Work-from-Home Agreements for Your Employees
Working from home has become increasingly popular since the pandemic began with the versatility of being able to remotely have kept businesses afloat and employees in their jobs. In many ways, flexible working arrangements have been one of the great business lifeboats over the past 18 months.
But with this change comes risk. Because this way of working on a large scale is still new to us, there are many risks that people have yet to think of, especially when the arrangements are made in reaction to a snap government lockdown. A work-from-home agreement will help to cover the following risks.
Looking for a work from home agreement to give to your employees and contractors? Our templates are linked below:
Workspace health and safety
To begin, you will need to look at the workspace your employee has set up at home and determine if it is safe. The best way to do that is to do a self-audit, especially if physical inspections are not possible or economical.
A workspace health and safety audit (WHS Audit) looks at things like the ergonomics of your employees work set-up, including, for example, the chair and desk height. It also considers confidentiality and privacy, so regardless of whether the employee has a separate or dedicated workspace, that it will be set with the appropriate equipment and furniture. We offer a workplace health and safety audit if you need one just book a call with Emma here to arrange your employee self-audit.
When an employee works from home they are still an employee, which means they need to be covered by your workers' compensation. So, you need to make sure their workplace is safe because you have a duty of care to your employee.
While you can’t go and stand over them and make sure everything is safe, you do have an obligation to make sure they are safe, that they understand the best practices and educate them on best practices and take reasonable steps to ensure they’re aware of what is required for a safe working environment at home.
Data, equipment and security
If your employee has access to private documents or if they're making confidential calls to clients or patients, you will need to take into consideration if your employee has other household members who could access information or be listening. You will also need to document expectations so that an employee is not working in a café where people could overhear confidential information.
You also need to consider what equipment your staff is using and what they are to do if they do not have Wi-Fi at home. In most cases, they will need to use a Wi-Fi connection that is password protected and ideally uses a two-factor authentication login for document and internet security.
Thinking about what computer they will be using is also important. Are you going to supply them with a computer, or will they be using their personal computer? To give you food for thought, what happens if your employee is using a work computer and they download illegal movies or something else that gives the computer a virus? This could impact your entire organisation.
It’s okay if you decide your employee should use their own computer but if this is your decision, you should have to think about the risks involved and be sure that any confidential material is secured. Ensure things like firewall security and other protection measures are in place to make sure software is updated.
These elements all need to be included in a work-from-home employment agreement or included in a variation to your existing employee agreement and considered in an accompanying WHS Audit.
Employees who are parents or carers
Depending on the employee and their home situation, childcare can be one of the most important factors when it comes to a work-from-home arrangement. As the employer, you need to be realistic about whether your employee has childcare in place during their core work hours.
Is there an expectation the employee will work flexibly in order to take care of their children? This is important to have clearly set out an agreement because you as the employer need to know when they can take client calls or be available for online meetings.
Having a work from home agreement helps to get these things organised and into place so that everything can run as smoothly as possible. The agreement is there to outline any adjusted hours that have been negotiated or offered.
The key thing for staff to be aware of is that working from home means they have to actually work from home and not be distracted by taking care of other responsibilities. And it’s definitely not in place so that your employee can do two jobs at once.
The agreement ensures that there clear guidelines and expectations around how the flexibility of working from home is given and makes all elements clear for both parties.
Expectations about behaviour and presentation
When working from home it can be easy for employees to let their home life and work life intertwine. This can sometimes be inappropriate and reflect poorly on the company. For example, if an employee is in an online meeting with a client, the client should not see a basket of dirty laundry in the background.
Making sure that if your employees are having online meetings, their backdrop is appropriate and that they are dressed accordingly, is important. If they wear a shirt and tie to work, then that is what they should be wearing to online meetings too.
These are all minimum expectations that should be clearly outlined in your work-from-home agreement. Because although it may seem like common sense, it sometimes happens that people let their professionalism slip when working from home.
Employee expenses while working from home
When it comes to employee expenses while working from home, there are many aspects you should take into consideration. Here are just a few:
- What can they claim as an expense to the business?
- Can they claim costs for visits to the head office?
- Is it reasonable to expect them to come into the head office semi-regularly?
You might want to draw the line between if they travel to see clients, which you might seek reimbursement for against travelling into the head office every so often. There is no right or wrong, but you need to be very clear. Especially with costs like electricity and internet access.
Often, we draft work-from-home or remote working agreements where we exclude electricity and internet because it can get a bit blurry, especially when it’s at their home. Because you don’t want to be paying their whole electricity bill and the proportion is hard to calculate. Besides, employees have the ability to claim that expense on their personal tax returns also.
So, with it looking like we will still have a need for employees to work from home for some time, it is vital to have your business protected and your employees as well. As the months and years roll on I expect we will continue to see a range of consequences for business owners who have work-from-home employees. Documenting the processes and expectations for your employees in a work-from-home agreement will be your best protection.
Related: Hybrid work-from-home arrangements for employees: What employers need in a remote work agreement
Employing a Casual Employee: What are their entitlements?
To take a look at our work from home agreement template go here, or if you have some questions about what you might need for your employee agreement, you are welcome to make a time to speak with Emma here.