Working from home is the preferred choice of an increasing percentage of the British workforce, boosted by the increasing sophistication and reliability of communications technology.

Indeed, since April 2003, legislation has provided that employers have to consider requests from a "qualifying employee" to work from home.

The legislation does not prevent employers refusing a request but the reason for a refusal must fall within certain guidelines.

There are of course benefits to an employer in allowing an employee to work from home such as reduced overheads, increased productivity, business continuity and improved recruitment and retention of staff. 

However, with this change in work culture come new legal challenges. 

One of the most important is security of data, particularly in the legal sector where employees often deal with confidential documents.

Employees working from home may often use a home computer that is perhaps used for other purposes i.e. children’s homework etc, or possibly the home office doubles as a guest bedroom.

Work data stored on a home computer is still the responsibility of the employer and the employer remains the data controller. Therefore the employer is liable for any breach of security of the data that happens from/within an employee’s home.

To fulfil the ‘appropriate measures’ required by this so-called 7th Principle, a home visit by the employer to check the physical security of data could be carried out (although the employer would need to be careful that there is no concern about an employee’s privacy).

Firewalls and other protection available at work should also be installed on the home computer.

Another issue is the backing up of documents.  In the office this is often done on servers. However the employer does not have that same assurance if documents have been created by an employee on a home computer.

A home worker may send emails from a home internet account. The email may not identify the organisation the email is being sent from and in certain circumstances this is unlawful.

The email is also unlikely to contain the appropriate disclaimer as to who owns the property of the email or any attachments. Again this can cause problems for the employer.

An employer is also under a duty to take reasonable care that employees are not subjected to any unnecessary risks of injury. The employer has a duty to ensure that any equipment provided for the home worker to fulfil his or her tasks is not dangerous and is properly maintained.

In the office, people are there to help employees manage their jobs and their health and safety but at home employees will have to do it themselves and do not necessarily have the skills to do so. Careful training will need to be considered by an employer for all home workers.   

Then there is the insurance issue. Most homes have contents insurance.  However will items of computer equipment taken home by an employee be covered by any such insurance policy?

The business policy may cover theft and damage but the policy might not cover equipment which is not on the business premises or equipment used by employees that the employer does not own.

With today’s communications and technology, it is inevitable that home working will increase significantly over the next few years.

Therefore employers need to move with this change and adapt policies accordingly so that they can take full advantage of the benefit this new working culture brings.

For further information contact Justin Harrington, Morgan Cole, 029 2038 5385 at Justin.harrington@morgan-cole.com