Temporary homeworking

Do you have a policy to cover this?

On 23 March 2020 the government announced a “lockdown” for all UK residents, excluding those for whom travel for work is essential (essentially key workers).

This will lead to a significant increase in the number of people who are working at home. Some may be accustomed to working at home but for others it is an entirely new way of working.  At the same time, businesses will have to manage whole teams working remotely. Meanwhile working parents have to try to home school their children whilst working.

More Tips on home working

There is lots to think about when agreeing to or arranging homeworking. So when thinking about how to use a home-working policy have a think about the following:

• equipment– will the employee use their own laptop, phone and printer or will they use company hardware?

• hours of work – particularly where the employee has caring responsibilities they are trying to manage whilst working.

• isolation – as we expect to work at home for a significant period, employers need to ensure employees stay connected and do not become isolated from the business or colleagues. Businesses are discovering lots of online tools to keep teams connected.

• rest breaks – it is important to ensure that employees still take proper breaks.

• motivation and trust – how will employees stay motivated in a different working environment and how will managers trust that their staff are doing what they need to be doing?

• data security – how will employees access data and what security protections does the business have in place to protect both personal data but also confidential information. For more information see the data protection section of the REC legal guide.

• physical space – where will the employee work within the home? Can they work (relatively freely) from distractions?