POLICY TEMPLATEFLEXIBLE WORKThis Flexible Work Policy Template aims to assist signatories of the Women’s Empowerment Principles
to establish a clear and balanced system for employees working from home and working remotely.
The text can be used as is or customized according to your company’s requirements. Flexible work
refers to a work structure which deviates from the traditional eight-hour office workday. Flexible work
is not just about allowing flexible hours; flexibility encompasses many different working patterns
around where, when and how someone works. It is ultimately about integrating effective ways ofworking which leverage employees’ physiological and psychological energy to deliver sustainable
performance and quality work output while also supporting the balance of private and personal life.

I.

OUR COMMITMENT
The Company is comitted to ensuring that we provide a positive working environment for all of our people
and a culture that enables everyone to reach their potential. We believe that giving our people greater
control in how they manage the whole-life balance between home and work life is a key component ofachieving higher levels of engagement and performance as well as supporting your wellbeing.
Enabling our people to work in a more agile way, for example from home or from another relevant site,
is key to successfully managing that balance and the Company vision is to make agile working apossibility for everyone.
Building on our existing commitment to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, this document sets out
guidelines for when Company employees work in a location other than the office.

• The Company is a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles(WEPs) since 20__.
• Signing the WEPs was part of our overall goal to promote gender equality
and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.
• As part of this commitment, we believe strongly in whole-life balance of all
our employees.

II.

SCOPE
This document applies to all Company employees who have been cleared to either work remotely or workfrom home for part of a day, a full day, or multiple days per week. It is important to keep in mind that, due
to the nature of some roles, being physically present in the office during “typical” working hours is crucial.
Individuals who occupy such roles should note that they are unlikely to be able to benefit from homeworking or remote working arrangements. However, it is always recommended that they check with theirsupervisor or HR representative to be sure.

III. DEFINITIONS
Whole-life balance means enjoying work while being able to balance it with quality time withfamily and friends, time for adequate sleep, exercise and nutrition, and time to do things that promotes
overall wellbeing.

Working from home refers to when a Company employee works from their principal place of abode.
Working remotely refers to when a Company employee works somewhere other than their principal
place of abode (e.g. while ‘on-the-go’, at a hotel, at a café).

IV. YOUR RIGHTS
When you work from home or remotely, you have certain rights:• You have the right to work remotely or from home if such an arrangement has been
agreed upon between yourself and your supervisor [and any other appropriate persons].
• You have the right not to be treated unfairly in relation to performance, development
and/or promotion opportunities for taking up the option to work remotely or from home.
• You will not be unfairly terminated for invoking this right, where appropriate.
• You have the right to be safe and free from hazards wherever you work. If you have any
concerns about your location of work, please contact [local HR representative/appropriate person].
• You have the right to physically remove your Company-issued laptop, charging cable,
headset, mouse and iPhone from the office, and bring them to the location where you
wish to work.

2V.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIESWhen you work from home or remotely, you have certain responsibilities:• You must communicate your working arrangements to those with whom you work.
• You must have the support of your manager and your team to work from home orwork remotely.
• Your colleagues must not feel that you working away from the office has an adverse
impact on them.
• You must have the technological capacity to remain in contact with, and be accessible
to, the office, colleagues and clients.
• Remote working or home working must not impact on your ability to meet client andother work demands.
• You must ensure you have the necessary equipment and appropriate conditions tofacilitate working away from the office. The Company will not provide financial support
to enable individuals to take up home or remote working. See “Conditions for homeworking and remote working” below for more information.

VI. CONDITIONS FORHOME WORKING AND REMOTE WORKING
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have appropriate conditions to facilitate home working or
remote working:• You must establish an appropriate work environment to ensure that you are not disturbed
by noise or other distractions.
• You must establish an appropriate work environment which ensures that any equipment
is safe to use, fit for purpose and will not give rise to any health and safety risks.
• You must take reasonable care of your own health and safety in your location of work.
You should report any concerns to [your local HR representative].
• You must use the Company’s remote access IT system and ensure you have the correct
IT and other equipment in place to allow you to work effectively. This includes
broadband connection.
• You must ensure that your computer has up-to-date malware protection and that yourcomputer is kept up to date with all security updates.

POLICY TEMPLATE: FLEXIBLE WORKING POLICY3

• You must take appropriate steps to maintain the security of documents, data andinformation which relate to work, by ensuring that your computer is protected with astrong password, and the password is not disclosed to any third parties.
• You must also ensure that any hard-copy documents are stored securely and cannot beaccessed by third parties. Loss, theft or unauthorized access of any data or documents
should be reported to the Company immediately.
• In advance of agile working, you should ensure that you are able to access securely all
documents you may require.
• You must comply with IT policies and procedures. The Company’s right to monitor email
and internet use extends to working from home or working remotely.
• You are expected to be available by phone during your normal working hours. Your work
phone should be forwarded to your home, personal mobile or work mobile and you
must ensure that you can receive calls.
• Business partners and colleagues must be able to contact you by email and phone on
the same basis as if you were in the office.
• You are expected to work your usual contractual hours.
• You will be subject to the same performance measures and objectives that would apply
as if you were working in the office.
• You should comply with the Company’s sickness absence procedure as normal.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that you take rest breaks.
• You should comply with all reasonable requests by the Company to be in the office toattend training, meetings and any other business-related activities.

4VII. LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGYTO PREVENT A DATA BREACH
Data protection and confidentiality is something that Company takes extremely seriously. Of particularimportance in working remotely or from home is being aware of, and mitigating (to the best of your abilities),a cybersecurity breach. To mitigate such threats, you are advised to do the following:
1. If you are working from a non-Company device, follow these instructions:(i) [Instructions]
2. If you are working from a Company device (e.g. your Company-issued laptop oriPhone), follow these instructions:(i) [Instructions]

VIII. PROVISION OF EQUIPMENT[Set out company policy regarding the provision of equipment to employees for flexible working]

IX. EXPENSES[Set out company policy regarding the paying of employee expenses in relation to flexible working]X.

IMPLEMENTATION
Attached in Appendix A and B are sample forms for employees and supervisors to support theimplementation of this Policy.

POLICY TEMPLATE: FLEXIBLE WORKING POLICY5APPENDIX ASAMPLE FORM FOR EMPLOYEES
I would like to…
adjust my hours.
Please describe:

work from home or remotely once per week.
Please describe:

work remotely or from home more than once per week.
Please describe:

work part-time.
Please describe:

job-share.
Please describe:

6How would this benefit you?
Please describe:

How would this benefit the Company?
Please describe:

How would this impact your colleagues?
Please describe:

I foresee this requiring my contract to change

Employee signature and date

POLICY TEMPLATE: FLEXIBLE WORKING POLICYl Yesl No

Supervisor signature and date

7

APPENDIX BSAMPLE FORM FOR SUPERVISORS
My employee would like to…
adjust my hours.
Please describe:

work from home or remotely once per week.
Please describe:

work remotely or from home more than once per week.
Please describe:

work part-time.
Please describe:

job-share.
Please describe:

8What, if any, are your concerns with this arrangement and how could these be addressed?
Please describe:

How do you foresee this impacting the Company?
Please describe:

How do you foresee this impacting colleagues and what, if any, changes may be needed?
Please describe:

I foresee this requiring my employee’s contract to change

Supervisor signature and date

POLICY TEMPLATE: FLEXIBLE WORKING POLICYl Yesl NoHuman Resources signature and date

9ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
This policy template was prepared through pro bono support from the international law firm, Dentons, also a signatory to theWomen’s Empowerment Principles. The support was provided to WE EMPOWER-G7 programme, funded by the European Union
and jointly implemeneted by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) andthe International Labour Organization.

Promoting Economic Empowerment of Women at Work through Responsible Business Conduct in G7 Countries(WE EMPOWER—G7 Programme) is funded by the European Union (EU) and jointly implemented with the International
Labour Organization (ILO). The Programme (2018-2021) will convene stakeholder dialogues in the EU, Canada, Japan andthe US to exchange knowledge, experiences, good practices and lessons learned in the context of the changing world ofwork. Under the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), WE EMPOWER is working to equip companies to go beyond
making commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment, to strengthening their implementation, datacollection and reporting on the WEPs.

DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the EuropeanUnion, UN Women, International Labour Organization or the United Nations and their Member States.
Edit: Proseworks
Graphic / Editorial Design: oliver.gantner@unwomen.org

This policy template was prepared through pro bono support from the international law firm, Dentons,
also a signatory to the Women’s Empowerment Principles

10weps.org@WEPrinciples
empowerwomen.org@Empower_Women

Funded by:

Principle 1

Establish high-level corporate leadershipfor gender equality.

Principle 2

Treat all women and men fairly at work– respect andsupport human rights and nondiscrimination.

Principle 3

Ensure the health, safety and well-being of
all women and men workers.

Principle 4

Promote education, training and professional
development for women.

Principle 5

Implement enterprise development, supply chain
and marketing practices that empower women.

Principle 6

Promote equality through community initiatives
and advocacy.

Principle 7

Measure and publicly report on progressto achieve gender equality.

Produced by:

In support of: