Set the ground rules for remote work in writing

Informal arrangements often work until something goes wrong or different managers apply different standards. A remote work policy gives you one reference point for issues like who can work remotely, when approval is needed, what hours or availability are expected, who provides equipment, and how home-based health and safety concerns should be raised. It can also help where employees and contractors interact in the same systems or workflows. This service You will get a clear view of the legal issues and the next steps that matter.

A well-drafted policy will usually deal with eligibility for remote work, approval processes, work location expectations, hours and contactability, supervision, performance standards, equipment use, expense treatment, confidentiality, data security, and health and safety responsibilities. It may also address practical points such as internet reliability, reporting incidents in a home workspace, and what happens if a remote arrangement no longer suits the role. The exact content depends on how remote work operates in your business rather than a one-size-fits-all checklist.

That depends on how your team actually works. We look at factors such as whether staff are fully remote, hybrid, client-facing, field-based or office-led, what systems they access from home, whether they handle sensitive information, and how managers monitor output and availability. The practical working model can be just as important as the contract wording, especially where the policy needs to line up with employment agreements, other workplace policies, and the practical realities of day-to-day operations.

It can help clarify expectations across your workforce, but the answer depends on how those relationships are structured in practice. A remote work policy may need to distinguish between employees and contractors, particularly around supervision, equipment, reporting lines and access to internal systems. If those boundaries are blurred, legal risk can come from the working arrangement itself rather than the label used in the document. If worker classification is a live issue, we may recommend separate advice beyond the policy wording alone.

Templates can be useful as a starting point, but they often miss the details that matter most in a real workplace. For example, a generic template may say little about home-based health and safety reporting, device use, confidentiality outside the office, or how remote performance concerns are managed. It may also clash with your employment agreements or other internal policies. A drafted or reviewed policy is more useful when it matches the way your business actually approves, monitors and supports remote work.

Submit an enquiry on this page or click 'Get started'. One of our legal consultants will review it within 1 business day and get in touch to understand what you need.

Your consultant will then email you a fixed-fee quote setting out the cost, scope and timing. If you're happy with it, you can accept the quote and sign our engagement letter online.

Once you've accepted, one of our Australian-qualified lawyers will work with you to complete your project. They'll contact you by email or phone if they need anything.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Remote Work Policy service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We work online, so we can help wherever you are in New Zealand. Our team works remotely, mainly from Australia.

Your work is done by our Australian-qualified lawyers, who hold Australian practising certificates and specialise in business law. None of them are New Zealand lawyers or hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

Sprintlaw NZ Limited is a legal consultancy, not a law firm, and is not regulated by the New Zealand Law Society. We don't act in court or tribunal matters, conveyancing (including leases and business sales) or other reserved areas of work. Communications with Sprintlaw are unlikely to be protected by legal professional privilege. We still keep everything confidential under our engagement letter.