Rank: Forum user 
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Good Morning all, In the age of flexi working, if someone requests to work from home 2-3 days a week and uses a computer (laptop) for their work, are we legally required to carry out an assessment and supply equipment etc.
They aren't contracted and required to work from home, its something that they have requested. I have a feeling the answer is yes, but I just wanted a sense check. I read something somewhere about 'only if they are required to work from home / contracted as part of their employment' but I can't remember where (or my brain made it up). They can come into the office, but have requested to work from home.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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You can't get out of your responsibilities as an employer by letting staff work from home. Wherever they are working, they are working and your responsibilities apply (although the way those responsibilities are fulfilled may be different).
Imagine you were running a dress-making business and it was a machinist you employed who was going to work from home. You would still be responsible for the sewing machine being in safe working order and for them not working excessive hours and for them being paid at least the minimum wage and all of the other responsibilities that an employer has. No different for a DSE operator.
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi Kate, This isn't me trying to get out of our responsibilities, its simply asking a question.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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If the position at time of recruitment was not identified as "home based" or "hybrid" alarm bells should be ringing in HR & management ears.
Most organisations are busily retracting from permitting home working that originated under Covid on the basis that it is difficult to interact effectivley with desk based colleagues remotely. You are obliged to provide equipment and to conduct assessment (review of tick lists seem to be the forums favourite response for home workers).
Just to throw a few spanners in to deliberations: 1) Work From Home tax allowance (heating, lighting etc.) if the contract is not definitive there could be issues with HMRC should they choose to claim. 2) Is their home internet connection suitable (speed, bandwidth to avoid video freeze & security)? In the event of an outage do they sit at home twiddling thumbs, take unpaid leave or are they required to come in to the office (makes for interesting discussions where someone is also minding their child whilst working). 3) Is the Laptop security suitable for use "away from the office" or are you allowing a potential access point for rogue agents?
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Rank: Super forum user
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If the position at time of recruitment was not identified as "home based" or "hybrid" alarm bells should be ringing in HR & management ears.
Most organisations are busily retracting from permitting home working that originated under Covid on the basis that it is difficult to interact effectivley with desk based colleagues remotely. You are obliged to provide equipment and to conduct assessment (review of tick lists seem to be the forums favourite response for home workers).
Just to throw a few spanners in to deliberations: 1) Work From Home tax allowance (heating, lighting etc.) if the contract is not definitive there could be issues with HMRC should they choose to claim. 2) Is their home internet connection suitable (speed, bandwidth to avoid video freeze & security)? In the event of an outage do they sit at home twiddling thumbs, take unpaid leave or are they required to come in to the office (makes for interesting discussions where someone is also minding their child whilst working). 3) Is the Laptop security suitable for use "away from the office" or are you allowing a potential access point for rogue agents?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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They are still “at work” even if they are not contracted to work form home if you permit them to work from home then the employer has a responsibility for their H&S safety but that responsibility is limited to what is under your control, so if they have dodgy wiring at home that is the employee’s problem, the same with carbon monoxide from the heating systems. As far as DSE goes, it depends on what you have supplied them with: you might want to supply them with a full work station(with some sort of DSE assessment) but the assessment can be an on line self-assessment which in cases is good enough. I have done this sort of thing for years, it’s not new- more than 10 years ago the civil service was closing down offices across the country and trying to get more people work from home! Now that certain people have noticed that the value of shares in Pret A Manager and Greggs have gone down are they trying to get (force) people back into offices. We are being indoctrinated by the daily mail et al!
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Rank: Forum user
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Responding to various… Kate nailed it: You can't get out of your responsibilities as an employer by letting staff work from home. Where I work we are very flexible about this, but only where a formal agreement is made between the worker and manager under an agreed policy. I don’t get involved in the HR, payroll, IT requirements because that’s what HR, payroll and IT are there for, but I would be very uncomfortable without that policy setting compliance standards for both parties. A home self-assessment is simple enough to set up. My contribution to the policy uses the HSE’s three criteria: Workstation: get them to do the same as they would for an office-based set up. Environment: have they got somewhere suitable to work? (If it’s a fully/mostly remote post this may be part of the person specification for new applicants). Mental Health: a ‘corporate’ risk assessment for supporting homeworkers that identifies minimum standards of contact, support and resources they can access if needed. You are obliged to do this if you let someone work from home. It’s not that time-consuming. As for equipment, other than a lap top, many employers state they will provide one full work station either at home or in the office. If it’s the former then you have to hot desk on a standard workstation in the office. This seems to reasonable to me, as in “reasonably practicable”. But I agree with everyone above about not doing it on an ad hoc basis.
Edited by user 16 August 2023 14:16:12(UTC)
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