Remote & Hybrid Work in Nepal: What Employers and Employees Should Know
Remote work in Nepal now affects hiring, pay, schedules, safety, and the tools teams use every day. This guide translates law, policy, and evidence into steps any organization can apply.
It focuses on three pillars: compliance with Nepali rules, practical day-to-day routines, and outcomes backed by research on performance, health, and retention.
Nepal has a clear labour law for hours, overtime, breaks, and wages. It does not yet define “telework,” so employers set remote rules in contracts and internal policies that still follow the law.
The Social Security Fund (SSF) applies to covered workers whether they sit in an office or at home inside Nepal. 2024 and 2025 brought two wake-up calls: a nationwide broadband disruption linked to upstream vendors, and short-lived platform blocks during a registration drive. Both events showed why fallback plans matter.
Table of Content
- Remote & Hybrid Work in Nepal: What Employers and Employees Should Know
- Remote, Hybrid, and Flexible: Clear Definitions
- The Law You Work Under in Nepal
- Platform and Policy Shifts You Should Plan For
- Internet and Power: Plan for Continuity
- Which Roles Fit Remote Work in Nepal
- What Research Says About Performance and Retention
- A Hybrid Policy That Works in Nepal
- Manager Playbook: Weekly Rhythms
- Employee Playbook: Healthy, Secure, Sustainable
- Hiring From Abroad or Across Provinces
- Inclusion, Gender, and Access
- Risk Register You Can Share With Your Team
- Real Cases and Numbers You Can Cite
- Closing Note
- FAQs
Remote, Hybrid, and Flexible: Clear Definitions
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Remote work: Primary duties from home, coworking sites, or field locations.
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Hybrid work: A planned split between office and off-site days.
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Flexible work: Adjusted hours or compressed weeks that still meet legal limits.
A large randomized trial at Trip.com tested two home days each week across 1,600+ staff. Performance held steady, resignations fell, and managers shifted from doubt to support after the trial.
Earlier randomized evidence from a call-center experiment (CTrip) found higher output and lower quits when home setups were structured and metrics were clear.
These results help Nepal-based teams pick a starting cadence, often two home days for eligible roles.
The Law You Work Under in Nepal
Remote or office, the same base rules apply. Put them in writing and link them to real practices.
Working Time, Overtime, and Breaks
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Standard hours: 8 per day, 48 per week.
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Overtime limit: 4 per day, 24 per week, paid at 1.5×.
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Breaks: 30 minutes after five continuous hours.
Capture time digitally and store approvals for any extra hours.
Minimum Wage (from 1 Shrawan 2082 / mid-July 2025)
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NPR 19,550 per month: NPR 12,170 basic + NPR 7,380 dearness allowance.
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Daily: NPR 754; Hourly: NPR 101; Part-time hourly: NPR 107.
Keep salary structures and payslips aligned to this breakdown.
Social Security Fund (SSF)
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Contribution on basic salary: 20% employer + 11% employee = 31%.
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SSF applies to covered employees inside Nepal, including remote staff. Set calendar reminders for monthly deposits.
Privacy and Electronic Records
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Individual Privacy Act, 2018 (2075) and Privacy Regulation, 2020 govern personal data.
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Electronic Transactions Act, 2006 (2063) recognizes electronic records and sets cyber-offence provisions.
Add clear clauses for data handling, device security, and digital approvals.
Platform and Policy Shifts You Should Plan For
On 4 September 2025, authorities announced blocks on unregistered platforms and directed operators to restrict access. Some services remained operational after registration; several large platforms went offline. Protests followed; the situation eased within days (on September 8).
The lesson for teams: never rely on a single chat or video app. Keep a fallback stack and an offline escalation list for urgent cases.
Internet and Power: Plan for Continuity
Nepal’s broadband base keeps expanding through FTTH and 4G. Even so, outages can ripple fast. On 2–3 May 2024, upstream vendors cut or curtailed bandwidth to private ISPs for hours, slowing service across the country.
State-run Nepal Telecom held up better that day. Build a plan that treats connectivity and power like any other work tool.
Checklist for continuity
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Primary FTTH at home plus a mobile hotspot ready to go.
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A second meeting or chat app on every device in case one platform is blocked.
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Short offline playbooks for “no internet” moments: who calls, who reschedules, what moves to async notes.
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A basic UPS for router and laptop in areas with frequent cuts.
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For teams outside major hubs, a coworking day-pass budget helps during repairs or monsoon downtime.
For telecom trends and subscriber shifts, track NTA MIS bulletins by month.
Which Roles Fit Remote Work in Nepal
Roles with digital outputs travel well: software, QA, design, writing, accounting, policy research, support, and education services. Cross-country studies show a smaller share of jobs can move home in lower-income settings, mainly because of sector mix and infrastructure limits. That pattern fits Nepal, so focus remote and hybrid on work that converts cleanly to tasks with metrics.
What Research Says About Performance and Retention
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Trip.com randomized trial (Nature, 2024): Two home days a week kept performance level, reduced quits by roughly a third, and shifted manager views in a positive direction. The study is large and recent, which gives HR teams a strong base for pilots.
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CTrip randomized experiment (QJE / NBER): About 13% higher output plus lower attrition for a structured WFH group, with clear task metrics and quieter spaces.
How to apply this in Nepal
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Start with two home days for eligible roles, then watch output and quality scores for eight to twelve weeks.
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Protect mentoring and onboarding on office days.
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Track promotion and training access across locations to avoid distance bias.
News coverage from Stanford summarizes the Trip.com results in plain language you can share with leaders and staff.
A Hybrid Policy That Works in Nepal
Write it, post it, and review it yearly. Keep it short enough that people read it.
Core Sections
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Eligibility: Define roles that qualify for hybrid or remote inside Nepal.
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Schedule: Default office days (for example, Tue/Thu) and a process for exceptions.
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Place of work: Registered home address, coworking options, field rules.
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Availability: Core overlap hours (for example, 10:00–16:00 NPT), response windows, and quiet blocks.
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Performance: Output-based goals, review cadence, and how to reset a schedule if delivery slips.
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Pay and time: Minimum wage structure, hours, breaks, and overtime caps at home or office. Add a simple approval trail inside the HRIS.
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SSF: Enrollment steps, monthly deposits, and staff briefings on benefits.
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Health and safety: Ergonomics, micro-breaks, reporting channels for incidents at home. Use ILO/WHO telework briefs as your reference.
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Security and privacy: MFA, VPN, encryption, data classification, and retention rules that match the Privacy Act and ETA.
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Continuity: Dual connectivity, backup platforms, and an offline phone tree for urgent cases during outages or platform blocks.
One-Page Addendum
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Who: Role and manager.
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Where: Home address and nearest coworking hub.
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When: Office days and overlap hours.
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What: Company-owned gear and any stipends.
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How: Output metrics, quality targets, and meeting rhythm.
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Safety: Basic ergonomic list and incident reporting line.
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Data: Which apps hold personal data and who has access.
Manager Playbook: Weekly Rhythms
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Start the week with clarity. Set three to five outcomes for each person. Keep it visible on a shared board.
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Protect deep work. Block meeting-free windows. Shorter calls with tight agendas help.
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Use office days for coaching. Onboard new hires, review complex work, and run team rituals in person.
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Hold one-on-ones. Thirty minutes on blockers, health, and growth.
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Track fairness. Rotate who presents to clients or leaders so remote staff get the same visibility.
Evidence supports rhythm over surveillance. Output tracking and written decisions work better than green-dot checks and long video calls.
Employee Playbook: Healthy, Secure, Sustainable
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Ergonomics. Chair with support, screen at eye level, wrists straight, feet grounded. Follow the 20-20-20 eye habit and take brief movement breaks. Telework health briefs from the WHO/ILO provide simple checklists that fit home setups.
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Boundaries. Pick a stop time and stick to it. Add short walks to replace office movement.
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Security. Lock screens, patch devices, and separate work and personal accounts.
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Backups. Keep a hotspot or second SIM for urgent sends during outages. Save key files locally before planned maintenance.
Hiring From Abroad or Across Provinces
If a worker lives in Nepal and works as an employee, local rules on hours, wages, leave, and SSF can apply even when the parent company sits overseas.
Foreign firms often start with an employer-of-record service, then open a local entity once headcount grows. Regardless of structure, keep daily practice in line with the Labour Act and the minimum wage that applies at the time. Contracts need clear IP and confidentiality language plus a remote or hybrid addendum.
Inclusion, Gender, and Access
Telework participation tends to skew toward higher-educated and urban workers. To avoid gaps, fund connectivity for lower-income staff, maintain a coworking budget for those with crowded homes, and give caregivers wider hour windows. Research links hybrid schedules with better retention for groups with long commutes and heavy care duties.
Risk Register You Can Share With Your Team
| Risk | What you will see | Simple response |
|---|---|---|
| Broadband outage | Calls drop, files stall, team chat fails | Switch to hotspot, move meetings to phone dial-ins, post async notes, reschedule client calls. |
| Platform block | A meeting or chat app becomes unreachable | Use a second app your team already uses; call through the offline list for time-sensitive work. |
| Overtime drift | Messages late at night, creeping hours | Enforce caps, pre-approve extra hours, and pay correctly at 1.5× with limits of 4/day and 24/week. |
| Data leak | Files shared outside the org or to personal emails | MFA, role-based access, and basic DLP settings on cloud drives; audit logs each quarter; follow Privacy Act rules. |
| Ergonomic strain | Eye strain, back pain, wrist issues | Follow WHO/ILO telework steps; small grants for chairs, stands, and lighting. |
Real Cases and Numbers You Can Cite
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Working time and overtime: 8/48 with 1.5× pay; overtime limits 4/day, 24/week.
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Break rule: 30 minutes after five continuous hours.
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Minimum wage from mid-July 2025: NPR 19,550 total per month (12,170 basic + 7,380 DA); NPR 754 daily; NPR 101 hourly; NPR 107 part-time hourly.
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SSF: 31% of basic (20% employer, 11% employee).
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Hybrid evidence: Trip.com randomized trial and CTrip experiment.
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Outage lesson: May 2024 upstream cuts slowed or stopped private ISPs across Nepal.
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Platform lesson: September 2025 blocks on unregistered platforms; protests followed.
Closing Note
Hybrid work in Nepal thrives when three basics come together: clear contracts that track the law, simple routines that protect deep work and health, and a continuity plan that treats internet and platforms as moving parts. Start small, measure output, and update the policy every year. That steady approach serves teams, clients, and readers who want guidance they can trust.
FAQs
Do Nepal’s labour rules cover hybrid or remote work?
The Act does not name “telework,” yet hours, overtime, breaks, wages, leave, and safety rules still apply anywhere the work occurs. Put remote or hybrid terms into a written addendum and keep time records.
How do SSF deductions work for remote staff?
For covered employees in Nepal, SSF applies on the basic portion at 20% employer + 11% employee. Set monthly deposit dates in your payroll calendar.
What wage floor should my HR team follow?
From mid-July 2025, the monthly minimum is NPR 19,550 with the basic and dearness split shown above. Update payslips and HRIS entries so the structure is clear.
What if our main meeting app goes offline in Nepal?
Keep a second app in daily use, so switching feels normal. Keep an offline phone list for urgent calls. The September 2025 blocks showed why redundancy matters.
Do two home days a week lower performance?
A large randomized trial at Trip.com found no drop in performance and lower quits. Use two home days as a pilot, then adjust based on your metrics.
