Adapting to the “new normal” of working, from permanent homeworking and hybrid-remote working to returning to workplaces safely.
The shift to agile working means that many organisations will be considering alternative forms of working including permanent homeworking and hybrid-remote working, as well as how to manage a safe return to workplaces. These changes have several legal and safety implications for an employer. We have identified some key issues for employers to consider for each form of working below.
Adapting to more permanent working from home arrangements
(where the employee works permanently from home/remotely)
- Is the job role suitable for homeworking or from elsewhere, for example abroad? Will you require your employees to come to the workplace at any point?
- Do you have the technology and equipment to allow your employees to work from home?
- Do you have adequate insurance in place?
- Are there any financial/expenses implications for the individual working from home?
- What are the personnel management implications?
- Have you considered any data protection, cyber-security and/or intellectual property issues?
- Have you considered the impact on health and safety, including a focus on mental health and wellbeing? Have you carried out a risk assessment?
- Have you made the necessary legal changes, for example new employment contracts?
- How do you cultivate a culture that keeps your employees a part of the team and makes sure that remote employees are treated the same as those in the office?
- Do you have policies and procedures for employees who permanently work from home?
Adapting to hybrid-remote working arrangements
(where the employee combines working from home/remotely and working from the workplace/different locations)
- Is the job role suitable for hybrid-remote working?
- Will you mandate or encourage your employees to be in the office on certain days or will they have flexibility? How will you record and manage this arrangement?
- Do you have the technology and equipment to allow your employees to work hybrid-remotely?
- Do you need to redesign your existing workplace to optimise the use of the space as another option to work remotely from?
- What impact does this arrangement have on insurance?
- Are there any financial/expenses implications for the individual employee? For example, who is responsible for the employee’s cost of travelling to the workplace?
- What are the personnel management implications?
- Have you considered any data protection, cyber-security and/or intellectual property issues?
- Have you considered the impact on health and safety including a focus on mental health and wellbeing?
- Is a formal contractual change required to implement these changes? Where will your employee’s contractual location be?
- How do you cultivate a culture that keeps all your employees as part of the team?
- Do you have policies and procedures for employees who work hybrid-remotely, and how do they interlink with other forms of flexible working?
Returning to the workplace safely
(for employees who wish to return to the workplace permanently)
It is currently unclear, given the prevalence of variants, when the Government’s advice to work from home wherever possible will end. In any event, organisations need to facilitate a return to the workplace in line with COVID-secure workplace guidance in advance of any large-scale return, and to cover circumstances where working from home is not possible. For those wishing to work from the office ahead of restrictions being lifted you need to consider:
- Is the job role suitable for homeworking or hybrid-remote working?
- Do your employees need to be in the office and why?
Beyond these questions you also need to ask:
- Is your office COVID-secure with an up to date risk assessment (considering ventilation, social distancing and cleaning)?
- How are you providing reassurance to employees that your office is safe?
- Have you considered the impact on health, safety and wellbeing, particularly where employees return to the office for the first time, after a long period of working from home?
- Do employees need new and refresher training?
- Do you have a workplace COVID-19 testing programme and/or a policy on COVID-19 vaccinations?
For independent workplace health, safety and environmental compliance advice contact Assurity Consulting:
01403 269375
info@assurityconsulting.co.uk
www.assurityconsulting.co.uk
For pragmatic straightforward legal advice contact Greenwoods GRM LLP:
0207 242 0631
enquiries@greenwoodsgrm.co.uk
www.greenwoodsgrm.co.uk