Work-At-Home Policy

Authored by: Kristen Linton

Publish: 8/3/2021 8:10:00 PM
Last update: 12/7/2022 3:07:11 PM

Work-At-Home Policy

Under New York Life’s work-at-home model, each employee’s role falls into one
of three workplace schedule categories: Fully On-site, Hybrid and Remote. Senior
Leadership has assessed and determined the workplace schedule for all roles based on
factors such as job functions and responsibilities. For the majority of employees, our
model provides the benefits of both working on-site together, as well as the flexibility
of working at home.

There are three categories of workplace schedules:

• Fully On-site: These employees have responsibilities that are necessary to

being performed at a New York Life office location, and accordingly, their
work schedule is fully on-site.

• Hybrid: Most employees will fall into this category and spend the majority
of time working from a designated New York Life location and the
remainder of their time work-at-home. In most instances, an employee will
work three days on-site (Tuesdays through Thursdays) and may choose to
work-at-home (or in the office) Mondays and Fridays. Based on job
functions and business need, there may be a limited number of roles that
work on-site less than three days a week or have different on-site days. In
addition, hybrid employees may work-at-home during the following four
weeks throughout the year – the week of July 4, the week before Labor Day,
Thanksgiving Week, and the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

• Remote: These employees are expected to primarily perform their work

from a pre-determined residence (in the US). Employees in these roles
may be required to come to a New York Life office on a limited basis for
meetings and other events when needed. In some instance, employees in
this category may spend time traveling and visiting clients. Employees
who were in on-site roles pre-pandemic but are in Remote roles in our
post-pandemic work-at-home model, may be able to continue to work on-
site and should speak with their manager.

All employees, regardless of their workplace schedule, have an affiliated New York
Life office location. An employee’s workplace schedule and affiliated NYL office
location is documented in HR Central. Employees should speak with their manager
if there are any questions.
Any and all prior work-at-home arrangements (including all arrangements under
the company’s pre-pandemic work-at-home policies) are no longer in
effect, excluding GBS employees who already worked at home before the
pandemic or those newly hired or reclassified as “remote” employees during the
pandemic. As always, role and position designation are subject to review and may
change over time. In the event of business need and/or unsatisfactory performance,
Hybrid and Remote employees may be required to come on-site as directed. It is
important to note, that an employee’s work schedule category does not transfer if
an employee moves to a new role with a different work schedule.

Ad Hoc Work-at-Home Days

We understand that on occasion a: (i) Hybrid employee with a regular on-site

weekly schedule or (ii) Fully On-site employee* who is able to work-at-home, is
unable to come to the office on an on-site day. We have a mechanism in place to
provide employees with the flexibility they need in such circumstance. When such
a situation arises, employees may request an ad-hoc work-at-home day.
To request an ad hoc work-at-home day, employees need to: (i) notify their manager
and (ii) obtain manager pre-approval, as soon as they know they need an ad hoc work-
at-home day. Approval of these days is at the discretion of the employee’s manager
based on the suitability of the role and the employee’s suitability to performing the
role at home in the particular circumstance.** Requests should be limited and not
follow a pattern or schedule.***
* Fully On-site employees who are classified as “Essential”, cannot perform their
functions at home, and do not have ad hoc work-at-home days.
** For Field Service employees in General Offices, ad hoc days are subject to
blackout periods based on the General Office operations at a specific location,
however, all other guidelines in this policy are applicable.
*** GBS leaders have the ability to provide their employees with additional
flexibility as needed. This could mean different or fewer days working on-site to
recognize the flexibility that has been afforded to GBS employees historically.

Working from a Non-Designated Home Residence Location

On work-at-home days employees are expected to work from their designated home
residence and comply with the company’s terms and conditions of the company’s
Work-at-Home policy. Work-at-home means performing work duties from the home
residence that is reflected in the company’s employee system of record (e.g., HR
Central) and employees cannot work from, for example, a coffee shop or a co-
working/virtual office (e.g., WeWork).

If an employee will be working from a temporary address that is in a different state

or within a different taxable locality than what is reported in the company system
(HR Central) for a period of more than 30 consecutive calendar days[1], the employee
must submit a change of resident address in the system (HR Central) to reflect the
temporary address at the start of the temporary period as this may have an impact on
tax withholdings. Once the temporary period is complete, the employee must submit
another resident address change in the system to change back to the employee’s home
address. Employees are encouraged to speak to their personal tax advisor as to any
state withholding and income tax consequences associated with any temporary
change of resident work locations.

(This section does not apply to situations where an employee is on vacation and is
unexpectedly required to work due to circumstances beyond the employee’s control.)

The company will assume all employees are working from their home address on
record unless notified otherwise. [2]

[1] The span of 30 consecutive calendar days for hybrid employees includes both in
office and work-at-home days. (e.g., if an employee is traveling into the office and
returning to a location other than the home resident address in HR Central for period
of 30 calendar days or more, a change of address must be recorded in HR Central if
it meets the different state or different taxable locality criteria.)

[2]In general, work outside of the U.S. is only allowed for short durations and only
in very limited circumstances. There are reviews and pre-approvals needed for any
work sought to be performed outside of the U.S., and additional considerations,
restrictions and risks associated with such work. All employees who are seeking to
work internationally for any duration need to: (i) submit a request and obtain approval
from their Department Head and HR Business Partner and (ii) acknowledge the terms
and conditions of approval and their responsibilities, before any work outside of the
U.S. may commence. Please note that New York Life’s Office of the Chief
Information Security Officer maintains a list of countries assessed to pose a high risk
to NYL Information Assets. More information can be found in the following link to
New York Life’s High Risk Countries List.

Time Spent Working from Home

While working at home, all employees are expected to, among other things:

• Maintain regular work hours;

• Be reachable and communicate with coworkers and clients as needed, including
via Outlook, Teams, and by phone during their scheduled workday;
• Attend meetings virtually; and
• Access company systems.

In addition, all employees are bound by all applicable company policies, rules, and
practices whether in the office or working virtually. This includes, but is not limited
to, Attendance, Cyber Security, Dress, and all other policies.

Work-at-Home Environment
Employees must establish an appropriate environment within their home for work
purposes. Employees must arrange and maintain appropriate dependent care coverage
(e.g., childcare, elder care) during work hours to minimize distractions and permit
full concentration on work assignments. Employees attempting to locate dependent
care resources are encouraged to contact LifeCare for assistance.
If an employee’s home environment does not permit full concentration on work-
related tasks during business hours, the employee is expected to work from the office
instead and should speak to their manager to discuss the situation and make
arrangements for in-office work.

Documents and Records Retention

Work-at-home is an extension of the New York Life workplace and governed by the
company’s Confidentiality, Privacy, Records Retention, and other relevant policies.
Work done by an employee for New York Life belongs to the company and needs
to be maintained confidentially in its system and files, in a secure location and in
accordance with the department’s record retention schedule. Such work may only be
used or shared in accordance with company policy.

Technology

Employees are responsible for transporting their laptops to and from the office daily.

For technology assistance, employees should contact New York Life's Technology
Service Desk. If technological issues/internet connection keep an employee from
working, the employee is expected to inform their manager immediately to determine
if the employee should report to an assigned office or use paid time off.

Business Expenses

New York Life will cover the cost of reasonable business supplies which have been
pre-approved by management. Business supplies should be ordered through the
Staples Program. The company does not reimburse employees who work-at-home for
costs to create or remodel a home-work station or household expenses, such as heating
and electricity, except where otherwise required by law. In addition, employees in
CA, IA, IL, ND, NH, MT and SD may be eligible for expense reimbursement for
their reasonable internet costs attributable to work purposes.

Commuting Expenses

It is important to our culture and how we operate that we gather together on-site as
needed, even for those who work primarily remotely. As such, employees should
live within a reasonable commuting distance of their assigned office and must
notify their managers and update HR Central should they seek to relocate to
another state. The company will not reimburse for commutation expenses to an
employee’s affiliated NYL office, regardless of distance.
Required travel to NYL offices other than an employee’s affiliated office may be
covered business travel expenses and be reimbursed under the company’s travel
policies.

Commuting Time

In general, a Remote and Hybrid employee’s commuting time to and from a New
York Life office is not considered time worked and should not be reflected on an
employee’s time record. However, such commuting time is considered time worked
and must be reflected on an employee’s time record if an employee is required to
travel at the direction of the company during their regularly scheduled work hours.

For example, a Remote or Hybrid employee who typically works from 9:00 am – 5:00
pm is required to attend a 9:00 am meeting. In that situation the time the employee
spends commuting before 9:00 is not time worked and does not need to be reflected
on the employee’s time record. However, if that same employee is directed by the
company to leave the worksite immediately following the meeting to continue their
workday from home, the time spend commuting home would be considered time
worked and must be reflected on the employee’s time record.

Attendance Tracking

Employees are only required to make entries in the time management system when
they are not following their traditional schedule. For example:

1. A Hybrid employee who follows the traditional schedule of WAH on Monday

and Friday does not enter Monday and Friday as WAH days, however, would
record any approved WAH days that fell on a Tuesday, Wednesday or
Thursday.
2. A Remote employee who comes on-site for a day. The on-site day should be
recorded as Company Business and the applicable location selected for that
day.

Also, during the four weeks throughout the year that have been designated as work-
at-home - the week of July 4, the week before Labor Day, Thanksgiving Week and
the week between Christmas and New Year’s – Hybrid employees who work from
home on each of those days, do not need to make an entry in the system.

As a reminder, non-exempt employees must accurately report their starting and

finishing times for the day in accordance with the department’s standard practice and
submit for overtime whether the time worked was in the office or worked at home.
For Non-exempt employees who work in locations in which they are entitled to
statutory meal and rest breaks, those employees will be entitled to the same breaks
when working from home as they had while working at the office. Such employees
should track and report their meal and rest breaks in accordance with applicable
laws. The company’s Meal During Extended Work Hours Policy is not applicable
when an employee is working at home.

In accordance with the company’s attendance tracking procedures, employees will

continue to attest that any deviation from their traditional worksite schedule is
recorded in HR Central.

Unplanned Office Closings

In general, if an employee’s New York Life office location is closed for inclement
weather or other emergency situations they should work-at-home, unless otherwise
unable. Employees who are scheduled to work-at-home on a date that their New York
Life office location is closed for inclement weather or other emergency situations
should work-at-home, unless otherwise unable.

Safe Environment and Injury Notification

Employees are expected to maintain their home workspace in a safe manner, free from
safety hazards. Injuries sustained by the employee in a home office location and in
conjunction with regular work duties are normally covered by the company's workers'
compensation policy. Employees are responsible for notifying the employer of such
injuries as soon as practicable. The employee is liable for any injuries sustained by
visitors to the employee’s worksite.

Zoning

Employees should check with their town to see if there are local zoning regulations,
homeowners' association, or other applicable rules governing home offices. New
York Life will not reimburse employees and will not otherwise be responsible for
fines and/or fees incurred by employees associated with violations or ensuring
compliance with any such regulations or rules.

Additional questions about working at home should be directed to an employees’

manager or Human Resources Business Partner.