Work from Home

All employees are expected to:

Be available by phone, email or any other medium deemed appropriate by the Company during core business hours and consistent with the schedule approved by your manager.

Ensure all interactions with others are conducted in a quiet location so as not to disrupt or deter from the business being conducted.
Ensure you make yourself available for client meetings, staff meetings, and other meetings as deemed necessary by the Company or your manager.
Ensure that all Company equipment and records in your home office or workspace are maintained in safe and secure conditions and are used primarily for Company business, as they are subject to inventory control and disposal procedures as defined by the Company.
Ensure that all Company equipment and records are available to the Company or your manager immediately upon request.
Consult with the Company or your manager to clarify any system back-up requirements if work is saved on a system other than what is required by the Company.
Be able to return to the office when required to do so.
Be available to conduct business travel when required to do so.
Alert the Company or your manager if external circumstances are likely to interfere with performance under this policy.
Ensure that the needs of the Company take precedence over your personal needs.

If you are non-exempt employee, you must:

Must have written approval on a task by task basis from the Company prior to any clocking in and out.

Check-in with your manager or designated person by phone or by email at the beginning and ending of each work day.
Notify your manager or designated person when leaving your home office during regular, scheduled working hours.
Obtain approval from your manager in advance of working any overtime.
Obtain approval from your manager in advance of any work-related travel.
Record all of your hours for each workday showing when you begin and end your workday, as well as record all meal and break periods.

Telecommuting is not designed to be a replacement for child care. Although an employee’s schedule may be modified to accommodate child care needs especially during this the pandemic, the focus of telecommuting must remain on job performance and meeting business demands.

Home Office Safety

An employee’s home office is considered an extension of the Company’s workspace. Therefore, employees are expected to maintain their home office in a safe manner, free from safety hazards. As the Company may be liable for injuries or illnesses that occur during an employee’s agreed-upon work hours, an employee’s at-home work hours must conform to a schedule agreed upon by the employee and his/her manager, as well as conform to the Company’s safety policies and procedures.

Telecommuting employees are responsible for immediately notifying their manager of any injuries that may have occurred while on duty. the Company does not assume any liability for injuries occurring in the employee’s home office outside the agreed-upon work hours or as a result of the employee’s own negligence or disregard of the Company’s safety procedures, unless otherwise required by law.

The Company is not liable for loss, destruction, or injury that may occur in or to the employee’s home. This includes family members, visitors, or others that may become injured within or around the employee’s home.

Failure to comply with the requirements outlined in this policy may result in corrective action, up to and including termination. As with all Company policies, Tree of Life Open Bible Church reserves the right to modify or change what is outlined in this policy at any time, with or without notice.

Equipment & Telecommunications

During this temporary telecommuting time frame, the Company may provide tools/equipment for employees to perform the essential functions of their job duties. The Company will determine which tools/equipment, if any, will be provided on a case-by-case basis, and may include computer hardware and software, monitors, mouse and keyboards, VOIP or phone lines, including voicemail, email, connectivity to host applications, and other equipment as deemed necessary for you to effectively conduct business.

Where the Company does not provide any of the tools/equipment as outlined above, employees should work with their manager to determine what tools/equipment are necessary and which, if any, will be reimbursed by the Company; all such reimbursement will be done to the extent applicable by law.

If the Company determines that it is necessary for your productivity that you have network access for your home office, the Company may elect to pay for such connectivity. However, where the Company is not obligated to purchase this on your behalf, you may be responsible for purchasing your own network access for your home office.

The Company will reasonably repair and replace equipment unless it is lost, damaged or stolen as a result of an employee’s clear negligence or abuse. Where applicable, the Company will maintain an inventoried list of all equipment including serial numbers or other identifying characteristics (e.g. model numbers) of tools/equipment that it has issued to any employee.

Every employee is responsible for ensuring that all data or Company specific information is maintained in a secure manner, is backed up or stored appropriately, and that there are no risks of loss or uncontrolled information. This includes electronic records as well as hard copy documentation. All documents must be stored on cloud storage.

Consistent with the Company’s expectations of information security, eligible employees who have been authorized to telecommute pursuant to this policy, are expected to ensure the protection of proprietary Company and business information accessible from their home office. Steps include the use of locked file cabinets and desks, regular password maintenance, and any other measures appropriate for the environment to ensure there are no data breaches which put the Company or its business at risk.

The use of equipment, software and data supplies when provided by the Company for use at the employee’s home office is limited to authorized persons and for purposes relating to Company business.

If employees use his/her own equipment, the Company reserves the right to determine if the equipment contains appropriate software and configuration in order for the employee to effectively and securely perform work-related tasks. Employees are responsible for all maintenance and repair of their own equipment, and the Company accepts no responsibility for damage or repairs to employee-owned equipment.

In the event the Company has provided an employee with Company-owned equipment to be used in their home office during the implementation of this temporary telecommuting policy, all such equipment must be returned upon immediate request.