Agile & Remote Working
As the UK starts to return to normal over the coming months, employers are now considering implementing agile or flexible working arrangements in preparation for staff returning to the office.
Most employer will face a raft of new issues as a result of new working practices such as health and safety risk assessments for home workers, dealing with the data protection, GDPR and confidentiality issues that come with employees working remotely or working from a personal device whilst processing sensitive client data away from the workplace.
Employers will need to have a better understanding of employees’ statutory rights, such as the right to take time off to care for dependents, or work flexibility whilst understanding how potential discrimination issues may apply to employees who are unwilling to return to work. There will also need to be clarity around changes to working hours with clearly defined rules which set out what is expected from employees, and reminding them that employers have the ultimate discretion on working arrangements.
They key to managing these issues will be through updating and implementing various policies and procedures. These documents provide employers with clear support should an issue arise. We can review existing procedures and policies to ensure that your working practices allow you to address many of the issues which employers can expect to face in the coming months. For example:
- Flexible working policies
- Homeworking policies
- Time off for dependants policies
- IT and comunications policies
- Data protection policies
- Health and safety policies
If you are considering these issues, or any other areas of employee management, get in touch with our team.