Losing $57K on Remote Work Chaos? Manage Hybrid Teams in Odoo 18

Company allows remote work. HR manager uses spreadsheet to track who's working from where. Employee 1: "Office Monday-Wednesday, home Thursday-Friday." Employee 2: "Home all week except Tuesday." Employee 3: "Office but left early—didn't update sheet." Manager needs to schedule urgent meeting—checks spreadsheet, shows 8 people in office. Calls office: only 3 actually there. Wastes 37 minutes hunting people down. Happens 4 times weekly. Payroll runs—remote employees forgot to log hours, manual follow-up takes 6.2 hours monthly. Attendance report for audit: 18 hours to compile from scattered spreadsheets, emails, Slack messages.

Your remote work chaos: Spreadsheet tracking (out of sync within 2 hours of update). No single source of truth for employee locations. Managers don't know who's available where (meeting coordination nightmare). Attendance tracking broken (remote employees "forget" to log). Time-off requests mixed with WFH requests (approval confusion). Payroll errors (remote hours not captured = 7% underpayment complaints). Compliance risk (labor laws require location tracking for remote workers). No visibility into remote productivity vs office productivity. Hybrid schedule confusion (employee scheduled office day, works from home anyway).

Cost: Manual tracking time = 6.2 hours monthly × 12 × $67/hour = $4,982/year. Meeting coordination failures = 37 min × 4 weekly × 52 × $87/hour = $11,180 (manager time wasted). Payroll errors = 23 complaints × 4.7 hours resolution × $67/hour = $7,267. Attendance audit preparation = 18 hours × $87/hour = $1,566 (quarterly × 4 = $6,264/year). Compliance risk (labor department audit found location tracking failures) = $27,400 fine. Lost productivity tracking = can't measure remote vs office efficiency, can't optimize hybrid policies.

Odoo 18 Employee Remote Working fixes this: Work locations (Office, Home, Hybrid) defined in system. Employee profiles show current location + weekly schedule. Visual dashboard: See who's where today (office icons vs home icons). Attendance module: Remote check-in/check-out (IP/geolocation verified). WFH requests as Time Off type (approval workflow built-in). Working hours per location (track productivity by work location). Reports: Remote work analytics, location-based attendance. Here's how to configure remote work management so you stop losing $57K annually to hybrid work chaos.

What Remote Work Management Does

Centralized system to track employee work locations (office/home/hybrid), manage schedules, approve WFH requests, capture attendance remotely, and generate location-based reports.

Step 1: Enable Remote Work Feature

1. Go to Employees app
2. Navigate to Configuration → Settings
3. Find Remote Work section
4. Enable ☑ Remote Work checkbox
5. Click Save

Step 2: Configure Company Working Hours

Define standard working schedules (full-time, part-time, shift-based).

1. Go to Employees → Configuration → Working Schedules
2. Click Create
3. Configure schedule:
   • Name: "Standard 40 hours/week"
   • Company: Select your company
   • Company Full Time: 40 hours/week
   • Average Hour per Day: 8.0 hours
   • Work Time Rate: 100% (for full-time)
   • Timezone: Select timezone (e.g., Asia/Kolkata)
   • ☐ Flexible Hours: Uncheck for fixed schedule, check for flexible
4. In Working Hours tab, add daily schedule:
   • Monday: 09:00 - 18:00 (1 hour lunch break 13:00-14:00)
   • Tuesday: 09:00 - 18:00
   • Wednesday: 09:00 - 18:00
   • Thursday: 09:00 - 18:00
   • Friday: 09:00 - 18:00
   • Saturday/Sunday: Leave empty (weekend)
5. Click Save

Create Additional Schedules (Optional)

For part-time or different shift patterns:

• Part-Time 20 hours/week: Work Time Rate = 50%, 4 hours daily
• Flexible Schedule: Check "Flexible Hours", set total weekly hours
• Night Shift: 22:00 - 06:00 schedule

Step 3: Create Work Locations

1. Go to Employees → Configuration → Work Locations
2. Click Create
3. Configure first location (Office):
   • Work Location Name: "Main Office"
   • Work Address: Link to company address or create new
   • Cover Image: Select building icon (for visual identification)
   • Company: Select company
4. Click Save
5. Create second location (Remote):
   • Work Location Name: "Home / Remote"
   • Work Address: Can leave generic or link to employee home
   • Cover Image: Select home icon
   • Company: Select company
6. Click Save
7. Create additional locations as needed:
   • "Branch Office - Mumbai"
   • "Co-working Space - Bangalore"
   • "Client Site"

Step 4: Configure Employment Types

Define job arrangement categories (Full-Time, Part-Time, Contractor, etc.).

1. Go to Employees → Configuration → Employment Types
2. Default types available:
   • Employee
   • Student
   • Trainee
   • Contractor
   • Freelance
3. Create custom types if needed:
   • Click Create
   • Name: "Remote Full-Time" or "Hybrid Employee"
   • Click Save
4. Employment types used for:
   • Filtering employees in reports
   • Applying specific policies (e.g., contractors don't get PTO)
   • Payroll rules differentiation

Step 5: Configure Employee Profiles

Set Employment Type

1. Go to Employees → Employees
2. Open employee record
3. Go to Settings tab
4. Employee Type: Select (e.g., "Employee", "Contractor")
5. Click Save

Assign Working Hours

1. In employee record, go to Work Information tab
2. Working Schedule: Select schedule (e.g., "Standard 40 hours/week")
3. System calculates expected hours based on schedule
4. Click Save

Configure Work Location Schedule

1. In Work Information tab, find Work Location Schedule
2. Weekly calendar appears (Monday-Sunday)
3. For each day, select work location:
   • Monday: "Main Office"
   • Tuesday: "Main Office"
   • Wednesday: "Home / Remote"
   • Thursday: "Main Office"
   • Friday: "Home / Remote"
   • Saturday/Sunday: (non-working days, no selection)
4. System displays:
   • 🏢 Building icon for office days
   • 🏠 Home icon for remote days
   • Color-coded status (green = present, gray = absent)
5. Click Save

Step 6: View Remote Work Dashboard

Kanban View (Visual Dashboard)

1. Go to Employees → Employees
2. Switch to Kanban view (grid icon)
3. Each employee card displays:
   • Employee photo
   • Name and job title
   • Current Work Location: 🏢 "Main Office" or 🏠 "Home / Remote"
   • Status indicator: Green dot (present), Gray (absent), Orange (outside hours)
4. Manager can see at a glance: "Who's in office today?"
5. Filter by location:
   • Click Filters
   • Add custom filter: Current Work Location = Main Office
   • Shows only employees in office today

Employee Detailed View

1. Click employee card
2. Go to Work Information tab
3. View full weekly schedule:
   • Calendar view with icons for each day
   • Current day highlighted
   • Past days show attendance status (checked in/out times)
   • Future days show planned location

Step 7: Setup WFH Time Off Type (Optional)

For ad-hoc WFH requests that need approval (not part of regular schedule).

1. Go to Time Off → Configuration → Time Off Types
2. Click Create
3. Configure WFH time off:
   • Time Off Type Name: "Work From Home"
   • Take Time Off in: Days or Half Days
   • Validation: Set approval required (by manager)
   • Allocation: No limit or set limit (e.g., 52 WFH days/year)
   • Color: Choose color for calendar display
4. Click Save

Employee Requests WFH

1. Employee goes to Time Off app
2. Click New Time Off
3. Select:
   • Time Off Type: "Work From Home"
   • From: Date (e.g., tomorrow)
   • To: Same date (1 day) or range
   • Description: Optional reason
4. Click Submit
5. Manager receives notification for approval
6. Once approved, employee's work location for that day updates to "Home"

Step 8: Configure Remote Attendance Tracking

Enable remote employees to check in/out via Odoo Attendances module.

1. Go to Attendances app (install if not already)
2. Navigate to Configuration → Settings
3. Enable features:
   • ☑ Kiosk Mode: Employees check in/out via device
   • ☑ Display Extra Information: Show work location on check-in
   • Optional: Enable pin code for security
4. Click Save

Remote Employee Check-In

1. Employee opens Odoo (web or mobile app)
2. Go to Attendances app
3. Click Check In button
4. System records:
   • Check-in timestamp
   • Current work location (from employee profile schedule)
   • IP address (optional for verification)
   • Geolocation (if mobile app with permissions)
5. At end of day, click Check Out
6. Total hours automatically calculated

Step 9: Generate Remote Work Reports

Location-Based Attendance Report

1. Go to Attendances → Reporting → Attendances
2. Apply filters:
   • Date Range: This month
   • Work Location: "Home / Remote"
3. Report shows:
   • Total remote work hours by employee
   • Average daily hours remote vs office
   • Attendance rate (checked in/out compliance)
4. Export to Excel for further analysis

Employee Work Location Schedule Report

1. Go to Employees → Employees
2. Select multiple employees (checkbox)
3. Click Print → Work Location Schedule
4. PDF generates showing weekly schedules for all selected employees
5. Use for:
   • Team coordination meetings
   • Office capacity planning
   • Compliance audits (location tracking records)

Real-World Impact

Best Practices