Four Factors to Consider Before Hiring Remote Workers

Remote workers are on the rise, and many businesses are hiring them to increase productivity. However, before you start hiring remote workers, you must take the time to consider some crucial factors. As per a recent Gallup poll, 43 percent of employed people work overseas at least part of the time, including 3.9 million working at home at least the majority of the week.

Businesses can profit from employing distributed teams in various ways, including less rent, a larger pool of expertise on which to hire, and the ability to attract individuals who appreciate flexibility. In this article, we will discuss the factors that you must consider before hiring remote workers.

Let’s take a look at these factors.

• State and Local Employment Laws

As remote workers, you need to be aware of state and local employment laws. There are different labor laws in every country. Thus, employers need to know the specific requirements that apply where they operate their business. Sometimes your company might not even have an office location but work on a contract basis with temporary employees or freelancers who do most of their work online or remotely from home offices. 

In this case, some states require contractors working out-of-state must obtain special licenses like California’s Home Improvement Salesperson (HIS) license if the contractor sells more than $500 worth of products per year; Texas requires its residential door repairman to secure both an independent salesperson license as well as registration under the Residential Construction Supervisor Registration (RCS) program; and, Indiana requires its contractors to secure both a state salesperson license as well as the Residential Contractor’s License.

• Culture

Ensure that the company culture is a good fit for remote workers. Suppose you have an open, friendly environment where people work collaboratively. In that case, it should be easy to get along with your co-workers, whether they are in the office or working remotely. However, if there’s a lack of team cohesion because of interpersonal issues or personality clashes between employees, hiring regular employees from around the world may not help things much.

Hiring remote workers is a great way to expand your talent pool and give more people an opportunity to work in the field they’re passionate about. Before you start searching for candidates, assess whether or not your company culture will be able to accommodate these new employees. If it isn’t, consider hiring full-time office staff instead of relying on telecommuting positions.

• Compensation and Benefits

Hiring remote workers can save a company money in the short term. This is especially true when hiring entry-level or new grads, who typically do not demand high salaries and may be willing to work for lower wages with flexible hours. However, this doesn’t mean that employers should skimp on benefits packages. Remote employees have limited interactions with coworkers during the day, so they rely heavily on these benefits to stay connected with their team. 

In addition, paying higher premiums for health care plans may seem unnecessary since workers are unlikely to use them unless there’s an emergency requiring travel back home (which could incur additional costs). However, this benefit is essential if workers get sick away from home and need to see a doctor quickly. It’s also crucial if a worker has a family member who needs medical attention while out of the country

• Unanticipated Business Expenses

If you have employees in the office, everyone is prepared to pay when an unexpected expense comes up. However, if your remote workers are required to travel for work, they will likely expect reimbursement from that trip. If a problem arises and money needs to be sent quickly anywhere in the world, there can also be wire transfer fees involved, so this should be taken into account.

An unexpected expense will come up with any job, remote or not. How the employer handles these expenses can impact their employees’ work ethic and loyalty to their company. An excellent way to alleviate some of this is by having a budget for unexpected costs that come out of a different account than your payroll one, so it does not affect paychecks directly. This goes a long way towards making sure people feel valued as individuals rather than just an extension of the business itself.

The Bottom Line

There are a lot of benefits to hiring remote workers. They can be efficient, productive, and flexible in their work schedule working from home or wherever they choose to live and work. However, some challenges come with it. You have to be proactive in your management efforts. Managing remote workers requires different strategies than the traditional office environment where everyone is sitting next to each other and can easily communicate face-to-face. 

Whenever you’re hiring remote workers, make sure that you always consider these factors mentioned above for more efficient working.