Working from Home Business Policy

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POLICY FOR WORKING FROM HOME

It is the policy of ________ (the Employer), including all and any trading names connected with them, to commit to promoting a safe, secure, efficient and flexible system that permits employees to work from their homes and fulfils the needs of both the Employer and our employees. This policy and all that is contained within it shall apply only to employees when working from home and shall not be applicable to other formats of flexible working methods that may be endorsed and offered by the Employer. The flexibility and productivity rates that working from home affords can be beneficial to both the Employer and employees and as a result, the Employer may from time to time, as is deemed necessary, implement or provide employees with the option of working from home.

Crucially, working from home must provide optimal efficiency and effectiveness. Where it is viewed by the Employer that working from home is having an adverse effect on its normal operations, they shall have the right to remove the ability of employees to work from home.

WHEN SHALL THIS POLICY APPLY?

The policy shall apply to employees who:

I. Work between home and the office

II. Always work from home to carry out their normal duties

III. Carry out mobile work between multiple locations and have a base at home

IV. Work from the Employer's premises as their main place of work but may occasionally work from home

Employees of ________ who fall into one of the relevant categories as outlined above should closely read and familiarise themselves with the contents of this policy and, where they have questions that cannot be answered from this policy, they should consult with their appointed supervisor or relevant manager where necessary.

APPLYING TO WORK FROM HOME

Where an employee is not ordinarily permitted to work from home in order to fulfil their duties they shall be able to apply to the Employer in order to do so.

Applications to work from home should be made in writing and submitted to an employee's relevant manager. The application should set out why the employee feels they should be permitted to work from home and must include the following information in order to be considered by the Employer:

I. the date on which the application is being made;

II. that the application is specifically to allow the employee to work from home;

III. when the ability to work from home should begin;

IV. how any impacts that working from home may have on the employee's work can be dealt with;

V. information relating to any previous flexible working applications or requests made by the employee;

VI. if the application relates to a disability or any protected characteristic, or otherwise, included within the Equality Act 2010.

The Employer shall consider whether the employee's role is suitable for home working and if they will be able to appropriately and successfully fulfil their duties from home. The Employer shall also consider the potential cost of providing the employee with the relevant equipment to perform their duties from home and shall also consider if the security and confidentiality of the Employer can be safely maintained.

ELIGIBILITY TO WORK FROM HOME

In order to be able and eligible to work from home, it must be considered reasonably achievable in relation to the duties and circumstances of an employee and unchallenging from a managerial perspective.

To be eligible to work from home, employees must meet the following criteria:

I. Only employees who work in the following departments/roles shall be able eligible to work from home:

________

II. Employees who have been continuously employed by the Employer in the same role for a period of ________ shall be eligible to work from home;

III. Employees who have achieved satisfactory performance reviews from their relevant manager and have not received a disciplinary during the period of their employment with the Employer.

The Employer must believe that an employee has the necessary qualities and skills to be able to work from home successfully. These qualities are:

________

Eligibility to work from home will also be dependent upon whether or not the employee's home is appropriate and suitable to do so. The employee must have access to the following to be eligible to work from home:

I. a secure and stable internet connection;

II. a safe and secure space to place and keep any documents or materials which relate to their work which only the employee has access to; and

III. a private workspace which ensures no persons who are not authorised by or employees of the Employer can read, see, hear or in any way come into contact with the employee's daily business activities.

ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED

There are a number of issues that shall be carefully considered in the implementation of this policy to ensure that it mutually benefits both the Employer and our employees. Crucially, by allowing an employee to work from home the Employer must be certain that the needs of the business shall continue to be met efficiently and robustly. The following issues shall be considered and dealt with by the Employer before an employee shall be permitted to work from home.

1. Health and Safety

The Employer shall ensure they continue to fulfil their legal obligations to secure the health and safety of employees while they are working from home. The employee shall be required to carry out the following health and safety measures:

(a). employees shall be required to carry out a workstation assessment on their home workstation and report the result back to the Employer. Where necessary, the Employer shall encourage and aid the employee in implementing any required changes. Employees shall be required to include any necessary display screen equipment they use to fulfil their duties in any assessment undertaken by them.

(b). the Employer shall regularly monitor an employee's situation when working from home by keeping in consistent contact with employees to ensure they are maintaining a safe and healthy working environment.

(c). the Employer shall provide the following in order to help positively maintain the mental health of employees while working from home:

________

2. Equipment needed to work from home

Employees shall be required to use the following of their own personal equipment when working from home:

________

The employee shall be responsible for the installation and maintenance of any equipment needed to enable them to work from home.

The Employer shall provide the employee with the relevant software to use on their personal equipment so that they may carry out their duties.

Where the provision of equipment for the employee to be able to work from home is deemed to be too great by the Employer, the employee shall not be permitted to work from home.

The Employer shall not be liable for the costs of any equipment the employee must purchase in order to successfully work from home.

All equipment, software, data and any other materials or documents supplied by the Employer to enable an employee to work from home shall remain the property of the Employer.

3. Insurance

Employees shall be required to notify their relevant home insurance provider and/or mortgage provider of their intention to work from home. They should thoroughly check that there is nothing in their mortgage agreement/lease/insurance which prevents them from being able to carry out their duties to the Employer from home.

4. Costs/Expenses

________ shall not make any contribution towards normal household expenses, such as heating, electricity, council tax etc, which relate to employees working from home.

MANAGEMENT OF WORKING FROM HOME

In order to facilitate a successful and efficient policy and procedure for working from home, the Employer must ensure the implementation of robust management practices which foster a cooperative environment between employees at all levels within ________.

All employees must carry out their duties between the hours of ________ and ________. When working from home, employees shall be required to clock in with their relevant manager at the start of each working day. Employees must ensure that they are contactable within their relevant working hours by way of telephone or email.

Communication between employees and their relevant managers is crucial to the arrangements which allow persons to work from home. Procedures for the effective communication between employees, managers and external customers and clients must be followed diligently.

Employees will be required to report their daily activities to their relevant manager at the end of each working day while they are working from home.

While employees are working from home they shall be given the same opportunities for training, development and progression in the following ways:

________

Employees who are working from home will be required to come into the office to carry out certain duties or meetings with fellow colleagues. This attendance to the office shall be required of employees working from home every ________.

Furthermore, employees working from home will be required to come into the office whenever they are so requested to do so by the Employer.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Responsibilities of Managers

Managers who work for the Employer shall have following responsibilities under this policy:

(a). managers shall be responsible for processing the applications of employees and granting an employee permission to work from home;

(b). managers will be responsible for implementing and notifying employees of the relevant arrangements of how they should fulfil their duties from home;

(c). managers should ensure that employees are aware of their expected and required standard of work and of their relevant and specific tasks and responsibilities while working from home;

(d). managers should provide the Employer with feedback on employees who are working from home regarding their performance and discuss with them how their performance can be improved;

(e). managers should review the success of employees they are responsible for working from home on a regular basis and should report their findings of this to the Employer. In carrying out such reviews, managers must consider if the necessary outcomes and requirements of the Employer's business needs are being met.

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The intention of this policy is to create a fair and consistent approach in the application of procedures that allow employees to work from home and that these are understood by all staff. This standard guidance and procedure should be followed by all employees of ________ at all levels. Crucially, nothing contained within this policy shall constitute a change in, or form a part of, an employee's contract of employment with ________.

This policy shall be updated from time to time by the Employer as may be necessary.

Signed: ______________________________ (________, ________)

Date: ______________________________