1. Temporary And Permanent Homeworkers

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape for the global workforce.  Many people were forced to work from home, and this new way of working engendered a new way of thinking about how we work.

Employers realised that maybe they didn’t have to pay such large rents for office premises if they moved to hot desking and encouraged employees to work from home.

But some employers found the creative spark of a fully-staffed workplace was missing – it’s hard to be spontaneous over Zoom or Teams – and that the buzz had disappeared.

Workers realised that they could save the time (and money) spent travelling to and from work and also be available for looking after elderly relatives, collect the kids from school, receive home deliveries and so on.

But some workers found working from home isolating (see section 4) and missed the workplace banter.

So there were pluses and minuses on both sides, but the fact remains that many more people now work from home, and it looks as though this will remain the case for the foreseeable future.

There is a difference though between those who have been forced to work from home and those who have been specifically recruited as homeworkers.  Whatever the circumstances, employers still have responsibilities for their homeworking staff under health and safety legislation.  Please note that there are a number of HR issues surrounding homeworking, but these are not covered in this Guide.  Please check with your HR provider.

Permanent Homeworker

There are two types of permanent homeworker:

1. Those who were recruited on the understanding that they would be working from home. 

A. Workers recruited in this way are usually responsible for their own home office set up. Employers do not have to provide any equipment because it is assumed that the worker already has a suitable home office set up.  This will have been made clear at the recruitment stage.
B. If it becomes difficult to recruit the right person to work from home, an employer might advertise for a homeworker and offer to provide the necessary equipment. In this case, workers are responsible for providing a suitable workspace in their home. This is because it is their decision to work from home – it is not a situation that has been forced upon them by the employer. The employer, however, IS responsible for the equipment provided: ensuring it is appropriate, fit for purpose and safe.

2. Those whom the employer has decided, for whatever reason – will move to working from home permanently. As mentioned above, HR will be heavily involved in these decisions. This guide is concerned only with the health and safety implications.

If an employee is moved to permanent homeworking, there are more health and safety concerns than merely providing safe office equipment.  The employer owes far more to such  employees: do they have a suitable space at home to set up a workstation (see Section 3)?  Is the change going to be stressful (see Section 4)?  Are there home circumstances which may make this change difficult (other occupants of the home, caring responsibilities)? Will homeworking employees become “lone workers”?  Do they have appropriate home insurance?  Do they have an adequate electrical supply?  Are there particular personal circumstances that have to be addressed (e.g. underlying health conditions, specific hazards within the homeworking area etc)?

Temporary Homeworker

Usually, a temporary homeworker is an employee who was recruited to work at the organisation’s premises but, due to extraordinary circumstances, has to work from home for a specified or unspecified period.  The expectation is that the worker will return once the “extraordinary circumstances” have ended.

Obviously, it would be expensive for an employer to provide a complete office set up for such employees if they are expected to return to the workplace at some time in the future.  But that doesn’t mean employers can avoid their responsibilities for the health and safety of such workers. 

What You Have to Do

Before going any further, we recommend that you read the units in this Guide on Communication and Consultation, and Risk Assessments.

Risk Assessments

Having read the unit on Risk Assessments, you will understand their purpose: to identify hazards, assess the risks these hazards present and to decide on the appropriate control measures.

For 1A and 1B (permanent homeworkers recruited on the understanding they will be working from home and have their own appropriate work space) the employer should have a generic risk assessment specifically for this category of worker.

For 2 (those who are moved to permanent homeworking) the employer must have an individual risk assessment for each worker. This risk assessment can be based on the generic risk assessment for permanent homeworkers, but must also cover any hazards within the individual’s home.

For Temporary Homeworkers, we recommend that employers have a generic risk assessment covering all possible hazards.  This must then be adapted for each individual who is working temporarily from home.

We strongly recommend that all these risk assessments are drafted in conjunction with HR to make sure any person-specific concerns are included e.g. underlying health conditions, mental health issues etc.  REMEMBER: all personal risk assessments are confidential.