Employment contract for a hybrid worker

Hybrid working is the arrangement most businesses now run and most contracts do not mention: the employee's contract says the office, the practice says three days at home, and nobody has written down which, who decides, or what happens when the employer wants to change it. The contract has to state the pattern and who sets it, name both places of work, provide a route for changing the pattern that works with the flexible working right, and deal with equipment, safety and data in two places. I draft that contract for the employer for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days, as a template for hybrid roles.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales whose staff work partly from home and partly on site, whether formalising an arrangement that grew up after the office reopened or setting one for new hires.

What matters in a hybrid worker's contract

The hybrid pattern and who sets it

The contract should state the pattern (a number of days a week at the employer's premises, or specified days), who sets which days (the employer, the manager within a policy, or the employee within limits), the notice for changing the days in a given week, and the employer's right to require attendance for stated purposes beyond the pattern; a pattern that is a discretion the employer can change at will is one the employee will treat as a right once it has run for a year, and the contract should say whether it is a contractual entitlement or a policy the employer may vary, because the difference decides whether a change is a variation of contract.

The place of work and the particulars

The written particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 must state the place of work or that the employee works at various places, and the contract should name the employer's premises as the principal place of work with the employee's home as an additional place under the hybrid arrangement, so that the employer's premises remain the base for mobility, expenses and any future requirement to attend; an employer that names the home as the place of work has changed the base and will pay for the commute.

Changing the pattern and the flexible working right

The contract should say how the pattern is changed: by the employer on reasonable notice where the arrangement is a policy, by agreement where it is contractual, and by the employee's request under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which gives every employee the right from the first day to make two requests a year for a change to hours, times or place of work, which the employer must consider reasonably, consult on before refusing and decide within the statutory period on one of the permitted business grounds; an employer that wants to bring staff back to the office more often should expect requests under the statutory right in response, and the contract should provide the framework for both.

Equipment, expenses and the two workplaces

The contract should state what the employer provides for home working and what remains at the premises, the employee's obligations for equipment that travels between the two, the expenses the employer pays (not the commute to the principal place of work, which remains the employee's), and any home working allowance within the tax rules; a hybrid employee with two monitors at home and a hot desk at work has an equipment position the contract should describe.

Health, safety and data at both

The employer's duties under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 apply at the premises and at home, and the contract should require a home workstation assessment, compliance with the employer's information security policies in both places, secure transport of devices and documents between them, and compliance with the UK GDPR in handling personal data at home, with the employer's monitoring stated and covered by the privacy notice; the home days are where data is lost, and the contract should say what the employee must do about it.

Hours, availability and the days that drift

The contract should state the hours and core hours on both home and office days, the expectation of availability and responsiveness, rest breaks and working time records under the Working Time Regulations 1998, and should say that the hybrid arrangement does not change the hours or the duties, because the drift in hybrid working is from a pattern to no pattern: the office days become optional, the home days become the week, and the employer discovers it has a remote workforce it did not agree to. The contract sets the pattern, the policy manages it, and the manager enforces it; the usual terms (pay at or above the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 rate, holiday, sick pay, notice under section 86 of the 1996 Act, confidentiality, intellectual property under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) apply as in any contract.

What it costs

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Our staff have worked three days at home since the pandemic with nothing in writing. Is that now their contract?

It may be, if it has run long enough to be a term by custom and practice. The contract states the pattern and whether it is contractual or a policy, which is the only way to settle it; changing an established pattern needs consultation and may need agreement.

Can we require everyone back in the office four days a week?

If the pattern is a policy the employer may vary on notice, yes, with consultation. If it is contractual, by agreement or a fair process for variation. Expect flexible working requests in response, which must be handled under the statutory procedure.

Who pays for the employee's commute on office days?

The employee, provided the contract names the employer's premises as the principal place of work. If the home is named as the place of work, the trip to the office is business travel.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Employment contract for a remote worker
• Employment contract for a part-time employee

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.