Remote Working: What are the risks? How to Manage them.
It is evident that remote working, whether it be fully remote or part of a hybrid working model, is a preferred choice for many employees. For employers, remote working comes with multiple risks that must be managed carefully.
What are these risks?
Employee Isolation- When working from home, it is easy to sit at the desk for the entire day and not take a break. This can lead to potential burnout. In the office it is easy to take a five-minute break for a cup of tea or just a stretch. Furthermore, employees may feel that they are less capable of having access to the appropriate support from colleagues or management. It is important the employees are aware that the same support is available to them whether they are working in the office or at home.
Data protection breaches- There is no doubt that protecting employees, contacts and customers personal data and confidentiality when they are all working from a central location is a lot easier to manage. Employees who work remotely and live in shared accommodation or use public Wi-Fi networks for work can risk data being seen and obtained by third parties.
Overlooking health and safety responsibilities- It is important that employers do not forget that they are obliged to protect the health and safety of their employees at work, whether they work remotely or at the office.
How to Manage the Risks
Promote collaboration - Try have regular Zoom/Team meetings to stay connected with colleagues. Here, employees can share their ideas with one another and an easy way to stay in contact with each other.
Raise awareness of employees’ data protection obligations - Employers should amend their data protection policy to suit the different employee circumstances. E.g., how to deal with storing documents safely, how they should be destroyed, and who has access to them. Furthermore, employers should provide training sessions on data compliance to ensure that they are made aware of their responsibilities whether they are working from home or the office.
Carry out health and safety assessments- Employers should update their health and safety policies so that they risk assess every employee’s remote working place. They should consider how safe the employee’s work set up is and how they can help them.
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Case Law: Discriminatory Dismissal
In the recent case of Stott v Ralli Ltd the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that the dismissal of an employee was not an act of discrimination arising from disability. In this case the Claimant was employed as a paralegal by Ralli Ltd for approximately three months. Ms Stott was dismissed by her employer due to poor performance and was paid lieu in notice. Following the dismissal meeting, the Claimant raised a grievance against Ralli Ltd and stated that Ralli had been informed of her mental health issues in several communications. At the grievance meeting, she stated that her disabilities were mental health issues, anxiety, depression and a heart condition which she claimed had affected her performance.
Ralli rejected her grievance, stating that they had not been informed about her disabilities. Her appeal against the rejection was also unsuccessful. The Claimant then went on to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal for discrimination arising from disability in relation to her dismissal. Ralli accepted that the Claimant had a mental impairment amounting to a disability at the time of her dismissal but argued that it had not been known about at the time and that it had only been raised after her dismissal.
The Employment Tribunal dismissed Ms Stott's claim, finding that the Claimant had been dismissed for poor performance and that the Claimant had not disclosed her impairment to Ralli prior to her dismissal. Had the Claimant pleaded her claim more widely to include post-dismissal discrimination, relating to the grievance process and subsequent treatment (when the employer had knowledge of her disability) the outcome may have been different.
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Employer Update: Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme
Following on from our previous blog post where we discussed 'The Omicron Variant & The Workplace', it is evident that many employers and employees are still being hugely affected by COVID-19 and as such the topic of the Sick Pay Rebate Scheme has re-appeared. It has been announced that the Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will be reintroduced across the UK with effect from the 14th of January 2022.
The Scheme allows employers with fewer than 250 employees to recover up to two weeks' Statutory Sick Pay for each employee who is unable to work due to Covid-19 in relation to days of absence after the 20th of December 2021 (even if the period of absence began on or prior to this date). The Scheme also extends to employees who are absent due to a requirement to self-isolate. Employers must submit any relevant claims by no later than 24 March 2022. Employers can make more than one claim per employee, but they cannot claim for more than 2 weeks in total.
The online service employers will use to claim back Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is now available.
Employers are reminded that they must keep the following records for 3 years after the date they receive payment for their claim:
- the dates the employee was off sick
- which of those dates were qualifying days
- the reason they said they were off work – if they had symptoms, someone they lived with had symptoms or they were shielding
- the employee’s National Insurance number
Employers can choose how they keep records of their employees’ sickness absence but it is important these records are kept as the HMRC may need to see these records if a dispute was to arise in relation to over payment of SSP.
Employers will also need to print or save their state aid declaration (from their claim summary) and keep this until the 31st of December 2024.
Other Important Points for Employers to Note:
- It remains a criminal offence for an employer to knowingly allow a worker to attend the workplace when they are required to be self-isolating and as such it is critical that employers understand these new rules and review their policies and procedures accordingly.
- Employers are still under a duty of care to provide a safe system of work for their employees and this includes employees who are clinically vulnerable to Covid-19.
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