Article Highlights
- Remote and hybrid work introduce specific legal and administrative risks that nonprofits must proactively manage.
- Timekeeping for remote hourly employees requires compliant systems and clear policies, including how to address unscheduled work time.
- Expense reimbursement obligations vary significantly by state; what is required in California may not be required in other states.
- Cybersecurity risks increase when employees work in public spaces or on unsecured networks, requiring both training and policy.
- Employing staff across multiple states creates compliance obligations around overtime, leave, meal breaks, and other employment laws.
- Practical solutions exist for each challenge, and organizations that address them proactively avoid costly reactive fixes later.
Many nonprofits have moved to remote and hybrid work as it offers their employees a sought-after perk that isn’t onerously expensive or challenging for the organization. Despite the prevalence of remote and hybrid work, there are still many organizations that struggle to manage their distributed workforces in a deliberate, risk-free way.
Although remote work has been around for a long time, it has only just become available on the scale that we see it now, thanks to the ubiquity of video conferencing tools, chat apps, and cloud computing. This means that many organizations large and small are still playing catch-up, or haven’t yet run into some of the more challenging and pernicious issues that can come up with remote work. Although it may seem straightforward, remote work can require some specific changes to the organization, particularly if team members live out of state or abroad.
Harnessing the benefits of remote work is still possible with some careful planning and a deeper understanding of what the risks are. Having a system in place to handle these risks before they come up ensures that you can offer this perk without worrying about running afoul of unexpected liabilities.
Here are some common problems and their solutions:
Common Remote Work Issues and Possible Solutions
Timekeeping and Attendance
A common worry among remote and hybrid organizations is how to keep track of work time and attendance, particularly for hourly staff members. This can get quite a bit more complicated if you hire a distributed team, or you allow a team member to move into a different time zone from your organization.
Solutions
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach here, as different organizations will have different payment schedules and structures. For hourly employees, there is a wide range of remote time tracking software that allows you to clock in and out and can be configured based on state laws.
It’s also important to note that under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are required to track and compensate all hours worked by non-exempt (hourly) employees, including time worked outside of scheduled hours. Remote work can make this harder to monitor, and employers can be held liable for “off-the-clock” work if they knew or should have known it was occurring. Clear written policies and reliable timekeeping systems are essential to managing this risk.
There are also tools to track keystrokes and employee engagement to give a granular analysis of their work, but many employees consider this invasive and it can make them uncomfortable. These tools can also lead to compliance and legal issues, as some states have moved to limit the scope of this type of workplace monitoring.
For salaried employees, managers have chosen to take a more project-based approach, allowing employees to work at their own pace and at times that work for them as long as they attend meetings, meet deadlines, and communicate consistently.
Even for a fully distributed team, it can be helpful to have a designated “home” time zone and workplace hours so that your team can arrange meetings around this schedule. You can put in your handbook general guidelines for established work hours, attendance expectations, and so on, but also allow for a certain amount of leeway.
Reimbursement
Another common issue is reimbursement. For example, if an employee buys some office supplies, how do they handle the reimbursement process, and does what they buy qualify as solely an office expense or something they’ll use in their personal life? If you buy lunch for in-office staff, does that mean remote staff are entitled to a lunch delivery or meal out?
Solutions
Reimbursement obligations for remote workers vary significantly by state, and it’s important to understand what applies to each employee based on where they work. Some states, most notably California, impose broad reimbursement requirements that can include a portion of home internet costs or cell phone expenses if those are necessary for the employee’s job. Other states have narrower or no specific requirements beyond federal baseline expectations. Consulting applicable state law before setting policy is strongly advisable.
Generally, reimbursement laws allow for employee reimbursements for items that are deemed necessary, which doesn’t mean the absolute best, most expensive printer, computer, or ISP plan. Broad expenses like electricity or general home office furniture are typically not reimbursable, though again, state law governs this.
In some cases, employers will write into their handbook a percentage reimbursement for home internet, a cell phone plan, or other work-related expenses. For meals, reimbursement is generally not appropriate unless directly tied to work activity, such as a meeting with a client or donor.
Security and Privacy
Many remote workers choose to work outside of their home in a café or other public location, which can expose them and any sensitive data they are working with to risk. For nonprofits which work with confidential or sensitive data, this can present a major problem, as they may not have an IT team or policies that extend beyond the workplace.
Solutions
Many organizations are investing in security training and tools designed to address the risks of remote work or working in public. Useful practices include mandating the use of a password manager and requiring a VPN when connecting to public or unsecured networks. Keep in mind that a VPN reduces the risk of network-level interception but does not protect against other threats common in public settings, such as visual eavesdropping or the use of shared or unmanaged devices. A layered approach to security is more effective than any single tool.
You can also include specific policies in your handbook which forbid working with sensitive, confidential, or identifiable data in public locations. Some organizations include a security audit of home workplaces as part of their digital and physical security, but this is usually reserved for organizations which deal with a high volume of sensitive data.
State-Specific Laws
A common source of inconsistent management and other issues is the wide range of different state laws governing everything from overtime to meal and break periods to family leave. One of the main advantages of remote work for organizations is that they can greatly widen the range of applicants to a specific job, but this can be difficult to administer if you have a team spread across multiple states.
Solutions
Whether you’re working with one or two remote out-of-state employees or twenty, it can be helpful to invest in HR software that allows you to reconfigure specific elements of their employment, such as overtime calculations, leave policies, or sick time accrual, based on the laws of the state where each employee works.
Some organizations will also create a templatized employee handbook that can be altered to cover the relevant laws and rules in each state where their employees work. These state-specific addenda can be distributed alongside the standard handbook to clarify each employee’s rights and expectations under applicable local law.
Managing Remote Work Risk Is a Long-Term Investment
Remote and hybrid work are not going away, and for nonprofits competing for talent without the compensation advantages of the private sector, the ability to offer flexible work arrangements can be a meaningful differentiator. But flexibility without structure creates risk, and the organizations that fare best are those that treat remote work policy as an ongoing operational priority rather than a one-time setup task.
The challenges outlined here, from timekeeping and reimbursement to cybersecurity and state-specific compliance, are all manageable with the right policies, tools, and guidance in place. The cost of addressing them proactively is almost always far less than the cost of resolving them reactively after a complaint, an audit, or a legal claim.
If your organization is navigating any of these issues, working with an HR advisor who understands the nonprofit sector can help you build a remote work framework that protects both your employees and your mission.
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The information contained in this article is not a substitute for legal advice or counsel and has been pulled from multiple sources.
(Images by Perfec Llab and Freepik)
