Release of lockdown: continuing or ending homeworking

Government guidance is once again that people to continue to work from home if possible. 

Homeworking has advantages; it eases the immediate difficulties of making workplaces Covid-secure and, longer term, it can significantly reduce the overheads for a business. Employers who had decided to bring staff back to the workplace should take stock of recent homeworking arrangements in connection with the second spike in coronavirus or in preparation for a localised lockdown.

You should check the Government website for the latest guidance in conjunction with this article, as the guidelines on the coronavirus (Covid-19) are changing regularly and speak to us for specific advice for your business.

 

Contractual and policy changes

To ensure homeworking arrangements are clear, it is important to formalise these through your policies and employment contracts.

Areas to consider include:

·      Whose IT equipment does the employee use?

·      Will you monitor the employee’s use of IT and if so, are you doing this lawfully?

·      How do you protect confidentiality?

·      Who covers the costs of homeworking?

·      Does the employee’s house insurance allow homeworking?

·      Do you need to be able to require the homeworker to attend other premises from time to time?

·      Do the employee’s working hours comply with the Working Time Regulations if the employee is working flexibly?

·      Do you want to have the flexibility to bring the arrangement to an end in the future?

Challenges of remote management

Employers remain responsible for their employees’ health and safety even though they are working from home. The Health and Safety Executive’s toolbox gives guidance on workplace assessments for homeworkers.

Managers have had to adjust how they manage their teams after the move to homeworking during lockdown. Employers should encourage managers to assess their remote management, share know-how with other managers and help them develop these skills.

Homeworking works better for some employees than others. Junior staff in particular may miss out on informal training and important day-to-day work experience that is difficult to replicate with a remote workforce. Regular, scheduled remote informal training sessions are important to support them. Mentorship can help, as well as encouraging team members to involve junior staff as much as possible.

Other employees may be less productive because they are trying to work and look after children at home as schools are partially closed. Rather than moving straight to formal action against the employee, managers can discuss ways to ease the pressure, such as temporarily reducing or changing their hours or taking parental leave.

Can employers insist on homeworking?

For some employees, such as those living in shared houses or with young children at home, the previous Government guidance on returning to the office could not have come soon enough. If the contract does not give you the right to insist on homeworking, you need the employee’s consent. In the unlikely event that the employee does not readily agree in light of the latest Government guidance and any localised lockdown, then requiring the employee to work from home is likely to be a reasonable instruction providing that you provide all reasonable support to allow this to happen.

Employers may need to agree flexible arrangements to support staff. Agreeing expectations and specific arrangements in writing with individual employees should help, along with a home working policy.

Chris Tutton