PP(01)095: POLICY ON HOME WORKING Issue Date: April 2001

Introduction

Home working, for the purposes of this policy, refers to time spent working at home rather than on Trust premises. This policy is not designed to deal with any employee who has been contracted on the basis that their home is already their normal place of work.

It is not intended that home working should be a full-time arrangement. Rather, it is envisaged that staff may have the option to work part of the working week or working day at home.

Home working may be considered either as a long-term arrangement or to cover a short-term difficulty. It may also be considered if someone is unable to get to work - e.g. because of accident or injury - or as part of a 'return to work' policy. It should not be used where medical opinion is that the person is unfit for work.

Home working may be considered for a wide variety of posts but it should be remembered that there might be valid reasons why it may not be considered suitable. For Example: those on shift work or 24hr service provision, those having direct daily input to department management etc.

Benefits of Home working

for the individual

·         greater flexibility for combining work and domestic arrangements

·         greater job satisfaction and personal responsibility

for the Trust

·         potential for increased quality and quantity of work

·         retention of trained staff who might otherwise leave for domestic reasons

·         Supports equal opportunities policies and modernisation initiatives.

Decision

The decision on whether or not to allow home working will rest with the relevant General Manager. The General Manager must be satisfied with the local arrangements agreed between the individual employee and his/her line manager. Such arrangements must be robust allow for measurable targets to be set and regular feedback on performance to occur. It must be stressed that the needs of the organisation and the service it provides must be the determining factor in any agreement. Such arrangements will be regularly reviewed and may be terminated at any time either by the General Manager, Line Manager or the Employee.

Procedure

1.      Any manager/employee considering a home working arrangement should engage in discussion of the proposition with those likely to be affected and any relevant line manager(s).

2.      The employee and Line Manager will consider, confidentially,

·         The nature of the employee's work and its suitability to Home Working

·         The employee's ability to work without direct supervision

·         The employee's ability to meet deadlines (track record)

·         Self-motivation and discipline

·         The possibility of feeling isolated because of reduced contact with colleagues

3.      The employee and Line Manager will give formal consideration to, and record answers to the following:

·         Is the post suitable for home working?

·         Is the post holder likely to be effective as a home worker?

·         What impact will home working have on the efficiency of the Trust and the service the post provides?

·         Are there any implications for colleagues - particularly those managed by the post holder?  ( e.g. communications difficulties etc)

·         Are there any proposed solutions for any adverse implications? (e.g. message-taking, long-range pagers, fax, phone, e-mail etc)

·         Is there a good business case to be made - e.g. cost of extra equipment etc.

·         What trial period would be suitable?

·         What is the cost of extra equipment? and to establish who will pay

·         What is the cost of extra equipment and to establish who will pay.

4.      Formal local agreements must be made on the following:

Notes

i)               The hours to be worked at home should be agreed formally to allow specific, measurable targets to be set and regular feedback on performance.

ii)              The Trust has a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure the health and safety of its employees while they are at work, so far as is reasonably practical. This duty applies to everything under the employer's control. It does not extend to a place of work that is outside the employer's control, such as the home.

iii)            Staff who work at home have individual responsibilities under Health and Safety regulations. They are required to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and to co-operate with the Trust as necessary to comply with statutory obligations, for example, allowing one of the Trust's risk assessors to examine any equipment supplied by the Trust.

iv)            Adequate furniture (desk, seating, storage space etc.) should be available. Whilst the Trust does not have an obligation to maintain the home workplace in a safe condition, the Line Manager may wish - by visiting the proposed site at a mutually convenient time - to be reassured that the employee has made adequate provision.

v)             Security and confidentiality rules continue to apply to all business conducted on behalf of the Trust. Breaches will be dealt with under disciplinary rules and/or other relevant Trust Policies and Procedures.

vi)            Communications arrangements must be robust. Local protocols will be developed, agreed and put into place before home working can commence. The principle being that it should be possible to contact the employee working at home at any time during agreed working hours.

vii)          It is the responsibility of the employee to consult their insurance company, mortgage holders, landlords, local rate office and tax office where appropriate to ensure that they meet any contractual requirements. Failure to inform domestic insurers may result in insurance cover being rendered invalid.

viii)         Normal rules governing management and reporting of sickness absence will apply for any home working arrangement. It is particularly important that staff who become ill during a period of home working should notify their line manager as soon as possible.

ix)            The length of any trial period will be stated in the agreement. A suggested starting point would be three months.

x)             An agreement to review and evaluate the arrangement of home working arrangements must detail a date for such a review and the subjects that will thereby be covered.

xi)            Review of performance must be made against agreed targets.

Review and Monitoring

This policy and procedure will be reviewed and monitored annually by the director of Personnel and Corporate Resources in consultation with the Trust Council.