3 Homeworking Risks Employers need to be Aware Of

Homeworking advice for employers from Alan Hickey, Associate Director of Advisory at Peninsula

Lockdown turned a large number of Irish businesses into remote working operations almost overnight. With no time to prepare for this mass migration to working from home, many employers focused on ensuring that their IT systems could facilitate remote work.

To their credit, most Irish businesses have successfully transitioned to a remote work model in record time. As we now approach Phase 3 of the Government’s Roadmap to Reopening, employers need to consider the longer-term impact of maintaining remote work arrangements and formalising the position to guard against the risks that come with a remote workforce. Though not an exhaustive list, here are three critical homeworking risks employers need to be aware of.

Health and safety

Ireland’s health and safety legislation requires employers to ensure the safety of employees as far as is reasonably practicable while they are at work. If staff are working from home, the home effectively becomes a workplace and employers are obliged to take action to prevent any injuries or ill-health that might reasonably arise while working from home.

Employers, if they have not already done so, should assess the safety of the workstations that employees are using in their homes to ensure that the risk of injury is minimised and to ensure compliance with their obligations under the health and safety legislation.

The health and safety laws require employers to carry out a risk assessment to identify workplace risks and hazards and to identify steps to minimise such risks. This process should include feedback from the employee about their home workstation.

Some of the questions for employees to consider as part of this process include:

· Are there particular hazards in the home?

· Does the workstation have a suitable desk, chair and screen?

· Is the room adequately ventilated and bright enough to complete the type of work being carried out?

· Have cables or other trip hazards been identified?

The risk assessment also needs to take into account any particular needs vulnerable staff may have. Older workers, pregnant workers and workers with underlying medical conditions must be carefully considered. Employees who live alone may need help with minimising lone worker risks.

Issuing or reissuing a health and safety policy to staff is also recommended as a means of reminding them of their duty to protect their own safety while at work. The legislation requires employees to take reasonable care to protect their own health and safety and not to engage in behaviour that will endanger themselves or others.

Claims based on health and safety breaches are often accompanied by personal injuries actions and represent a significant financial and reputational risk for employers. To defend such claims, employers must be able to show that they have taken reasonable steps and consulted with employees on appropriate ways to mitigate workplace risks.

Data protection

While setting up IT systems to facilitate remote work was the priority during the early stages of the pandemic, now is the time to close off any remaining IT risks associated with remote working. Employees should be reminded of their obligations under confidentiality clauses in their employment contracts. The risk of disclosing confidential information is particularly high while employees are working from home.

Some organisations have deemed it necessary to advise staff to switch off Alexa! The mobile devices provided to staff should have secure encryption and authentication procedures built-in. Data protection rules apply equally whether the data processing takes place on-site or on an employee’s mobile device. Remote staff who process data may need to be reminded of their obligations under the GDPR principles and any measures they need to adopt to ensure that data is stored securely.

Working time

Some recent surveys also suggest that a significant number of homeworkers need support with separating their home and work lives. Working from home introduces stresses associated with social isolation and setting boundaries between work life and personal life.

To reduce this risk of social isolation, employers should promote regular contact and interaction between colleagues. If possible, training for managers on how to identify and handle the signs of staff anxiety caused by isolation is also recommended.

Many employees have reported working longer hours since they moved home. Under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, employers must not permit employees to work over and above the daily and weekly hours of work set down in the legislation.

The legislation is arguably no longer fit for purpose given that a lot of modern work is carried out in a flexible manner, but as the law stands, it is the employer’s duty to ensure that staff take their statutory breaks and rest periods.

A recent EU decision also confirmed that employers must have an appropriate recording system in place, documenting employee hours. Given that the WRC receives more complaints under working time laws than under any other employment legislation, employers should ensure that this particular risk is addressed as a priority.