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By Kaye Maguire, solicitor in people services at KLegal
More than 2 million employees in the UK currently use IT to enable them to do all or part of their work away from their employer's premises.
Acknowledging the growth in teleworking across Europe, a non-binding framework agreement has recently emerged from Europe. The principles established by the framework agreement are set in the UK context by new DTI guidance, endorsed by the CBI and TUC.
Although entirely voluntary in nature, the guidance does offer a useful checklist of the areas for consideration when establishing teleworking arrangements. A few of the questions that businesses considering teleworking arrangements should consider are highlighted below.
Q Apart from amending the place of work in the employee's terms and conditions, what else needs to be agreed in the contract when an employee begins teleworking?
A As well as the work location, there are a number of items that should be made clear in the contract, including arrangements for reporting in to line managers/attending team meetings, agreement on the hours when an employee will be contactable by the office, details of the costs that will be met by the employer in respect of a home office, and any equipment that will be supplied by the employer.
Q What about health & safety?
A The employer has a duty to consider the health and safety of employees working remotely and will need to carry out a risk assessment of any proposed home office (this may be through guided self-assessment by employees). Employees are also under a duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others in their work environment. For home-based workers, this may include members of their family and anyone who visits the home. Employees are under a duty to report any hazards in their home-work environment, for example, trailing electrical cables or inadequate lighting in the workspace.
Q Is there anything that needs to be done in relation to clients of the business?
A For most customers, it will be irrelevant where the person providing service to them is located. However, where teleworkers have access to work-based information containing personal data of clients and others, the employer as data controller remains responsible for ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
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