If the employee has to add a second landline for their home office, they might expect you to pay for it. But everyone has a cell phone already, don't they?

Here's the dirty secret of mobile phones: They add as much as a 300-millisecond delay. Cell-to-cell calls have twice that, or more than a half-second wait between the time one person starts to talk and the other person hears them.

The best part: Nobody knows this. All they know is that the other person frequently interrupts them. It's a constant, subtle irritation. People will dislike working with telecommuters, and they won't even know why.

5. If you're converting an in-office employee to a remote worker, make sure the employee has to cover all home office costs

You'll be a budget hero. The company will save all ongoing expenses for the space telecommuters would otherwise need in the office, which is easily $5,000 a year each if you total everything up.