Q18 – I hear that people at other companies are working remotely. Can I work from home?

Posted on by Chris Yard

Generally, the answer is “No”. Currently, remote work is only available in exceptional cases. (Please keep reading for more information.)

IMPORTANT:
No remote work DOES NOT MEAN that you have to come to work if you don’t want to. (See the rest of this FAQ for information about your options for staying at home.)

We recognize that team members have a wide variety of opinions on remote work here at Mercury. We also recognize that not everyone will agree with Mercury’s remote work policy. However, we would like to do what we can to make the policy clear.

Mercury is a manufacturing business which means the vast majority of our work is on site.  That includes not only production activities but all of the activities that support production.  Given our current roles and responsibilities here at Mercury, it is simply not possible to fulfill the same roles and responsibilities from home. For this reason, it has always been Mercury’s policy that we all work on site. 

In those special cases where remote work is approved, our goal going forward is to be as transparent as possible. For this reason, we feel that we need more formal guidelines for remote work. Below are the current guidelines:

  • Remote work must be requested and pre-approved
  • The request for remote work should include:
    • Definition of the remote work activities
    • The scope of the remote work activities (i.e. frequency & duration)
  • The request should be created in collaboration with the team and the Value Stream Champion
  • The request will be reviewed by the Support Team Champion (with input from other support team members, as appropriate)
  • The criteria for approving remote work are:
    • The work activities and scope are clearly defined
    • The work activities are business essential and aligned with current needs
    • Working remotely is the only current option for getting the tasks done

Hopefully the above guidelines provide some clarity… even if you don’t fully agree with them. We will regularly review these guidelines, along with your input, and make adjustments as needed.