Remote work agreement template
A remote work agreement sets the rules for working away from the office: where, when, on what equipment and how the employee stays reachable. This template works for fully remote and hybrid schedules, and covers expense reimbursement, security, safety and how the arrangement can end. Read it below, then fill in the specifics and send it to the employee.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 4 min read
The contract
Gray blanks are yours to fill in before you send. Each signer fills in the blanks in their color.
- You, before sending
- Employee
- Manager or HR
Remote Work Agreement
This Remote Work Agreement (the "Agreement") is made on Agreement date between Company name (the "Company") and Employee name (the "Employee"), whose job title is Job title. It adds to the Employee's existing terms of employment and does not replace them.
1. The arrangement
Starting on Remote work start date, the Employee will work remotely as follows: Remote or hybrid schedule. On a hybrid schedule, the Employee will work on site at Office location on these days: On-site days. The first Trial period in days days are a trial period, after which the manager and the Employee will review how it is working.
2. Where the Employee works
The Employee's remote work location is Remote work address. The Employee will ask the Company in writing, and get its approval, before working from any other state or country for more than Days away without approval working days in a row, and before moving. Working from another place can change the Company's tax and legal duties, so approval may be refused or come with conditions.
3. Hours and availability
The Employee will be available during these core hours: Core hours, and will reply to messages from coworkers and customers within Expected response time during those hours. If the Employee is paid by the hour, they will record all time worked accurately, including calls and messages outside their usual schedule, and will not work overtime without approval. Unapproved overtime that is worked will still be paid.
4. Equipment
The Company will provide the following equipment, which remains its property: Equipment provided. The Company will maintain and repair it. The Employee will take reasonable care of it, report loss, theft or damage straight away, and return it within Days to return equipment days after the remote arrangement or the employment ends, using shipping the Company pays for.
5. Expenses
The Company will pay the Employee a monthly allowance of Internet and phone allowance toward internet and phone costs. Other reasonable costs the Employee has to pay to do the job, approved in advance, will be reimbursed within Days to reimburse days of a claim with receipts. Where the law requires a larger reimbursement, the Company will pay it.
6. Workspace and safety
The Employee will keep a safe, reasonably quiet and private place to work, free of obvious hazards. Injuries that happen while working must be reported to the manager on the same day, as they would be at the office. The Company does not pay for the Employee's home, utilities other than those in section 5, or home insurance.
7. Data security and confidentiality
The Employee will use Company devices and accounts for Company work; keep them updated; connect only over a secured network or the Company's VPN; lock screens when away; keep printed documents out of sight and shred them when done; and not let family members or anyone else use Company equipment. Lost devices and suspected breaches must be reported to IT contact email at once. All confidentiality obligations apply at home as they do at the office.
8. Meetings and travel to the office
The Employee will come on site for meetings, training or events when asked with at least Notice for on-site meetings days' notice. Travel costs beyond a normal commute will be reimbursed under the Company's travel policy.
9. Changing or ending the arrangement
Either the Company or the Employee may end or change this remote arrangement with Notice to end remote work days' written notice, or sooner if business needs or performance require it. Ending the remote arrangement does not end the Employee's employment, and nothing in this Agreement changes whether the employment is at will. Requests for remote work as a disability accommodation are handled separately.
10. Whole agreement
This Agreement, the Company's policies and the Employee's terms of employment are the full understanding about remote work. Changes must be in writing and signed by both. Electronic signatures count as originals.
Employee phone: Employee phone
My workspace meets the safety and security points in sections 6 and 7, and the remote work address above is correct.
Employee
For the Company (manager or HR)
Opens it in SignMaster as a template you can edit and send.
A starting point, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review it for your state and situation.
On this page
What it settles up front
Remote work tends to go wrong in small ways first: a work laptop that the kids also use, an hourly employee answering messages at 9 p.m., someone who moves two states away and quietly changes your payroll taxes. A written agreement deals with each of those before it happens. It also makes clear whether remote work is an arrangement the company can review or a permanent part of the job.
Use it for fully remote hires, for hybrid schedules and for temporary arrangements, such as a few months after a move. It sits alongside the employment terms and the handbook and doesn't replace either.
What the template covers
- The arrangement: fully remote or hybrid, the start date, a trial period, and the days the employee works on site.
- Work location: the address on file, and asking first before working from another state or country for more than a short trip.
- Hours and availability: core hours, time zone, response times, and accurate timekeeping for hourly employees, with no work off the clock.
- Equipment: what the company provides, who fixes it, and returning it when the arrangement or the job ends.
- Expenses: a monthly internet and phone allowance, and how to claim other approved costs.
- Workspace and safety: a safe, reasonably private place to work, and reporting an injury on the same day.
- Data security: company devices for company work, a secured network, locked screens and no family use of work equipment.
- Ending the arrangement: either side can end remote work with notice, without ending the job itself.
Mistakes to avoid
- Leaving out where the employee works. Working from another state can create tax withholding, registration and wage-law duties there.
- Not paying for necessary costs. California, Illinois and several other states require employers to reimburse work expenses such as a share of the phone and internet bill.
- Forgetting hourly employees' hours. Logging in, calls and answering messages are work time, and overtime rules don't change at home.
- Calling it permanent when you might want people back. Say whether the company can end the arrangement, and with how much notice.
- Assuming workers' comp stops at the front door. An injury while working at home can be a work injury, so say how to report one.
Teams spread across several states
The agreement can't choose which state's wage, leave and tax rules apply; where the employee actually works usually decides that. Keep the work address current on every agreement, and check with your payroll provider before approving a move.
How to send it with SignMaster
- 1
Open the template
Choose Use this template above. The employee signs first and the manager or HR signs after them.
- 2
Describe the arrangement
Type the schedule, on-site days, core hours, equipment list and allowance into the gray blanks. They print on the agreement exactly as you type them.
- 3
The employee confirms their side
They fill in their work address and phone, tick that their workspace meets the safety and security points, and sign from any phone or laptop.
- 4
Countersign and file it
The manager signs last, and both get the signed PDF with a certificate of completion. Send a fresh agreement whenever the address or schedule changes.
Moving a whole department to hybrid
When a policy change puts a department on a hybrid schedule, bulk send sends one agreement per employee from a CSV. Columns named after the gray blanks, such as On-site days or Internet and phone allowance, fill each person's copy, so two offices can get two different schedules from one upload. From Excel, save the sheet as CSV UTF-8 first.
Questions? Answers.
Is a remote work agreement required by law?
Usually not, but it's the simplest way to show what you agreed about hours, expenses and equipment. In states that require reimbursement of work expenses, the agreement is a natural place to set the allowance.
Can we require a remote employee to come back to the office?
Generally yes, if the agreement says the arrangement can be changed or ended with notice and nothing else, such as a disability accommodation, requires remote work. Section 9 of this template gives both sides a notice period.
Who pays for internet and a home office?
The template has a monthly allowance blank and a process for other approved costs. Where state law requires reimbursement of necessary expenses, make sure the allowance covers a fair share of the real cost.
Does the employee need to sign again if they move?
Yes. A new address can change which state's rules apply. The agreement asks for notice before a move; send an updated copy with the new address once you've approved it.
Sources
- California Labor Code § 2802, reimbursement of employee expenses · leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- 820 ILCS 115/9.5, Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, reimbursement · ilga.gov