Staff handbook for a remote-first business

A remote-first business has no office to set the norms, so the handbook has to: where people work and what the employer provides, the safety assessment the law requires for a workstation the employer cannot see, the hours and availability expectations that stop a remote team drifting into always-on or never-reachable, the line on working from abroad, the data and monitoring rules, and the disciplinary, grievance and wellbeing procedures run over video. I draft that handbook for the employer for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Businesses in England and Wales that are fully remote or whose staff work mostly from home, from a start-up that never had an office to a company that gave its lease up.

What matters in a remote-first handbook

The place of work and the policies that replace the office

The handbook should state where staff work (home, with any co-working allowance), the employer's address as the base for the written particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the expectations about a suitable workspace, the equipment the employer provides and its return, the expenses and allowances within the tax rules, the arrangements for in-person meetings and the travel expenses for them, and the right to require attendance at events; a remote-first business still needs a place of work in the contract and a policy that says what home working means.

Health, safety and equipment at home

The employer's duties under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 apply to staff working at home, and the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 require a workstation assessment, so the handbook should contain the homeworking assessment process, the equipment the employer provides on the basis of it, the employee's obligations to report hazards and accidents, the position on the employee's own insurance and tenancy or mortgage conditions, and the employer's right to inspect by arrangement where it reasonably needs to; the assessment is the control the law requires and the handbook is where staff are asked to complete it.

Hours, availability and the norms that stop drift

The handbook should set the working hours and core hours, the response expectations by channel, the norms on meetings, the rules on working time records and rest under the Working Time Regulations 1998, the expectation of no availability outside hours unless the role is paid for it, the time off in lieu for out-of-hours work, and the policy on asynchronous working across time zones; there is no statutory right to disconnect in England and Wales, and a remote business that does not write the norms down has staff who assume always-on and managers who assume never-reachable.

Working abroad and the line the business draws

The handbook should contain a working abroad policy: consent required before working from another country for more than a stated short period, the reasons (the employer's tax presence, local employment and social security law, immigration, data transfers under the UK GDPR, insurance), the conditions on which short periods are permitted, and the consequences of working abroad without consent; a remote-first business is the one whose staff move abroad without asking, and the policy draws the line before it is crossed.

Data, devices and monitoring

The handbook should contain the information security and acceptable use policies for a workforce on home networks (encryption, secure connections, locked screens, no family use of devices, printing), the bring your own device rules, the data protection policy under the UK GDPR for staff handling personal data at home, and the monitoring policy stating what the employer monitors (device management, activity on its systems) with the privacy notice and the lawful basis, because monitoring remote staff without telling them is a data protection breach as well as a trust problem.

Culture, wellbeing and the procedures that work at a distance

The handbook should set the wellbeing policy (isolation, the support offered, the right to raise concerns), the procedures for discipline and grievance under the Acas Code adapted for video hearings (recording, the right to be accompanied under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 by video, documents shared in advance), the induction and probation process for someone the employer never meets, the equal opportunities policy and the duty to prevent sexual harassment under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 in online spaces, sickness absence, holiday, flexible working under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and the family leave policies with the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes on the timetable the regulations set, non-contractual and acknowledged electronically with records kept.

What it costs

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

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

We have no office. Does the law still require a health and safety policy?

From five employees, yes, and the duties apply wherever staff work. The handbook contains the policy and the home workstation assessment the display screen regulations require.

Can staff work from abroad for a few weeks?

Under the working abroad policy, with consent and conditions for short periods, and a refusal where the tax, employment law, immigration or data risks are too high. The policy draws the line.

Can we run a disciplinary hearing over video?

A video hearing works with the procedure adapted: documents in advance, the right to be accompanied by video, a record of the hearing. The handbook sets the process so that it is fair at a distance.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £995, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Employment contract for a remote worker

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.