What should a hybrid work policy include?

How it works

A good policy starts with purpose: why the organization works hybrid and what office time is for, such as collaboration, onboarding or client work. It then sets the rules that follow from that purpose: eligibility by role, expected office days or time, core hours, and how exceptions and accommodations are handled.

The practical sections matter most to employees: how to see who is coming in, how to book a desk or room, what happens to unused bookings, how meetings include remote participants and which tools to use. Managers need their own guidance on setting team days, applying the rules consistently and handling requests.

A policy is only as real as its follow-through. Organizations that write a rule and never measure it often end up with managers quietly applying their own version. Publishing the measures that matter, such as attendance by team, team overlap on office days and employee feedback, and reviewing them each quarter keeps the policy tied to how people actually work.

How to measure it

Track attendance against the policy by team and weekday, and look for teams that are consistently above or below it.
Measure whether teammates overlap on office days, not only how many days each person attends.
Run a short survey each quarter on whether office days are useful and the rules are clear.
Watch retention and hiring data for roles affected by policy changes.

Examples

A policy that asks each team to agree two anchor days, publish them in the booking tool and use the remaining days flexibly.
A meetings section that makes video the default for any meeting with at least one remote participant.

Benchmarks

At RCS England, 85% of staff exceeded the minimum office policy without enforcement after desk booking and team coordination removed desk uncertainty.
Kadence customer story: RCS England

Common mistakes

Writing a day count with no reason attached, which invites quiet non-compliance.
Leaving enforcement to managers without guidance, so the same rule means different things in different teams.
Launching the policy without the tools to follow it, such as shared schedules and desk booking.
Never reviewing the policy after launch, even when attendance data shows it is not working.

How Kadence helps

Kadence helps put a hybrid policy into practice. Employees set their work status and see who is going in, managers set recurring team days, and admins use booking rules, booking windows and auto-release to match the policy. Workplace Insights shows attendance and occupancy by team, and Insights Plus custom dashboards (WorkOps Pro or add-on) include policy compliance reporting.

Hybrid working coordination · Workplace analytics · RCS England story · Hybrid work policy template

Frequently asked questions

What should be included in a hybrid work policy?

Include the purpose of office time, who is eligible, expected office days or time, how teams choose and share their days, how to book desks and rooms, meeting norms for remote participants, what managers are responsible for, how exceptions are handled, and how the policy will be measured and reviewed.

What are good hybrid working principles?

Useful principles are that office time has a purpose, teams decide together when to meet, rules apply the same way across teams, remote participants take part equally in meetings, and decisions about the policy rest on attendance data and employee feedback rather than assumptions.

How often should a hybrid work policy be reviewed?

Review the data every quarter and the policy itself at least once a year, or sooner after a major change such as an office move, a merger or a new attendance expectation. Use attendance, team overlap, occupancy and survey results to decide what to change, and explain every change to employees.

Who should own the hybrid work policy?

HR usually owns the policy, but it works best when HR, workplace or real estate, IT and business leaders write it together. HR covers eligibility and fairness, workplace teams cover space and booking, IT covers tools, and leaders set the purpose and model the behavior they ask for.

Office attendance policy A rule that sets how often employees are expected in the office, such as a number of days per week or month.
Hybrid work model The specific rules an organization uses to decide where and when people work, from flexible to office-first.
Anchor days Set days each week when a team or company agrees to be in the office together, with the other days flexible.
Return to office (RTO) An employer requirement that remote or hybrid staff spend more time in the office, either full time or on set days.
Hushed hybrid When managers quietly let employees come into the office less often than a formal return-to-office policy requires.
Booking policy The rules for booking shared desks, rooms and other spaces: who can book, how far ahead, for how long and when bookings are released.

Kadence editorial team · Last reviewed September 30, 2026