Larimer County will provide employees approved for remote work, both mandatory and voluntary, with a laptop, docking station, monitor, keyboard and mouse. If the standard issue devices don’t meet the remote worker’s needs, they are responsible for purchasing other devices.
Employees can use the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access resources on the County network, only on a County issued computer. The County provides the laptop to assure County standards of security and technology are met.
Employees may use their home computer to access County network resources by using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). A home computer with Internet access can also be used to access the County’s cloud-based services directly. These services include the Google Suite of products or other Software as a Service applications that can be accessed using the OKTA authentication portal.
Employees, both voluntary and mandatory remote work, will be responsible for purchasing their own: printer (IT recommends Duplex Laser Printers that support Legal paper size for significant printing - HP, Lexmark, Brother, Canon), webcams, headsets, and duplex desktop document scanners (devices that support TWAIN, Kofax or ISIS).
Remote office furniture is unique to the employee. Each employee’s home, furniture requirements (space and design), and ergonomics will make purchasing these items unique. If employees have questions about ergonomic furniture, please reach out to the Risk Management Safety Coordinator.
Employees will be responsible for purchasing their own desk, chair (Chair Buying Guide), monitor stands, foot rest and any other equipment needed for remote work.
Facilities has provided some recommendations for Remote Work Furniture Options. Employees can search for these items and purchase independently.
Employees may qualify for the Connectivity Allowance or can work with their Department to determine if a County issued device is more appropriate. Employees can review the Wireless Connectivity Policy for more information. The Connectivity Allowance, formerly known as the Wireless Device Allowance, provides eligible employees with a wireless device allowance and an internet allowance. Employees required to utilize a County wireless device for their job responsibilities, or employees identified as mandatory remote workers can be eligible for an allowance.
Both categories of remote work employees, voluntary and mandatory, regardless of the allowance, and if the employee does not have a County issued device, are responsible for purchasing their own home or cell phone (including the service) and Internet service (including any associated equipment for internet service and use such as modems, wireless routers or wireless range extenders and/or mesh network equipment).
A supervisor may approve an employee to use office consumable supplies from the County at home. Examples of consumable items include: pens/pencils, writing pads, sticky notes, paper/binder clips, binders, folders, and paper. The employee working remotely is expected to keep their supervisor informed when they are taking supplies from the office for use during remote work.
Employees will be responsible for purchasing their own printer Ink, unless there are unique situations where an employee is required to print in order to accomplish their work. The employee should work with their supervisor regarding remote work needs for printing.
The County recognizes working remotely requires additional technology, equipment, and furniture. We hope to ease the burden for mandatory remote work employees, employees required to remote work for a portion or all their scheduled hours.
Mandatory remote work employees are eligible for an initial stipend of $1,200 upon approval for remote work, and each year following a stipend of $500. The purpose of the stipend is to provide mandatory remote work employees with financial assistance to purchase technology, equipment and furniture that meets their remote work needs.
The stipend amount will be paid through payroll with appropriate tax withheld. The County will not require receipts or documentation for the use of the stipend.
The County provides all employees with standard meeting and communication tools, as well as tools for e-signature:
- Gmail
- Zoom
- Mobile Phone Document Scanning Apps (Adobe Scan, Microsoft Office Lens, ScanPro)
- DocuSign
Employees may also utilize other video conferencing tools based on the vendors the employee works with such as WebEx, GoToMeeting, and Microsoft Teams, while it is appropriate to use these tools, support is not provided for these tools.
The County’s current phone system, Zoom, allows for use of the phone system remotely. Employees can forward their county extension to a mobile (or home) phone, allowing all calls to reroute directly to the employees. For additional information about cell phone use for County business review the Wireless Communication Policy.
Departments or Offices across the County have different systems requiring access. Access to the unique systems will need to be reviewed with your supervisor and IT to assure appropriate access is provided when working remotely. Employees will be asked as part of their application to identify any unique systems that they use regularly for work purposes to assure secure access can be provided.
Information about E-Signature
The County supports e-signatures for documents, employees can refer to the e-signature policy/procedure to understand what documents can have e-signature and how the e-signatures can be used.
The Signature Authority Policy establishes signature approval levels for County Departments and provides reference for cross training and training new personnel: (Will be updated again soon- 100.2P)
The County has an Enterprise DocuSign account available to users that have a need for regular creation of documents requiring formal two party signatures such as contracts, agreements and statements of work. Access to DocuSign is available through the Service Desk as part of our catalog of optional software or via the JSM Service Portal and requires departmental approval due to usage fees. Standard templates are available in DocuSign for common workflows such as board or county manager approvals with stamps for County Attorney stamp.
DocuSign must be used for contracts submitted to the County Manager or Board of County Commissioners for approval and recommended for any contracts or agreements with external parties. For internal electronic approval or simple PDF electronic signatures you may also leverage Adobe Pro. For internal forms it is more cost effective to convert them to LogiForms. Departments can work with IT to create LogiForms for internal forms and workflows to track authenticated employee approvals.
