Something you may not know about me – as the mother of two young boys, part of the reason I chose to leave law-firm life and practice as a barrister was that I hoped in doing so I would have greater flexibility in my work, and I might even find the holy grail – work/life “balance”. Because of my personal experiences, and my appreciation of how technology can enable a less rigid approach to work, I really try to embody the modern “flexible worker” and support and encourage clients doing the same. Spoiler alert – it can be tough!
The often-observed benefits of flexible work include cost savings (space, resources, travel costs), efficiency (reduced travel time, fewer distractions), and increased motivation or reduced “presenteeism” – when a worker is only there because they have to be, not because they are producing meaningful work. However, when you put flexible work in an employment context, it is not without its pitfalls. Here are some issues a “flexible worker” or flexible employer might need to consider.
The Legal Position
While an employee with caring responsibilities, and now a victim of domestic violence, has a statutory right to ask for flexible working arrangements, there is no requirement for an employer to offer them, or grant any flexible working request. Therefore, whether any employee (whether or not they are in the two special statutory categories) might work on a “flexible” basis is a matter of negotiation between the parties. The scope and nature of the flexibility can be agreed between the parties – either on an ad-how basis or more formally. For the protection of both sides, it is a good idea to record mutual expectations in writing.
Health and Safety
The fact that an employee is working from home does not negate the employer’s obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act. This means that the employer may remain responsible for the hazards that could affect an employee while working – think about the ergonomic set up of a work station, or the risks to an employee who is moving stock around their home.
Additionally, risks to mental-health might go unnoticed in a flexible worker – oversight of hours worked, challenging clients or files, and overall wellbeing is harder to maintain without regular in-person contact.
Information Security
When an employee works away from the office, there are a number of things that the employer loses (some) control of. If an employee is working on a personal device, using a home internet connection, or holding stock or client property at home, then there is an additional security risk – both in terms of the employer’s access to its own information, and the protection of confidential information from destruction or disclosure out of the business. Steps may need to make sure that the employer has good access to information, and good visibility over things like physical security, virus protection and virtual document access. Depending on the work, the employer may also need information about the home-work environment, and others present in the home.
Supervision and Management
An employee working out of the office is harder to supervise and manage. You don’t catch snippets of work stories, one end of a telephone conversation or a couple of pages of work on a printer. A formal structure for checking in might not be a sufficient replacement for these more informal methods of monitoring an employee’s performance and production. You might not be aware of problems brewing, and the employee does not have an informal way of working through issues with colleagues.
Hours of Work and Leave
One of the benefits of flexible working is that the work can be done at a time that suits the worker’s schedule. If that happens to be 3am in the morning, who really cares, so long as client needs are met. However, this could have implications in terms of overtime or holiday entitlements – should the employee be entitled to choose to do the work on Easter Sunday, and then be paid time and a half and get a day in lieu. Equally, it may be harder to monitor whether and employee is working too hard (maybe a health and safety risk) or not hard enough.
Flexible Work – Overview
From personal experience flexible work is not the easy option. It requires considerable self-motivation, discipline and compromise in both the professional and family spheres. I am grateful to my clients who sometimes tolerate noise in the background – and am happy to hear your feedback on my service delivery!
None of the issues above should prevent an employer from embracing work-from-home arrangements – they are an excellent way to retain good staff, improve efficiency, and develop a balanced workplace. My most important advice is that you should discuss expectations and clearly agree how the relationship will work, including how the worker will stay in informal contact with the workplace, and how safety and security issues will be managed. Actually – a good mutual understanding of expectations is the foundation of any decent employment relationship, so its simply a matter of same rules, different context!
