What Are The Key Consequences And Responsibilities Of A Company When Workers Are Allowed To Work From Home?

If, like me, you have come across a growing number of references during the past few years to the notion of permitting staff to Work From Home, then you could be surprised to hear that the ratio of staff who do so on a permanent basis has been the same since 2002. Only three per cent of the United Kingdom’s working population Work From Home on a permanent basis although there have been rises in the number of staff who do so on occasions. When the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations (2002) were brought in they were intended to allow staff to exert more control over both their working conditions and the extent and use of their free time. Businesses were also meant to profit from the regulations as they were able to apply the various mechanisms within the flexible working concept to attract good quality staff and hang on to existing ones who could otherwise have been lost due to the consequences of changes in their private lives. Many companies have offered their staff the opportunity to move to part-time working, flexitime or job sharing to supply them with the work/life balance they now require to manage events such as child care, illness or adult dependents.

However, along with the positives of flexible working, the company has to accept some responsibilities for those staff who need to Work From Home. The usual health and safety provisions which are in place at the office premises need to be duplicated at the employee’s home. This will incorporate the workspace to be used, the equipment which the company will probably be providing anyway and other less tangible areas such as insurance, training and reporting. Risk assessments will have to be carried out to check for any hazards which could lead to slips, trips and falls. Additionally, any equipment being used at home will have to be tested and maintained in line with any current rules which apply at the firm’s own premises. Working away from the office will necessitate the use of some level of communication technology and, depending on its complexity, there could be a requirement for training in its use. In spite of the fact that the workspace is at the employee’s home, the company will need to satisfy itself as to the ergonomics of the surroundings by assessing features such as lighting levels, desk heights and the kind of chair to be used with the desk. For a recently-formed Internet Business this would not be a problem as it would have been taken into account when they decided to have their staff Work From Home doing Online Jobs utilising the latest state of the art communication technology. However, for an existing company this will be a completely new state of affairs and they will have to be totally aware of their responsibilities before deciding to offer staff the opportunity to Work From Home.

Having determined that they are happy that specific job roles can be performed at home, then some thought ought to be given to the staff who have expressed a desire to do their work at home. To some of the staff involved it can be a big shock to leave a noisy office and work in a quiet atmosphere at home, while others will thrive on the opportunity to get more work done without interruptions. The company needs to know that they are not going to undergo a loss of productivity so the performance levels of those who begin to Work From Home need to be monitored closely. Thinking back to the earlier example of the modern Internet Business where a lot of the staff are working full time from home in their Online Jobs, it is probable that they operate to deadlines which are set for every particular task and this type of performance management should be considered in the early stages for those making the change to this type of flexible working.