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Posted By Anders Molko
A girl in our plant is pregnant and it would be much easier for her to work from home. She works in the finance section.
What information is there for this? I want to make her case for senior mgt that it is better on health and safety grounds that she works from home. Can anyone give me any information or experiences of this?
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Posted By J Knight
Anders,
Its really down to RA (I know, not the answer you might have wanted) and the individual circumstances of the woman in question.
You have to be clear about why working from home will improve her safety and comfort, and you also have to consider the downsides, for example the possibility of social isolation and the effects this might have on her stress levels.
If there are genuine safety grounds then I don't think your employer really has a choice provided she will continue to be a productive member of the team,
John
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Posted By George Wedgwood It's reall a matter of assessing the case and you can have a read at the IOSH "Teleworking" guidance at http://www.iosh.co.uk/in...echnical.details&scid=12 to find out more. Becasue of the pregnacy, you will also need to consider the HSE Guidance on this as well so as to take account of the wider scope of needs and support - INDG 373 from the HSE website. Email me for more info if you need it. Regards, George
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Posted By Anders Molko
When is the worker actually classified as “working from Home”, as opposed to working at home out of hours on their own accord? How many hours would an employee have to work to be classifed as "working from home", to which health nad safety would have to get involved and RAs carried out?
What is the legislation on this?
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Posted By J Knight
Anders,
There is no definite answer to those questions. If your RA suggests that she works from home as a control measure for identified risks, then she is working from home, and that's that really. H&S involvement would only (in my view) need to look at those risks to her arising out of her work, whether she is at home or in her regular place of employment. So you wouldn't have to bother yourself about her kitchen, or indeed most of the workplace regs, but only with the immediate work area, her work load and patterns, and any equipment provided by her employer. To be too concerned with her general home environment risks accepting unnecessary duties, and you need to be clear in your mind about what is her workplace (to which the Health and Safety at Work Act applies) and what is her private dwelling, to which it doesn't,
John
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Posted By Pete48
Anders,
you say it would be "much easier" for her to work from home. If you consider what it is that would be much easier and why, you will find the justification for this approach. It may be H&S related but more likely it is HR related.
You should have completed a risk assessment for this employee, using the guidance available from the HSE and this should have identified any controls such as home working if this is required for H&S reasons.
There is no obvious or commonly found reason as to why an employee working in an office environment should need to have such a major modification to her work pattern; but only you and the employee know the detail and that is exactly why an individual RA is required in this case.
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