Question of the Week:

Can we require remote employees to have childcare?

Answered by the HR Pros

You can, but we don’t recommend it. For one thing, it often isn’t necessary. Many employees are able to perform perfectly well while also supervising children in the home. Imposing this requirement (and a huge financial burden) won’t solve any problems, but it might encourage remote employees to start looking for a new job. Even in cases where supervising children does negatively affect job performance, mandating childcare as a solution could be seen as crossing a line into your employees’ personal lives.

Instead, we recommend setting clear expectations for attendance, availability, performance, and productivity. You can then discipline employees who don’t meet these expectations without giving the impression that you’re micromanaging their personal lives.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that employee expectations around remote work have changed. People often choose remote work with the idea that they’ll have more flexibility during the day to attend to their personal responsibilities. If that flexibility isn’t an option, it’s important to make that clear so employees know what to expect.

This Q&A does not constitute legal advice and does not address state or local law.