As some staff members move to a “Work from Home” hybrid work arrangement this month, they should remember that this generally includes working within Ohio.
In exceptional circumstances, for example where the staff member has unique skills that cannot be reasonably replaced, the supervisor may request an exception. In such a case, the department will need to incur the cost to have a review conducted to determine the applicable legal, tax and other regulatory requirements for the out-of-state locale. All requests for exceptions must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Human Resources in consultation with the Office of General Counsel, which will provide information regarding the requirements of the legal review, as well as indicate which outside firms are approved to assist with the review.
Staff members should not work from a foreign country. Working from a foreign country is a complex situation that brings up many legal issues, such as compliance with income tax and labor law issues in the foreign country, contract terms of research grants, federal wage and hour laws, potential visa or other immigration implications for the staff member, export control considerations, and other matters.
If a department is considering having one of its members work remotely from a foreign country for a period of time, it should first seek guidance by contacting the Office of General Counsel, which will work with the department to identify outside legal counsel knowledgeable about remote work in that particular foreign country to assist with assessing the feasibility of such an arrangement and any associated, additional requirements and costs for the department to engage in such an arrangement. In addition, if the employee proposed for remote work in a foreign country is externally funded, then the department should also seek guidance from the Office of Research Administration regarding whether such work outside the country is permitted by the funder.
For more information, see the Framework for Staff Hybrid Work.