Work From Anywhere (WFA) : Avast Group

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Work from Anywhere

(WFA)
Avast Group

Version / Effective date: Version 1.0 / January 1, 2021


Reviewed date: Dec 4, 2020
Owner: People & Culture

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Table of contents
1. Eligibility 3
2. Purpose and scope 3
3. Detail of the policy 3
4. Detail of the procedure 5
5. Roles and responsibilities 8
6. Related documents 9
Appendices 10
Appendix 1: List of Avast entities 10
Appendix 2: Traffic Light 11
Appendix 3: Request form 13
Appendix 4: Local specifics 14

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1. Eligibility
Avast full-time and part-time employees on permanent and fixed-term “Work from
anywhere” (WFA) employment contracts.

A small number of roles may not qualify for a WFA contract due to operational reasons
and / or needing to be in the office to access equipment or systems (for example
Receptionists, Office Managers, Onsite IT Support and similar). Employees will need to
talk to their manager and People Partner about whether your role is eligible for WFA.

2. Purpose and scope


This policy aims to provide guidance to Avast employees performing work outside of our
registered offices and co-working places as well as employees performing work from a
country location which is different to the country of their employing entity (“Employer’s
Home Jurisdiction”), regardless of whether on a temporary or permanent basis (please
note that in the US, this includes moving between different States).
It also provides guidance for Hiring Managers related to Talent sourcing in locations
where Avast does not have a legal entity (full list provided in Appendix 1).

Avast employees on vacation abroad and permanent relocations (which should be


handled separately, on a case by case basis, with a respective Line Manager and
People Partner) are out of scope of this policy.

3. Detail of the policy


WFA is a new way of working which represents a long-term contractual choice about
Avastian’s place of work. It may be the right choice for employees who want to work
away from one of our offices and prefer greater flexibility about where they get their
work done on a regular basis. There is no strict rule or definition on primary work
location, but typically someone who wants to spend 3 days a week or more every week,
working away from the office may prefer a WFA employment contract.

WFA employment contracts include a country/state in which the employee performs


their work. This allows flexibility to perform work from anywhere within an employee's
contractual location. We recognize that Avast employees on both WFA and WFO (Work
from Office) contracts might occasionally have a need to perform their work duties from
a location which is different to your Employer’s Home Jurisdiction (“Foreign Location”).
This might include employees occasionally spending time in their home countries,
holiday homes abroad or an extended stay following a vacation abroad. This is possible

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up to 30 days for countries on a “green list” of Avast Traffic light system and specific
details are available in ​Occasional Work from Abroad Policy​.

Working abroad for more than 30 days

Working abroad for more than 30 days is allowed only for employees on WFA contracts.
If you would like to work from a Foreign Location for more than 30 days in a calendar
year, you must request the prior approval of your manager and your People Partner, as
there may be tax, labor code, immigration and healthcare implications to you and/or the
company. There will be circumstances where flexibility of working from a Foreign
Location or another state is not appropriate for any length of time and therefore it is at
the manager’s discretion to approve or disapprove such requests. You must notify your
manager and your People Partner at least 4 weeks in advance of working from a
Foreign Location for more than 30 days, to allow sufficient time to explore all potential
implications.

Please be aware that managers cannot approve working from abroad requests for
longer than 30 days in a calendar year without the formal approval of the relevant
People Partner. Managers cannot approve an employee’s request to work from a
Foreign Location, which is not on Avast’s “green list”. This applies to both to less than
30 days as well as 30 days plus.

The People Partner must obtain approval from the Head of Global Payroll & Internal
Mobility or Head of People Experience Specialists, Tax and Legal team. In case of an
associated cost, it needs to be documented, reviewed and approved by the relevant
Finance Business Partner (for example, certain jurisdictions may result in the employer
paying a higher rate of taxes). Any associated cost for inquiries determining the
feasibility of working from another jurisdiction for 30+ days will be allocated to the
respective business cost center.

Please note the following principles:

● The employee is responsible for paying any additional personal income tax
and/or withholdings incurred as a result of working from a Foreign Jurisdiction, as
well as for filing any tax returns and making declarations to the relevant tax
authorities
● Avast will not provide any consulting or advisory services to the employee in
connection with their move, including in relation to tax or immigration laws or
regulations the employee must have the right (including possessing any
applicable visas, permits and approvals) to work in the Foreign Jurisdiction
● Avast will not cover any costs related to the travel to or the stay in the new
location
● The existing terms and conditions of the employment agreement with the
employing legal entity will remain valid, i.e. compensation and benefits will not
change; however, you may be required by Avast to change your employer entity

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and / or amend your employment agreement to reflect any new terms or
conditions which Avast may require to satisfy business needs​.
● The employee is responsible for complying with Health & Safety guidance and
mitigating any associated risk

Avast reserves the right to require an employee to leave a Foreign Jurisdiction on


14 days’ notice (or such other shorter period as Avast may reasonably require)
for any reason at the cost of the employee, including where Avast has previously
given its consent to the employee to work from such Foreign Location.

Talent sourcing in locations where Avast does not have an entity

It is important that the hiring managers and Talent Acquisition team follow Avast’s green
list of countries and notify the respective People Partner if they are considering making
an offer of employment to a candidate based in a jurisdiction where Avast does not
have a legal entity.

The People Partner works with the Global Payroll & Internal Mobility, Legal, Tax and
Finance team to identify the best solution for employing the respective employee. No
offer letters can be extended to the candidates before the employment solution is
confirmed by the Internal Mobility team and the People Partner extends a final approval
to the hiring manager and Talent Acquisition team.

4. Detail of the procedure


Working station set up and equipment
If you decide WFA is for you, it means that your personal workstation will be set up for
you at your preferred non-office location (typically home). Of course, you can still come
to the office; however, you will not have a dedicated desk and you will be required to
book your desk via the hotdesk  ​booking system in case you would like to use a fully
equipped working desk. Hotdesks are limited and subject to availability. There is no
need to book informal seats in mixed purpose areas (for example next to kitchens on
each floor in the Prague office). The hotdesk workstation will be equipped with a monitor
and equipment for laptop’s interconnection. Similarly, WFO colleagues can work from
outside of the office, however their workstation will be set up with a permanent desk in
their office location, not at an outside of office location.

Your kit will include laptop and standardized hardware (two mWfA: standardized
hardware, two monitors 24” and 27”, docking station with full supported equipment
(audio/video cables, keyboard, mouse, and headphones). You are also eligible for a
mobile phone and related data package. For more details, please refer to ​Avast HW
standards​ and ​Lifecycle replacement of hardware​ policies.
Employees who feel their costs for home utilities such as broadband, heating and
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electricity exceed their normal residential expenditure can submit to their line managers
an expense request including the receipt and detailed reasoning for the reimbursement
cost.
We want to help you to improve your working conditions and support wellbeing while
working from home and therefore you will be able to request support with office furniture
(chair and desk). The process and catalogue is available on ​Facilities website pages​.

Table 1: Summary of WFA support

Changes to WFO/WFA

We will allow employees to review their decision annually, unless personal


circumstances necessitate a change. If an employee changes their contract from WFA
to WFO or leaves, they are obliged to return the equipment to the closest office or agree
with a People Partner for a courier to be sent and collect the equipment.

Travel
Travel rules on WFA contracts are defined in ​Avast Travel Policy​.

Health and Safety


Guidelines can be found in the ​Avast Health & Safety Policy​.

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5. Roles and responsibilities

Roles and responsibilities


● Informs manager about his/her intention to work in a Foreign Location
Employee
(at least 2 weeks in advance for a duration of 30 days or less in a
calendar year and 4 weeks in advance for a duration over 30 days in a
calendar year)
● Records work from a Foreign Location in the HR system
● Does not perform work from a Foreign Location until manager’s approval
is received
● Pays any travel, personal tax/withholding and other cost related to
employee’s decision to perform work from a Foreign Location
● Works from another location at their own risk
● Possesses all necessary permits, visas and approvals to work within a
Foreign Location for the duration of the stay
● Gets their own advice in respect of the tax implications of working or
relocating to another jurisdiction
● Ensures desk away from the office is set up in line with Health & Safety
rules
● Responds to employee’s request to perform work from a Foreign
Line Manager
Location or relocate and obtains People Partner’s approval in case that
the employee is to exceed the 30 day threshold
● Considers if the employee’s nature of work allows the employee to
effectively perform the work from a Foreign Location and if there is any
adverse impact on the agreed individual KPIs, team workload and KPIs
as well as general business continuity
● Keeps track of the number of days their team members worked from
abroad
● Provides support to ensure employees are managing their wellbeing
while working from anywhere
● Follow Avast’s green list of countries and notify a respective People
Hiring Manager &
Partner if they are considering making an offer of employment to a
Talent Acquisition team
candidate based in a jurisdiction where Avast does not have a legal
entity
● Do not make any commitments to the candidate before the final solution
is provided and approval is received from respective People Partner
People Partner ● Coordinate stakeholders and approvals
● Provide legal advice on employment options in locations where we do
Legal team
not have a legal entity
● Involve external consultants/advisors in case of need
● Coordinate opening of legal entity and draft relevant employment
documents
● Provide corporate income tax advice in locations where we do not have
Tax team
a legal entity
● Involve external consultants/advisors in case of need
● Coordinate corporate income tax matters (registrations/filings)
● Provide advice on employment options in locations where we do not
Internal Mobility have a legal entity
● Involve external consultants/advisors in case of need
Payroll team ● Set up shadow/payroll in locations where currently not available
Finance Business ● Approve any increased staff or other cost related to an employee
Partner requesting to work from other than their contractual locations

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6. Related documents
● Occasional Work from Abroad Policy

● Avast Travel Policy

● Avast Health & Safety Policy

● Avast Everyday Flexibility Policy

● Avast Unlimited PTO Policy

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Appendices
Appendix 1: ​List of Avast legal entities

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Appendix 2: ​Traffic light

Your employer is Avast Software s.r.o. (Employer’s Home Jurisdiction is CZ) and you are
a CZ tax resident*

*) In case you are an employee of a different Avast legal entity and/or tax resident of another
country then Employer’s Home Jurisdiction, you always need to seek approval per policy.

**) If your desired location/country is not listed, you always need to seek approval per policy.

Green List** Subject to Manager’s and No go**


People Partner approval**

Austria Germany France

Belgium Italy USA

Bosnia & Herzegovina The Netherlands

Brazil Russia

Bulgaria Slovakia

Croatia Switzerland

Greece United Kingdom

Hungary

Iceland

Poland

Romania

Spain

Thailand

Ukraine

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Your employer is Avast Software, Inc., AVG Technologies USA, LLC or Location Labs,
LLC (Employer’s Home Jurisdiction is USA) and you are a US tax resident*

*) In case you are an employee of a different Avast legal entity and/or tax resident of another
country then Employer’s Home Jurisdiction, you always need to seek approval per policy.

**) If your desired location/country is not listed, you always need to seek approval per policy.
Green List** Subject to Manager’s and No go**
People Partner approval**

Brazil Russia Canada

Indonesia Croatia

Thailand Czech Republic

France

Germany

Israel

Slovakia

United Kingdom

Your employer is Avast Plc, AVG Technologies UK Limited, Piriform Software Limited or
Privax Limited (Employer’s Home Jurisdiction is UK) and you are a UK tax resident*

*) In case you are an employee of a different Avast legal entity and/or tax resident of another
country then Employer’s Home Jurisdiction, you always need to seek approval per policy.

**) If your desired location/country is not listed, you always need to seek approval per policy.
Green List** Subject to Manager’s and No go**
People Partner approval**

Brazil Czech Republic France

Croatia Slovakia

Denmark

Greece

Hungary

Lithuania

Spain

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Your employer is Privax d.o.o. (Employer’s Home Jurisdiction is Serbia and you are a
Serbian tax resident*

*) In case you are an employee of a different Avast legal entity and/or tax resident of another
country then Employer’s Home Jurisdiction, you always need to seek approval per policy.

**) If your desired location/country is not listed, you always need to seek approval per policy.

Green List** Subject to Manager’s and No go**


People Partner approval**

Bosnia Herzegovina Croatia

Your employer is INLOOPX s.r.o. (Employer’s Home Jurisdiction is Slovakia and you are
a Slovakian tax resident*

*) In case you are an employee of a different Avast legal entity and/or tax resident of another
country then Employer’s Home Jurisdiction, you always need to seek approval per policy.

**) If your desired location/country is not listed, you always need to seek approval per policy.

Green List** Subject to Manager’s and No go**


People Partner approval**

Austria Czech Republic

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Appendix 3: ​Request Form

Work from Foreign Location

Employee’s full name

Employee’s manager’s
name

Business Unit

Employment legal entity

Contractual place of
work

Request to work from


which country/US state

Request to work from


the above mentioned
country from - till

Any days worked


abroad during the
respective year? If so
from to and when -
extensive list.

Tax residency

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Appendix 4: Local specifics

This global policy is designed as an overarching framework. Please also note the
importance to comply with the local specific labor laws, policies and procedures as
applicable, as well as any other contractual arrangements as per employment
agreements.

Handbooks

Czech Republic
Employee Handbook CZ on CML
Slovakia
Employee Handbook Slovakia on CML
United States
Employee Handbook US on CML

England
Employee Handbook UK on CML

Employee Handbook Serbia on CML


Serbia
Employee Handbook NL on CML
Netherlands

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