Home is where the heart is

Like other employers, local authorities are increasingly asked to consider a request from their staff to work some or all of their week at home. Chris Knuckey looks at the legal and practical issues thrown up by homeworking.

With pressure to cut costs and a need to retain staff disillusioned with a seemingly indefinite freeze on pay, granting requests to employees to carry out part or all of their work from home can present a win-win situation, with a reduction in staff overheads coupled with an improvement in employee morale and productivity.

However, it is important that employers are fully aware of the implications of accepting such a request and that the correct procedures are followed. A failure to do so, may lead to adverse effects on productivity as well as the risk of an appearance before an employment tribunal.

So what rights do employees have to work from home?

While there is no automatic right for employees to work from home, depending on their circumstances, some employees have statutory protections:

Employees who care for children or dependent adults can apply for "flexible working" arrangements which could include working from home, and the employer must follow a statutory procedure to consider and discuss the request.

Also, a refusal to allow homeworking could in certain circumstances constitute indirect sex discrimination, if it has a disproportionate effect on one sex, or disability discrimination, if the requirement to be at work disadvantages a disabled employee.

Therefore employers need to be prepared to consider the circumstances surrounding requests to work from home on an individual basis.

Those employers dealing with such a request have a number of legal and practical issues to consider, from tailoring their employment contracts to reviewing the health and safety implications.

Tailor standard employment contract clauses to encompass homeworking

Provisions such as those below will need to be reviewed and, where necessary, amended or added.

• The place and hours of work
• Salary, benefits and expenses
• Applying for holiday leave and reporting illness
• The cost, use and monitoring of communications systems
• Discipline and grievance (how policies will be applied)
• The right to enter the employee’s premises
• The consequences of termination and the return of equipment and information.

Take appropriate measures to protect confidential information and personal data

Public authorities have been subject to a significant level of criticism following a series of losses of personal data. Having employees work at home may increase the risk of data loss.

Homeworkers may therefore need specific training on their obligations and those of the employer in relation to data protection and confidentiality. Employers should carry out an assessment of the data protection implications of employees working from home.

Issues to consider include:

• Access to the employee's computer
• The security of employee’s home
• The encryption of information
• Secure storage for paper records
• Moving information between home and office
• The retention and proper disposal of documents

Review the health and safety implications of the arrangements, and carry out a risk assessment

Key issues that should be considered by an employer include:

• Stress: working from home can lead to a blurring between the employee’s work and home lives, which can in turn lead to stress. Employers should put systems in place to monitor the stress levels of homeworkers.
• Equipment: the employer is still responsible for equipment provided and the environment in which work equipment is used.
• Electricity at work: the employee should be reminded that they are responsible for the supply of electricity.
• Whether any first aid provision is necessary.
• The reporting procedure for any accident.

Decide whether any special equipment should be provided

There is no legal obligation to provide equipment to homeworkers (although if the employee is disabled it could be necessary as a reasonable adjustment under section 4A Disability Discrimination Act 1995). However, for practical reasons an employer may wish to consider providing items such as its own computer equipment, telephone line and even a shredder.

Consider whether any special planning or insurance arrangements are required or if there are any tax implications

Depending on the precise nature of the homeworking, issues such as these should be considered on a case-by-base basis.

Consider a trial period

It will often be sensible for employers to provide for a trial period, during which both parties can assess whether the homeworking arrangements put in place are suitable for them, together with a right to require the employee to revert to office work at the end of the trial period if, in the employer's opinion, the arrangements are not satisfactory.

Employers may wish to go further and provide a right to require the employee to revert to office work on notice after the end of the trial period. However, in practice, this may prove difficult to enforce. The employee’s contract of employment will need to be updated to take account of any trial period and general right to revert.

Chris Knuckey is editor of PLC Public Sector.

Allowing homeworking is just one way that employers can reduce employee overheads and therefore achieve savings without reducing headcount. Next month, PLC Public Sector will outline other ways that public sector employers may be able to make savings without resorting to redundancy processes.