Rank: Forum user 
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Can anyone point me to any case law regarding working at home?
We are reviewing our policy. Strangely, not as a response to the resent weather conditions.
Hoping not to disturb the vultures from their perch.
Thanking you in anticipation.
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi. None as far as I know.
It really is more a personnel management admin matter although there will inevitably be reference to H&S. Try not to get sucked in more than necessary - 'homeworking' is not a H&S risk as such; any policy should not actually belong to H&S - you just give the 'owner' (HR?) a simple H&S checklist for managers to then ask staff to complete for them (not you).
There are other relevant aspects such as use of IT and security, waste disposal, household matters such as insurance, use of phone, heating, tax allowances etc etc; as you can see these are not H&S.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Not aware of any case law. There are some good resources available from this very website re teleworking though.
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Rank: Super forum user
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DBS
In my own database of 1400+ claims, several homeworking ones are associated with homeworking stress and musculoskeletal disorders, amongst other matters, are not classified as 'homeworking' claims.
As they are filed under several other headings, some very explicitly and directly including health and safety regulations, probably best to consult sources such as emplaw for relevant citations.
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Rank: Forum user
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Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your advice.
(Keiran. May I email or PM you with other questions)
I am trying not to get sucked in detail and get involved in amassing paperwork. With your help, I am exploring the boundaries.
My thoughts are to provide information and react to any responses.
What are your thoughts on this?
PUWER requires the employer to ensure that all work equipment is safe even if it is the property of the employee. I can imagine that this was fundamentally meant for hand tools powered and non-powered.
How do you then excluded any DSE that is owned by the employee. Currently we require those that work from home occasionally to use their own equipment. I don't want to get in the position of taking responsibility for personal equipment. (We will supply a WYSE (DSE) terminal to those that work permanently at home)
What of a scenario where the toddler trips on the cable and receives a serious injury.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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dbs
I concurr with the sadlass posting. There are very few h&s issues with people working from home, so not worth making a meal out of this. In fact, it is far safer to work from home than travel to work using any form of transport. All that needs to be covered is basic creature comforts (ie DSE Assessment) and ensuring that any equipment provided by the employer (ie PC or laptop/server) is fit for purpose - job done.
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Rank: Super forum user
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The response to having a formal policy in this can be how long is a piece of string in a ball.
Although there is case law, it should be about what type of homeworking are you dealing with. Is this essentially using a desktop or a laptop computer , with communications or is it something much more?
In our organisation, with respect to desktop/laptop type homeworking, there is mainly 3 types.
The first, which is extremely rare is homeworking is part of the employment contract. In this case, a thorough homeworking risk assessment including DSE is undertaken and the cost of providing the workstation is borne by us.
The second type is where employees have laptops due to their role--this can also be working from locations other than the designated office.
The third type is more to do with supporting employees who require flexibility for personal reasons to work from home. i.e the occasional home working that can also be "regular" --one a week or once a fortnight. In our case, one can mostly undertake homeworking only if they connect to our LAN. For this they need an access token.
For both the second and third categories, we have compiled a self-assessment checklist that they need to complete that is to be signed off by their line manager. The checklist essentially prompts them to check the workstation etc for layout posture etc. We do not PAT test equipment that is not owned by us, despite PUWER etc and keep it simple.
I think we have made homeworking excessively complicated by focusing on PUWER, PAT testing ( Hardware) and what is practicable. Instead, the focus should be on resolving the stressors that may be caused by homeworking, if homeworking is required principally by the employer and supporting employees for the occasional/emergency homeworking by providing the tools ( LAN access, other communication --MS Lync etc) and IT support if required.
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Rank: Super forum user
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dbs wrote:Currently we require those that work from home occasionally to use their own equipment.
Subtlety of wording. Allowing/permitting occassional working from home puts a slightly different emphasis on things. You needn't be specific about tasks or equipment. The important issues are that flexibility is recognised and that the work gets done?
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Rank: Super forum user
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It also depends on what work somebody is doing at home as that has to be factored in
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Rank: Super forum user
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Indeed Bob, but assuming light industry working is not involved and the worker is not making home made bombs, then there is little to worry about and certainly no need to refer to case law.
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