Employee Benefits for Remote and Hybrid Teams in India

At a glance: Work from home employee benefits in India replace what the office used to provide, such as a working device, an internet connection, and IT support when something breaks. Health cover and flexible hours matter more when a team is spread across cities. The way each benefit is paid, as an allowance or a reimbursement, decides how it is taxed.

The employee benefits that suit remote and hybrid teams in India are the ones that work wherever the employee works from. In practice, that means a reliable work device, help with home internet and phone costs, health insurance that works in the employee's own city, flexible hours, and support for wellbeing and learning.

Many familiar benefits were built around an office. A cab service, a canteen, and a gym near the office give little to an employee who works from home three days a week. Remote and hybrid employees need benefits that reach them at home and stay useful when they move cities.

The table below shows the main work-from-home employee benefits, what each one covers, and how employers usually provide it:

Not every team needs all six. A fully remote team leans on the first three every day, while a hybrid team also needs its office days to work well.

How remote work changes employee benefits

Remote work shifts office costs to the employee's home. In an office, the employer pays for the desk, the chair, the electricity, the internet, and the IT staff who can fix a problem in person. At home, the employee pays for most of these unless a benefit covers them.

Hybrid employees carry both sets of costs. On office days they pay for travel and meals, and on home days they pay for power, internet, and a place to work. A benefits plan that only looks at one of these leaves a gap the employee fills from their own salary.

Statutory benefits such as provident fund and gratuity apply in the same way wherever an employee works, so most of the change is in voluntary benefits. Our guide to employee benefits in India covers both kinds in full.

Benefits of remote and hybrid work

Remote and hybrid work save employees time and give employers a wider pool of people to hire from, which is why many Indian teams have kept some form of it. For employees, the benefits of remote work start with the daily commute, which can be long in larger Indian cities. They also gain more control over their day and the option to live outside the most expensive cities.

For employers, a role no longer depends on living near one office, so they can hire from across the country. They can also keep people who would otherwise resign when they move cities for family reasons, and they can plan smaller offices.

The benefits of the hybrid work model sit in between. Teams keep in-person days for onboarding, training new joiners, and planning, and use home days for focused work. That balance is only maintained when the home side is set up properly, with the right device, a steady connection, and support when something goes wrong.

There are real costs, too. New joiners learn more slowly without colleagues around, and home setups vary widely. Good benefits won't eliminate these problems, but they can ease those caused by equipment and money.

Work devices for remote employees

The work device is the most important benefit for a remote employee, because almost all of their work runs on it. A slow laptop or a phone with a cracked screen can cost hours of work, and at home there is no IT desk to walk to.

Employers in India usually choose one of three ways to provide devices:

• A company-owned laptop that the employer buys, ships, and collects back at exit
• A reimbursement, where the employee buys a device, and the employer repays part of the cost
• Device leasing through payroll, where the employee picks a device and pays a monthly rental from gross salary

Each one shifts work and cost to a different place. Company-owned devices need someone to track, repair, and recover them across many cities. Reimbursements are simple, but the employee often pays the full price from post-tax salary first. Our comparison of device reimbursement and leasing sets out the trade-offs in detail.

Two questions matter more for remote teams than for office teams. The first is how repairs happen when the employee lives far from any office. The second is what happens to the device when the employee leaves, which our guide on leased devices at resignation answers.

Internet and phone costs at home

A steady internet connection is a basic need for remote work, so most employers help pay for it. The usual choice is between a fixed monthly allowance and a reimbursement paid against the employee's bills.

An allowance is easier to run, since payroll pays the same amount every month. A reimbursement takes a little more effort, because employees submit bills each month or quarter, but it usually costs the employee less tax. The tax section below explains why.

For phones, some employers provide a company connection, while others reimburse part of the employee's own plan. Either way, a written monthly limit keeps the cost predictable and avoids arguments over personal use.

Health cover for teams in many cities

Health insurance matters more for a remote team, because employees no longer live near one office or one set of hospitals. A group health policy should have cashless hospitals in the towns and cities where employees actually live, and not only in the metros.

Three features make health cover more useful for remote employees:

• Online doctor consultations, so employees can get advice without travelling
• Mental health support, such as counselling sessions, since working alone can be isolating
• Cover for spouses, children, or parents, since many remote employees live with family

Before renewing a policy, HR teams can ask the insurer for a list of cashless hospitals by city and check it against where employees are based. It is a quick check, and it shows whether the policy works for the whole team.

Flexibility, wellbeing, and learning benefits

Flexibility is a benefit in its own right for remote and hybrid teams, as long as the limits are written down. A clear policy states the core hours when everyone is available, how office days are chosen, and how quickly people are expected to reply outside those hours.

Wellbeing benefits should be usable from home. Online fitness classes, counselling sessions, and a yearly wellness budget all meet that test, while a gym tie-up near the office helps only the people who go there.

Learning budgets also suit remote teams, because most courses are now online. A yearly amount that employees can spend on approved courses or certifications gives remote staff the same chance to grow as those in the office.

How work from home benefits are taxed

The tax on these benefits depends on how they are paid. A fixed work-from-home allowance is taxed as part of salary, while repayment of actual official expenses supported by bills is generally not, according to RSM India's analysis of the current rules.

The table below shows the common ways of paying for remote work costs and how each is usually treated:

For many teams, the practical step is to pay internet and home office costs as reimbursements wherever employees can show bills, and to keep those bills on file.

These rules now sit under the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which took effect on 1 April 2026. Our guide on how technology benefits are taxed covers laptops, phones, and gifts under the new law in more detail. Treatment depends on the structure and each employee's situation, so confirm it with your finance or tax team before launch.

What Indian law says about remote work

Indian labour law now recognises work from home for the services sector. The Model Standing Orders, 2026 were notified under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 on 8 May 2026. They allow work from home, remote locations, and virtual workplaces, according to JSA's review of the orders. The employer may permit remote work for the periods it decides, subject to the terms of appointment or an agreement with the worker.

Standing orders apply to industrial establishments with 300 or more workers, and some states may have their own exemptions, such as Karnataka's for IT and IT-enabled services. Employers below that size do not have to adopt standing orders, but the orders are a useful guide to what a remote work policy should cover.

The services orders also list false reimbursement claims as misconduct. That makes clear rules on what can be claimed, and with what bills, a good idea for any remote team. Our explainer on the new labour codes covers how the codes affect salary structures, and your legal team can confirm which orders apply to your establishment.

Keeping benefits fair for hybrid teams

Hybrid teams work best when remote and office employees get benefits of similar value, even if the benefits themselves differ. An employee who comes in daily may use the cab and the canteen, while a colleague at home needs internet support and a good chair. Both should feel the plan was built with them in mind.

A few habits help HR teams keep a hybrid plan fair:

• List every benefit that office staff use, and offer remote staff an option of similar value
• Prefer benefits that move with the employee, such as devices, health cover, and learning budgets
• Review the plan when the office policy changes, such as a move from two office days to three
• Share benefit details in writing and on video, since remote staff miss conversations in the office

Remote employees often use fewer benefits simply because they hear about them less. Our article on employee benefit awareness explains how HR teams can close that gap with regular, simple communication.

How Tortoise supports remote device benefits

Tortoise is an employee device benefit platform that runs device leasing through payroll for Indian employers, including teams that work from home. Employees log in to the Tortoise app with their work email, choose a device within their company's limits, and have it delivered to the address they choose. Salary deductions start only after the device arrives.

The employer carries no running cost and no balance-sheet liability. Tortoise Corporate Care covers accidental and liquid damage, theft, and absconding, and employees can reach support through a 24×7 toll-free number, WhatsApp, or email. Employees can save up to 40%, depending on their tax slab, and own the device at the end of the lease.

The programme is designed for compliance with the Income Tax Act and GST Act, and its tax structure was evaluated by Deloitte India and Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan. The platform is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified.

If your team is spread across cities, we'd be happy to show you how device benefits would reach everyone on it.

Building benefits around where people work

A good set of work-from-home employee benefits starts from where employees actually spend their working day. The device, the connection, health coverage in their city, and clear rules on flexibility matter most, and the rest can be added over time.

Start with a short survey of where employees live and what they pay for out of their own pocket to work from home. The answers usually show which two or three benefits to fix first.

Disclaimer: This guide is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be treated as legal, tax, payroll or accounting advice. Applicability of employee benefit laws in India depends on several factors, including the nature of the establishment, employee category, wage levels, location, headcount, employment terms and applicable central and state laws. Tax treatment of benefits may also vary depending on the structure adopted, documentation, payroll processing and the employee's applicable tax regime. Employers should consult their legal, tax and payroll advisors before implementing or modifying any employee benefit programme.