response time for internal emails, client emails, and Slack messages
• Internal knowledge base tools for looking up company-related information, processes, and policies
• Who to get in touch with for common issues

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9. Track employee performance

In a traditional work environment, time spent in the office was often used as one of the measures of performance and engagement, although we could probably all agree that it's a horribly inaccurate one. In a hybrid workplace, the need for setting clear key performance indicators (KPIs) is even more obvious.

Define what success looks like for different roles. For instance, “Success as a sales manager means contacting X leads per month, a X% of closed deals, and $XX in revenue.”

You can also set goals for employee attendance specially for roles that benefit from in-person collaboration, and use dedicated software like Officely to measure that.

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10. Foster equity between employees working from home or in the office

Proximity bias is one of the most common challenges of hybrid work, or the tendency to favour in-office employees. Team members working from home might miss out on important work-related talks and decisions if they happen in ad hoc meetings or in the hallway.

To provide equal opportunities to all employees, irrespective of the specific hybrid or remote work arrangement they opt for, you might decide to:

• Measure speed of promotion by employees’ work preference to avoid bias
• Announce new work opportunities and challenges using online channels like Slack or email instead of in-person meetings
• Hold virtual ask-me-anything sessions with leadership where employees can voice concerns and ask questions
• Run anonymous employee surveys to gauge employee sentiments
• Make hybrid meetings the norm, so all employees can participate regardless of their location

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The benefits of hybrid work

Hybrid work is a smart way to balance flexibility with productivity. Here’s how embracing a hybrid model can benefit your team and your business.

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Improved work-life balance

By giving employees the freedom to split their time between home and the office, you help them to better manage their personal responsibilities and commitments while staying productive. 

Additionally, you enable them to design their own work environment based on their preferences and needs – and still share time with others in the office whenever they need to work together on specific projects. 

This balance can lead to happier, healthier, and more engaged team members.

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Better collaboration and focus

Hybrid work allows employees to work together in person when it matters most and focus on deep work at home or in dedicated office areas without distractions. Finding the right balance between collaboration and individual work will depend on each person and role, but giving the possibility to switch between the two will help improve teamwork and individual productivity.

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Cost savings for everyone

Hybrid work enables businesses to downsize office space strategically and therefore reduce its associated costs (rent, utilities, and equipment), while employees save time and money on commuting and office lunches. 

Plus, it can also help reduce the environmental impact of your company.

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Steps to implement a hybrid work policy

Now that you have a policy template at your disposal and know what benefits hybrid work can offer, let’s see exactly how you can shift to this model, step by step. 

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1. Assess your company's needs

Before switching to hybrid work and flexible work hours, take the time to assess your company's needs and challenges. 

Consider factors like job roles, team dynamics, and client expectations. Identify potential roadblocks and develop strategies to address them.

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2. Draft the policy

Once you have a clear understanding of your company's needs, it's time to draft your hybrid policy. You can use the template above as your starting point and refine it as necessary. 

Involve HR, managers, and employees in the policy development process and make sure it aligns with both the company’s needs and your team’s preferences. 

Make sure the policy is comprehensive and easy to understand. Clearly define eligibility criteria, expectations, and guidelines for remote and hybrid work. Address issues like scheduling, time tracking, and performance evaluation.

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3. Share the policy with employees

Once the policy is ready, share it with everyone. Be transparent and address any concerns or questions others may have. Provide training and resources to ensure that employees can navigate the hybrid work environment easily. 

Regularly review and update the policy based on feedback and your team’s needs.

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Overcoming challenges in hybrid work arrangements

Now, let’s look into some of the problems you might face and see how you can tackle them. 

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Maintaining team cohesion

One of the biggest challenges of hybrid work is maintaining team cohesion and collaboration and reducing silos. 

Encourage regular team meetings, both in-person and virtually, to build strong relationships. Use collaboration tools to simplify knowledge sharing and manage projects efficiently. 

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Ensuring accountability and productivity

Remote and hybrid work may bring up concerns about accountability and productivity – but empowering employees to take ownership of their work usually yields much better results than micromanaging them.

Define clear expectations, goals, and KPIs for each role, along with metrics to measure performance. Give regular feedback and celebrate wins to keep employees motivated and engaged, and ensure they know what to do whenever they face challenges that might impact their work. 

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Addressing technical issues

Not all remote or hybrid employees will be sufficiently tech-savvy to tackle all technical issues on their own, so ensure that employees have access to IT support when needed. 

To maintain airtight security for your data and systems, you might also consider setting up regular maintenance checks for all company-provided equipment. Encourage employees to use secure internet connections and back up their work regularly.

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Boost your hybrid success with help from Officely 

Hybrid work policies help you build a work environment that's centred around your employees' well-being and work-life balance, which will help you improve productivity and attract top talent.

To implement this successfully, you need the right hybrid work policy template, which you can find above, along with the right software tools. Here's a sample tech stack to get you started:

• Communication platforms such as Slack, Google Meet, or MS Teams
• Productivity and project management apps such as Asana, ClickUp, or Monday.com
• Desk booking software such as Officely

Officely simplifies hybrid work and makes it easier for employees to reserve desks and know the best days to go into the office. Book a free demo to see how easy it can be to build a strong flexible work policy with the right software at hand – and check out Officely’s Complete Guide to Office Management in Flexible Workplaces for more ideas on how to make hybrid work work for everyone. 

What is Employee Burnout? 

Employee burnout is defined as: “the state of having no energy or enthusiasm because of working too hard…” 

It doesn’t just affect your mental state, you may also recognize symptoms in physical and emotional health too. From negativity through to simply being exhausted, those experiencing burnout feel often feel a lack of motivation for any activity.

It’s the responsibility of employers and managers to build a work culture and implement policies that minimize the risk of burnout.

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What Causes Employee Burnout? 

Employee burnout can rarely be attributed to one thing. 

For example, in a hybrid workplace, employees are able to work more flexibly. This should offer greater work/life balance, but can also make it harder for employees to ‘switch off’ between their professional and person lives.

Whether you work from home or the office, the most common cause of burnout is having too much work or too many responsibilities, without enough time or resources to complete them. 

This leads to feelings of overwhelm, and can contribute to imposter syndrome or the feeling of not being able to meet expectations. 

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Other causes of burnout are heavily dependent on the work environment of the organization and the individual themselves. 

Those who prefer working to deadlines or with clear goals, may experience burnout if they feel unsupported by management. While those who thrive working autonomously can become overwhelmed if they’re heavily dependent on colleagues to meet deadlines. 

Similarly, individuals have different needs when it comes to management styles. Having unclear or conflicting job expectations or a lack of recognition or appreciation for their contributions can decrease morale and productivity.

In order to manage employee burnout, you need to be familiar with your employees and their working styles. 

Not only will this allow you to prevent burnout, but having an awareness of workloads and expectations keeps you more aware of productivity. 

If anything changes in your employees’ output, you are more likely to know in advance of it impacting the wider business.

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How does Working from Home Contribute to Burnout?

Working from home is a great way to increase flexibility, and hybrid working is proven to increase productivity too. But it can also contribute to employee burnout if not managed properly. 

As mentioned, the lack of boundaries between work and personal life can lead to a blurring of work and leisure time and a feeling of being "always on." 

This can be especially challenging if employees are working remotely for the majority of the time, and do not have the same physical separation between work and home that they would have in a traditional office setting.

Those working from home may also find the lack of social support and connection with colleagues is having a negative impact on their motivation.

Despite the positives of a lack of commute, humans need to have face-to-face contact with each other. 67% of young people have admitted to finding it hard to maintain working relationships due to working from home.

If you’re a hybrid workplace, you need to have policies in place that includes those working from home in your work culture to avoid burnout.

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6 Ways to Identify Employee Burnout in a Hybrid Team

Now we know what employee burnout is, what does it look like in a hybrid workplace? Here are six ways to spot it.‍

‍1. Decreased Productivity‍

If an employee who has a track record of productivity is suddenly struggling to complete tasks or meet deadlines, it could be a sign of burnout.

2. Increased Absenteeism

If your employee is taking more sick days or not able to make it to work more frequently, it may not be the dreaded quiet quitting. It’s often a sign of burnout that needs to be addressed and can be remedied.

3. Negative Attitude

If you’ve noticed a dramatic change in an employee’s previously positive attitude, it could be attributed to burnout. Feeling demotivated and cynical about the workplace is a sign something is wrong in their professional life.

4. Decreased Engagement

Beyond productivity, if an employee was previously the life and soul of the office but is now withdrawn and disengaged, they may be experiencing burnout.

5. Change in Office Attendance

Most people thrive in a routine. If an employee who previously came into the office 2 to 3 days a week starts to make it in once at a push, you may need to get to the bottom of whats affecting their attendance.

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6. Physical Symptoms

We’ve discussed how employee burnout can affect physical health as much as mental health. It could present itself in fatigue, headaches or insomnia. 

While these symptoms are harder to spot in colleagues, they usually result in other ways, such as higher absences or disengagement.

Open, supportive communication is key when identifying and addressing burnout. 

Managers themselves regularly feel overwhelmed by this responsibility on top of their workloads, which is why it’s so important to put employee-wellbeing at the heart of policies and practices.

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How to Prevent Employee Burnout in a Hybrid Team

Whether you’re a team lead or office manager, you’re in a position to influence and create a work culture that prevents the risk of burnout. 

As a hybrid workplace, it’s even more important to put tangible practices into place to build a work culture that motivated employees and makes them feel seen and heard, no matter where they’re working from. 

Here’s what you can do to prevent employee burnout: 

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Encourage Regular Breaks, Away from Desks

Nobody is built to sit at a desk for eight hours a day. Make sure your employees are able to go for lunchtime walks, tea breaks or smoke breaks without judgement.

In the office, you should have a space separate from desks where employees can sit or stand to socialize and eat lunch. Not only will this decrease the risk of burnout, but employees that take regular breaks have higher productivity.

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Prioritize Your Work Culture

Work culture is so much more than post-work drinks, and is important in almost every area of your organization – in fact, businesses that invest in the work culture have 4x the revenue growth.

A positive work culture that values work-life balance and promotes a healthy work environment will help prevent burnout. 

This could be offering support and resources for mental health and stress management, it could be putting time into your business’ values and mission or it could simply be fostering a sense of community and support among employees. 

You can’t expect your employees to take the time to connect with one another if they don’t have the opportunity to in the working day.

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Promote Work-Life Balance

It’s the age-old adage: free donuts can’t replace the benefits of work-life balance. If you’re a workplace that prides itself on being at the forefront of the future of work, you should be offering both.

Whether it’s found in a four-day workweek, in home office setup stipends or in having a strict policy no out of hours calls, your employees deserve to prioritize their personal wellbeing.

This can help to prevent burnout by reducing the amount of stress and pressure that employees feel. When employees are able to take breaks and recharge, they are more likely to be productive, motivated, and engaged in their work.

Additionally, work-life balance indicates to employees that you care about them beyond their contribution to the bottomline, leading to a more positive and motivated workforce.

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Track Office Attendance

Flexible working means giving your employees the power to choose when they come into the office. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea to stay aware of how attendance is changing.

Office attendance data not only helps to determine the most popular days in the office, helping you manage your workplace more effectively, but it also allows you to preempt and address burnout.

If somebody’s attendance drops dramatically, there’s usually a reason behind it. For those running a busy office, the only way to identify a decrease in attendance and bring it to others’ attention is by tracking attendance.

Officely is a desk booking tool for hybrid workplaces. Employees can book into the office, see who else is in and find out what’s happening on a daily or weekly basis.

For admins, not only can you see who’s coming in, you can view trends and data on an individual basis to stay on top of attendance. If you’re interested, you can get started for free or watch our demo. 

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Support and Resources

Your employees need to have the support and resources they need to complete their work effectively and efficiently. 

From access to the right tools, to managerial support, there is nothing more important in preventing employee burnout than ensuring your employees are equipped to accomplish their tasks.

One of the challenges of hybrid work is understanding the expectations of employees returning to the office. If you’re an office manager, it’s likely to be your responsibility to make sure the office space itself is equipped for employees to work to their full potential.

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Monitor Workloads

Even those who hate micro-managing need to check in with their employees if they’re serious about monitoring their employees’ workloads.

Not only should you have a good understanding of what each employee is doing, but it can also be helpful to trak the amount of time your employees spend on specific tasks and projects. 

This information can help managers identify patters of overwork and address them before they lead to burnout. Being able to communicate openly with employees about workloads is a proactive step in addressing issues before they begin to snowball.

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Employee Burnout Isn’t Inevitable

Employee burnout can occur in any industry. However, if you take the right steps to build a work culture that actively works against the causes of burnout, your risks are significantly reduced.

It’s the responsibility of organizations, team leads and office managers to ensure their employees feel supported and comfortable in their workplace. 

By understanding the causes and taking preventative measures, you can ensure your employees feel the full benefit of a hybrid, flexible workplace without risking their wellbeing.