As many businesses implemented Home Working as a temporary measure to follow the Government guidelines of home working where this is possible, the arrangements made will have been with a view to this being short term. There are a few considerations to make before making this a permanent arrangements.
- Home Working Policy
Ensure you have a clear policy that outlines homeworking where this may be fully home working or where this is a more flexible arrangement. A policy will outline considerations such as:
- How to request home working for those who may want this option in the future.
- What equipment and connectivity are needed and who will source these and maintain these.
- What are the Health & Safety requirements that must be in place. Insurance and financial considerations to set out who is responsible for what.
- Data protection and security requirements.
- Hours of work and any flexibility.
- Managing annual and sick leave
- Handling expenses.
2. Contract Amendments
There may be a need to vary the Contract of Employment to amend the place of work to being the employees home.
3. Health & Safety Assessment
You will need to conduct a Risk Assessment of the Employees working space at home to ensure this meets Health & Safety requirements.
4. Provision of suitable work space
You will want to consider how effective your employees will be if they do not have room for a dedicated work space. For example, working from a kitchen / dining table may be a short term fix but this is not an ideal long term arrangement.
5. Communication Plan
How are you going to interact with home based workers on a more permanent basis to ensure they do not feel isolated or lose the culture created whilst working in the business premises?
6. Performance Management
How are you going to make clear the expectations when working at home in terms of either quality or volume of work? Do you have clear targets or performance indicators which allow you to manage remote workers easily?
Having home working as a flexible option can deliver great options for both employer and employee but do ensure you have planned carefully on how to implement this and so to arrange a free consultation with one of our HR experts on Home Working please contact us on 0844 8797286.
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