Enforced Home Working
Discussion
Can a company force staff to work from home?
I work for a large multi-national but with limited UK presence. In the past we had a full manufacturing site with 300+ staff and over the past 10 years this has reduced to a small rented office containing 6 technical staff. The work done could be done from pretty much anywhere as we live on the phone / video meetings.
There a a number of changes being made and part of this is closure of the office and making the staff work from home. This is early stages at the moment and I am looking for a legal angle. I don't think this is a redundancy situation as the work is still needed.
I work for a large multi-national but with limited UK presence. In the past we had a full manufacturing site with 300+ staff and over the past 10 years this has reduced to a small rented office containing 6 technical staff. The work done could be done from pretty much anywhere as we live on the phone / video meetings.
There a a number of changes being made and part of this is closure of the office and making the staff work from home. This is early stages at the moment and I am looking for a legal angle. I don't think this is a redundancy situation as the work is still needed.
- Can the company enforce a change to home working?
- Do they have to offer redundancy as they are closing the site?
- Do they have to offer some form of allowance to cover costs for working at home over and above the direct costs of phone and internet connections - Heat, light and power etc.?
- Are there any tax penalties / benefits for home working?
Can the company enforce a change to home working?
Depends on how you define force, there closing your office and not opening another. So in your case they are.
Do they have to offer redundancy as they are closing the site?
Unless you have a clause in your contract that states your are to be in XXXX office every day, then I cant see why they would be forced to offer you redundancy as the roll is not be closed, just the office. That however does not stop you speaking to them and agreeing to part ways over it.
Do they have to offer some form of allowance to cover costs for working at home over and above the direct costs of phone and internet connections - Heat, light and power etc.?
I am not sure what the statutory allowances are if any, but when my company made me and a few over IT support engineers home based we were give £1000 each towards desk/chair ect, we were also allowed to claim back our broadband cost, phone was not included as we all had mobiles. I believe they did pay to fit a broadband mini cell tower thing at one chaps house as he had no signal.
Are there any tax penalties / benefits for home working?
if you have a dedicated room in your house you'll be working from then there are a list of tax breaks you can apply. We all benefited as we went from being based in an office to being based at home which meant that all the millage we did was "claimable" on expenses not just the excess over our normal commute, plus it was nice being able to be "home" on a Friday early if work permitted and not get stuck in the mad M25 Friday traffic.
If you're really against working from home, have you looked in to leasing a small one man office yourself and see if your company will pay for it? You might be surprised how little it will cost and many will include rates, electric, wifi and such in the cost.
Depends on how you define force, there closing your office and not opening another. So in your case they are.
Do they have to offer redundancy as they are closing the site?
Unless you have a clause in your contract that states your are to be in XXXX office every day, then I cant see why they would be forced to offer you redundancy as the roll is not be closed, just the office. That however does not stop you speaking to them and agreeing to part ways over it.
Do they have to offer some form of allowance to cover costs for working at home over and above the direct costs of phone and internet connections - Heat, light and power etc.?
I am not sure what the statutory allowances are if any, but when my company made me and a few over IT support engineers home based we were give £1000 each towards desk/chair ect, we were also allowed to claim back our broadband cost, phone was not included as we all had mobiles. I believe they did pay to fit a broadband mini cell tower thing at one chaps house as he had no signal.
Are there any tax penalties / benefits for home working?
if you have a dedicated room in your house you'll be working from then there are a list of tax breaks you can apply. We all benefited as we went from being based in an office to being based at home which meant that all the millage we did was "claimable" on expenses not just the excess over our normal commute, plus it was nice being able to be "home" on a Friday early if work permitted and not get stuck in the mad M25 Friday traffic.
If you're really against working from home, have you looked in to leasing a small one man office yourself and see if your company will pay for it? You might be surprised how little it will cost and many will include rates, electric, wifi and such in the cost.
Not directly answering OPs question but perhaps consider whether this is the extended death throes of a company trying desperately to cling to life, perhaps best to start looking elsewhere?
To go from 300+ staff to 6 to closing the office and making more redundancies doesn't exactly shout 'things are looking up!' .
To go from 300+ staff to 6 to closing the office and making more redundancies doesn't exactly shout 'things are looking up!' .
n3il123 said:
I'm not sure I get what the issue is?
You're still doing the same job? just from home?
I guess that there is no reason to pay you any differently, maybe expense your broadband?
You'll be saving on the commuting in both time and expenses.
Or am I missing something?
Missing a fair bit, yes - KrazyIvan's post addresses most of it, particularly around taxation implications. There may also be home insurance implications associated with using the home as a place of work.You're still doing the same job? just from home?
I guess that there is no reason to pay you any differently, maybe expense your broadband?
You'll be saving on the commuting in both time and expenses.
Or am I missing something?
Otherwise, there are the intangibles. A great many people may actively prefer an office environment, or at least to have the choice. Etc.
I used to enjoy working from home, however with 4 kids in and out all day its impossible as we just have a shared space downstairs
Therefore if my employer hypothetically enforced I had to work from home how would this be possible?
I guess the obvious answer would be rent a local hot desk /shared single desk
Therefore if my employer hypothetically enforced I had to work from home how would this be possible?
I guess the obvious answer would be rent a local hot desk /shared single desk
TwistingMyMelon said:
I used to enjoy working from home, however with 4 kids in and out all day its impossible as we just have a shared space downstairs
Therefore if my employer hypothetically enforced I had to work from home how would this be possible?
I guess the obvious answer would be rent a local hot desk /shared single desk
Why not just have a discussion with them and tell them your circumstances and that the options are work from home but be much less productive than currently or to find a location that will ensure you can concentrate and be productive at the same or better current levels.Therefore if my employer hypothetically enforced I had to work from home how would this be possible?
I guess the obvious answer would be rent a local hot desk /shared single desk
Vaud said:
Or see if there is a way of providing you with a home 'office pod' in the garden - probably some horrible tax implications though.
I did repairs and alterations to an outbuilding when we had our daughter. I've worked remotely for 10 years, and we have a 2 bed house, so the spare room that was my office was then nurseried. I find I'm more productive out of the house, and I set up everything as if it was an office. It's nice to be able to close the door on it at 5pm and walk back up the garden Many benefits to working from home from a financial point of view, but if you need that office vibe then it can be a lonely existence and some people just dont like it.
Weirdly my firm did the opposite of this and started insisting that everyone turned up at the office everyday even folk who hadn't previously worked in an office. For a while you had to have permission from both your line manager and HR to work from home for a day and have a good reason to do so. Upset a few people and we had a few "homeless" workers turn up at our place, no problem for me though as I'm in the majority of the time but it was nice to have the flexibility if you needed it due to some household emergency etc.
The rumour goes that the CEO paid a surprise visit to one of the facilities only to discover a ghost town so decided to put an end to it!
The rumour goes that the CEO paid a surprise visit to one of the facilities only to discover a ghost town so decided to put an end to it!
C0ffin D0dger said:
Weirdly my firm did the opposite of this and started insisting that everyone turned up at the office everyday even folk who hadn't previously worked in an office. For a while you had to have permission from both your line manager and HR to work from home for a day and have a good reason to do so. Upset a few people and we had a few "homeless" workers turn up at our place, no problem for me though as I'm in the majority of the time but it was nice to have the flexibility if you needed it due to some household emergency etc.
The rumour goes that the CEO paid a surprise visit to one of the facilities only to discover a ghost town so decided to put an end to it!
Sounds like IBM (and many other failing companies) who measure presentism rather than outcomes....The rumour goes that the CEO paid a surprise visit to one of the facilities only to discover a ghost town so decided to put an end to it!
I understand it's far from ideal for most people, but I'd take their arm off if I was offered it, sell the home in London, and bugger off to my house back "home".
The savings would be massive, big enough that I could have a second home somewhere warm, and work from there most of the time.
The savings would be massive, big enough that I could have a second home somewhere warm, and work from there most of the time.
Apologies for the silence on this. Some good answers on here especially from KrazyIvan. Thanks.
Last thing I heard is that a director is coming over and we are to have a proposal to retain 1 room for 3 people for then. Neither of the other 2 want to work from home either for mush the same reason.The same director also needs me working a project in the US the same week. I have completed a site layout plan and fully costed it. I will see how it goes.
Grunt Futtock said:
Not directly answering OPs question but perhaps consider whether this is the extended death throes of a company trying desperately to cling to life, perhaps best to start looking elsewhere?
To go from 300+ staff to 6 to closing the office and making more redundancies doesn't exactly shout 'things are looking up!' .
No. The company employs over 7000 globally and with multi-billion dollar turnover and positive cash flow and profits. The factory closure was consolidation of 2 businesses doing much the same thing. There are regrets in some parts that the consolidation was not done the other way around but that is 10 years of history.To go from 300+ staff to 6 to closing the office and making more redundancies doesn't exactly shout 'things are looking up!' .
n3il123 said:
Snip...
You're still doing the same job? just from home?
I guess that there is no reason to pay you any differently, maybe expense your broadband?
You'll be saving on the commuting in both time and expenses.
Yes. The same job, no change in role or responsibilities just some discussion about making the job a home working role to allow the office to be closed and save the overhead costs. broadband wold be covered and include VoIP phone so no costs as such from that point of view. Commuting time and costs are insignificant. It costs me 60p per day in fuel and 20 minutes return time. I only take the car as I may need it for work in the day.You're still doing the same job? just from home?
I guess that there is no reason to pay you any differently, maybe expense your broadband?
You'll be saving on the commuting in both time and expenses.
TwistingMyMelon said:
I used to enjoy working from home, however with 4 kids in and out all day its impossible as we just have a shared space downstairs
Therefore if my employer hypothetically enforced I had to work from home how would this be possible?
I guess the obvious answer would be rent a local hot desk /shared single desk
This is by situation but with 2 kids and a mental dog. There is a local office block that rents rooms and I will look at this option if this goes ahead.Therefore if my employer hypothetically enforced I had to work from home how would this be possible?
I guess the obvious answer would be rent a local hot desk /shared single desk
Last thing I heard is that a director is coming over and we are to have a proposal to retain 1 room for 3 people for then. Neither of the other 2 want to work from home either for mush the same reason.The same director also needs me working a project in the US the same week. I have completed a site layout plan and fully costed it. I will see how it goes.
Starfighter said:
This is by situation but with 2 kids and a mental dog.
In my firm we all work from home. My wife and kids were always no problem and understood but for some of guys, their families just don't get it at all. I always cringe on conference calls when someone gets interrupted. And when everyone else is out, it's staggering how often people come to the door and persist at trying to attract attention when you're trying to ignore them at some crucial moment. The postman, especially, routinely comes to our house to leave stuff if other neighbours are out because he knows I'm there.
Sheepshanks said:
And when everyone else is out, it's staggering how often people come to the door and persist at trying to attract attention when you're trying to ignore them at some crucial moment. The postman, especially, routinely comes to our house to leave stuff if other neighbours are out because he knows I'm there.
I try to ignore them but i work in the upstairs front room and sometimes they can see me if i didn't move back from the window quick enough 
They just keep ringing the bell, over and over, and they always want to sell something I clearly don't want. You'd think the headset would give them a clue I'm on a call, but no...The window cleaners are the worst, can't hide from them and they always want paying straight away. When I'm out all day they would come back in the evening, or just wait for a cheque, but if they know you are in..... grrr
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