Our Hybrid Work Policy | One Future Collective

This policy draft is adapted from the internal policy infrastructure applicable at One Future Collective and is made publicly accessible in the interest of our mission to build safe, just, and inclusive workplaces for all. If you are an organisation curious to know more about how to build socially just workplaces, we invite you to use and adapt these policies to make them relevant to your context. If you have used any of our policies, we request you to please credit us. 

You can know more about us, our journey, how we work, and our commitment to Nurturing Radical Kindness through our internal organisational Manifesto: Sunflowers.  We would also love to hear from you – if you have any feedback, questions, or comments, please feel free to use this form. 

Some guidance on using this policy:

We understand that each organisation is distinctly placed, works in different contexts, and within diverse realities and organisational policies have to be resilient and responsive to these contexts. In this background, we would like to share the following guidance for your reference:

1. All the segments marked in yellow and/or left blank are spaces for you to update with details which are relevant to your organisational contexts. 
2. The entire policy may not be applicable as it is – please treat this as an invitation to adapt parts of it to better suit your demands. 
3. The policies are developed in the context of the legal obligations, politics, and resources available to One Future Collective. Whenever you are developing your organisational policies, please ensure that you are conducting your own due diligence in relation to compliance and other obligations that you may have to adhere to. 
4. Some key identifying information and details about processes unique to our organisation are anonymised from the drafts below for reasons of privacy and confidentiality. 

In case you would like to reach out to us to get to know more about a policy or are feeling a bit stuck, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@onefuturecollective.org.

Our Hybrid Work Policy

Date of adoption	_____________________
Date of review	_____________________
Policy Holder	_____________________
Queries	_____________________

1) Purpose

Considering the nature of our work, we will continue to remain a hybrid working organisation for the foreseeable future. This policy outlines what hybrid work means, what policies apply to work from anywhere, in person work, travel for work and virtual work. It also defines other related factors to be considered while working in a hybrid structure. 

2) Applicability 

This policy covers all permanent employees. It may not apply to interns or project-based consultants who may  have specific employment-related conditions. 

Note: all calculations for time divisions between in person, hybrid and virtual work will be made on a 6 monthly basis. 

3) Definitions 

Some key terms have been defined below.

1. Head office: <add registered address>
2. City-based offices/work: We don’t have physical city-based offices, except in Mumbai. In-person city-based work is understood to be undertaken in the city of residence of an employee.
3. Hybrid work: A flexible approach that allows employees to split their time between working in their city of residence and working from anywhere.  
4. Voluntary Relocation: The process of moving to a different city or town for a period of more than <insert number of weeks>  continuous weeks by your own volition. 
5. In person work: Any and all duties specified in one’s job description which can and are meant to be executed in person, in the city of residence. 
6. Travel for work: Travelling to a different city or town (other than the town or city of residence as defined in the policy) for work, as defined in one’s specific work conditions. 
7. Virtual work: Any and all duties specified in one’s job description which can and are meant to be executed virtually. 

4) Hybrid Work Policy

We follow a hybrid work policy, details of which are outlined below. Specific in-person and travel for work conditions for different roles are detailed in relevant documents. 

1. Country location

Hybrid work is restricted to work from India. There are exceptional situations where you may be allowed to work from outside of the country as well. In cases other than where specific approval has previously been taken, you can work from outside of India for a period of 15 working days or less in a year. In case there are periods that you are working from outside India, you need to ensure availability during synced hours on IST. 

2. City of residence 

While hiring, we consciously look for the geographical location of the person being hired. This is done to ensure the folks we are hiring are located in or around our centres of work and that we have the budget to ensure travel for them as needed. 

1. Definition: The city you are based in at the time of hiring is your city of residence for purposes of our work.  
2. Changing city of residence permanently: In case you want to change your city of residence permanently during your employment with <Name of Organisation>, the decision rests with you but may be a cause for being let go if prior approval is not sought from your reporting manager. Any change for more than or equal to a period of <insert number of weeks> continuous weeks is considered a permanent change. This also includes travel for more than <insert number of days> within a calendar month even though not continuously. 
3. Changing city of residence temporarily: In case you want to temporarily change your city of residence during your employment with <Name of Organisation>, the decision rests with you but may be a cause for being let go if prior approval is not sought from your reporting manager. Any change for more than  1 week and less than 4 weeks is considered a temporary change. 
4. Inter City Travel during temporary change in the city of residence: In case you are required to travel during the period of temporary change in the city of residence as part of your job role, costs for inter city travel will be computed and reimbursed in keeping with costs that would have arisen from your city of residence, whichever is lower.  

5) In-person work    

1. All roles require <insert relevant percentage> of their time to be spent on in-person work, this includes but is not limited to celebration days, fundraising events of any nature, external facing events or meetings and learning and development events. This may fluctuate by 5% either way. 
2. Some roles may have a higher component of in-person work, especially roles that focus on training and capacity building, as will be mentioned in your job description. 
3. While executing up to <insert relevant percentage> of your mandated in-person work, no additional travel or other costs will be reimbursed. If your in-person work increases and lies between <insert relevant percentage> of your work time, only additional public transport costs will be reimbursed as per the Reimbursement, Payments & Financial Policy. 

6) Travel for work

All policies as per Reimbursement, Payments & Financial Policies apply wherever there may be a gap in the hybrid work policy.

1. Non Allowance of Accompanying Guests: if you are travelling for work, alone or with another team member, you are not allowed to have personal guests accompany you. If you need to have a guest accompany you for caregiving or accessibility needs, you need to request this with your manager. Note: we are currently not in a situation to extend any financial assistance for any accompanying guests even in case of caregiving or accessibility needs.
2. Payments and reimbursements: All travel for internal meetings is reimbursed as per the Reimbursement, Payments & Financial Policies, in cases where it is not booked directly by the organisation. 
3. Cancellations: Unless a cancellation is made owing to an emergency only, health or otherwise, the costs of cancellation will be borne by the employee. 
4. Missing your booked travel: If someone misses their travel due to carelessness, not being on time or related reasons, the costs of travel will be borne by the employee. 
5. Requesting advance changes to travel details: If you would prefer another mode of travel, would want to change the city of origin or departure, would want to change the dates of your travel – you can do so by bearing the difference in costs based on pre-approval by your reporting manager. 
6. Mode of travel: 
   • Wherever the time of travel one way is less than <insert relevant duration>  2AC train travel will be provided for.
   • Wherever the time of travel one way is more than <insert relevant duration> , flight bookings will be provided for. 
   • If you would prefer another mode of travel, would want to change the city of origin or departure, would want to change the dates of your travel – you can do so by bearing the difference in costs based on pre-approval by your reporting manager. 
   • Intra-city travel when outside of your home city will be provided for by way of reimbursement of Ola or Uber fares if required, on pre-approval. Preference is for use of public transport. 
   • For the annual retreat and other relevant in-person work, each employee will be provided a fixed travel cover of <insert relevant amount>.  

7) Food and accommodation while travelling:

1. Food outside your city of residence-related reimbursements policy

• If you are travelling outside your city for work, you will be given a maximum of  a day for food in the case where food is not provided for already. Break up:
  • <insert relevant amount> INR breakfast, 
  • <insert relevant amount> INR lunch and 
  • <insert relevant amount> INR dinner
• If this is not adequate for a certain situation, please check with the CEO or your reporting manager before travelling.

2. Accommodation outside your city of residence  related reimbursements policy
   • If you are travelling outside your city for work, you will be put up at an accommodation with a maximum cap of <insert relevant amount> INR per person per night and <insert relevant amount> for two people sharing a room per night. 
   • All accommodation will be on a sharing basis unless otherwise indicated. 

8) External meetings or work 

1. Policies as applicable to the internal meetings will apply wherever travel, accommodation and/or food has not been provided for by the agency or partner we are travelling for.  
2. In cases where you are meeting an external partner on behalf of <Name of Organisation>, you are not expected to cover costs for them unless the invitation has been extended by us exclusively for the meeting. In such cases, there is a cap of  <insert relevant amount> INR per guest. 
3. In general, it is expected that in the event any <Name of Organisation> member is meeting such external members for meetings, permission to cover the costs of such external guests is received from the reporting manager in advance of the meeting.
4. General reimbursement guidelines and policies will apply for the employee to ensure that they are able to receive their reimbursements. 

9) Virtual work

Due to the nature of our work, a working device, stable internet connectivity and largely uninterrupted electricity supply are basic requirements for work. In addition to this we see the need for a working area that is comfortable and additional tools that support the carrying out of work. This segment of the policy covers the general challenges and needs we have seen arise out of virtual work and have addressed them as possible. 

Note: we are a small non-profit and we are unable to provide support beyond this. These support measures are meant to provide temporary relief for occasional issues and not become a permanent solution. 

#	Item	What is provided for
a.	Internet Connection	All employees are expected to have a fully working internet connection that does not hamper their work-related performance and deliverables.
b.	Laptop or other electronic device	We do not have the budget or funds to provide devices at the moment. This is a condition of joining the organisation and will be shared at the time of hiring. It is not something we can change post hiring. What we can provide is:Loan to purchase a device, equal to or less than  <insert relevant amount> INR, which will be deducted later on a monthly basis as mutually decided, on the production of the receipt.Entry fee for a cyber cafe near you for the first <insert relevant duration> , on the production of the receipt.In exceptional circumstances, we may provide a reimbursement of a maximum of  <insert relevant amount>  INR per month for a rental laptop for a maximum period of  <insert relevant duration> , on the production of the receipt.
c.	Electricity and physical working space	Both of these are not something we can provide for the foreseeable future. We hire folks in tier 1 and tier 2 cities, as this is where our work is concentrated, with regular supply of electricity as the nature of our work requires it. Occasional issues are understandable but this cannot be a recurring concern. We hire by specifically sharing that we are a hybrid organisation and do not provide a physical working space.  In the event you require any support to understand what options are available to you to address the electricity related challenges that you may be facing you can reach out to your reporting manager for assistance.