What Remote Work Means

Article 60-2 of the Labour Code of Ukraine defines remote work as a separate form of work organisation. The employee generally chooses the place of work unless otherwise required by law or the agreed terms. The employment contract defines the position, pay, communication with the employer, working time, equipment and other conditions relevant to the particular work.

Remote work should be distinguished from home-based work. As a general rule, a remote employee's workplace is not tied to a particular employer's premises. Home-based work is linked to a defined workplace at the employee's home or another selected premises. The owner chooses the form that reflects the person's actual work.

A remote employee retains the right to pay, rest, leave and other employment guarantees. The director may require performance of the employee's duties and the agreed result. Communication arrangements and the periods when the employee must be available are best stated expressly in the contract or an internal document.

The employment contract may define periods when the employee is free to manage their own time and is not required to respond to work messages. For the director, this means that availability requirements should be agreed with the schedule and nature of the position. For sales, customer support or on-call duties, specific communication hours can be set.

The current Article 60-2 of the Labour Code also addresses business travel by a remote employee. If the employer sends such an employee on a business trip, the employee reports their location by a convenient method, including through information and communication technologies.

Equipment, Data and Responsibility

If an employee is provided with a laptop, telephone, token, documents or other property, the director specifies what has been issued, for what work and who is responsible for its safekeeping. Where the employee uses their own equipment, the parties may agree reimbursement of costs if appropriate to the work and the contract terms.

For accounting, sales, customer work and other activities, access to corporate email, CRM, accounting systems and files should be defined. Access rights must correspond to the employee's position. After dismissal or a change of duties, the director closes unnecessary access and takes back corporate documents and property.

Protection of personal data and commercial information depends on the information the person handles. Employees need clear rules for corporate files, customer databases, passwords and use of personal devices. This protects the business without unnecessary prohibitions unrelated to the actual work.

Occupational-safety requirements also depend on the nature of the work. For office work at a computer, the main issues are a safe workstation, serviceable equipment and appropriate instruction. For work involving hazardous production factors, remote work is subject to special restrictions under labour law.

Documentation for the Team's Actual Working Model

For a small company, an employment contract or properly documented change of working conditions, a list of issued equipment and communication rules are sufficient. For a larger team, the director may separately define working hours, system-access procedures, property records and responsible persons. The number of documents should reflect the scale of the business.

UBC helps the owner document remote work as it is actually organised. The director receives employment documents, equipment and access rules and clear conditions for the employee. HR staff and the accountant receive the information required for records and payroll.

Properly documented remote work allows a company to hire the specialists it needs in different cities, reduce the cost of permanent workplaces and retain management control over the team. The owner gains flexibility, while the employee receives clear working and pay conditions.

Remote work can be combined with office work where this reflects the actual organisation of work and is properly documented. The owner can maintain a smaller office, while employees attend for meetings, work with documents or other tasks that are more convenient to perform in person.