Employers Responsibility to provide working accommodation if working from home is not practical.

[Mag_seven]

Employers must take a number of steps to ensure that if an employee is to work from home due to COVID-19 then the situation should be acceptable to both parties. For example a dialogue should take place between the employer and the employee about the working from home arrangements:

Employers and employees should be practical, flexible and sensitive to each other's situation when working from home because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Employers should:

• talk to their employees and workers about how they might improve working from home arrangements
• continue to consider which roles and tasks can be done from home – this might involve doing things differently and not assuming a role cannot be based at home
• support employees to adjust to remote working
• consider individual employees' needs, for example anyone with childcare responsibilities, a long-term health condition or a disability
• write down the arrangements that have been agreed so everyone's clear

Requesting home or hybrid working - Acas

How to request to work from home or change how often you go into the workplace.

www.acas.org.uk

What is not clear however is what if the employee's home is not contusive to home working and the employer has closed their normal work place? Does the employee have any rights to insist that the employer provides them with working accommodation that is not the employee's home?

 

[Crossover]

My experience is that people kind of just got on with it - for me personally, I didn't have any particular dialogue into the pros and cons. Not sure if I am in the minority or majority, however

 

[43066]

Employers must take a number of steps to ensure that if an employee is to work from home due to COVID-19 then the situation should be acceptable to both parties. For example a dialogue should take place between the employer and the employee about the working from home arrangements:

Requesting home or hybrid working - Acas

How to request to work from home or change how often you go into the workplace.

www.acas.org.uk

What is not clear however is what if the employee's home is not contusive to home working and the employer has closed their normal work place? Does the employee have any rights to insist that the employer provides them with working accommodation that is not the employee's home?

All of that seems pretty sensible from ACAS, but it’s a statement of ideal best practice, rather than a requirement. In fairly short order, furlough is going to be wound down, and people are going to need to go back to work. That is a good thing, in my opinion.

I can’t imagine there are many employees who cannot work from
home, whose employer has closed, and who haven’t been furloughed.

The reality is that many jobs simply cannot be done from home, and the Covid situation doesn’t overturn basic employment law: the key issue will always be what is in the employment contract, what has been established through prior conduct etc.

Ultimately, employees who are required to be at work during certain hours, who refuse to attend work, will be looking at a swift exit via dismissal for failure to attend work.

 

[3rd rail land]

I have a colleague who was made to to WFH about 18 months ago. The office space was funded by the customer and thus only people left on that particular programme were allowed to frequent it.

He strongly objected saying that as he rented a room in a flat with a live in landlord who was also WFH that WFH was not practicable. The company said they were unable to provide any office space for him to use so he has just had to get on with WFH. He is not too pleased with this arrangement.

I used to have a colleague who decided that as the company was unable to provide office space in London to work from 5 days a week she would look for alternative employment, She likes the role she secured but not the people she works with. She was offered office based work but outside of London which she refused. Again the company was unable to come up with a solution she was willing to accept.

WFH is practicable for me but I don't enjoy working from home all the time and my nearest office is too far away to travel to regularly. I get very few opportunities to visit an office or customer site.

My employer does try and help make WFH work for staff, They will provide reasonable IT equipment upon request and insist on a desk assessment being completed by employees. They also insist that staff have a first aid kit, which they provide at their expense.