18 Nov 2008

MATISSE Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to the MATISSE Smarter-Working Frequently Asked Questions Pages. If you have a question that is not answered here (and with your help, we will be building upon the few initial questions over the coming months) please email info@ehampshire.org marking your email MATISSE Smarter-Working.
 
The FAQs are structured as follows:
 
Introductory
Home-Office Set-Up
Remote Working
Tax Implications
 
 

Introductory

Q) What is Smarter working?

Rather than attempt to provide definitions (and plenty do exist) it is perhaps more useful to suggest what might change as a result of an organisation adopting Smarter, more flexible working practices. Firstly, smarter-working means thinking afresh about the way you and your staff work and making the most of ICT in order to achieve both business and personal objectives.
This might mean:
  • making more use of teleconferencing rather than spending time and money travelling to meetings
  • enabling your staff to carry out some of their work from home rather than travel into the office every day
  • adopting a more flexible approach to when work is done. Perhaps it would suit some of your staff and the business better if some of the work were carried out in the early morning, in the evening or at weekends?
Some businesses will want to invest in technology to realise even greater benefits from flexible working. Examples include:
  • installing a Virtual Private Network so that your staff can all work from home just as efficiently as they could in the office
  • supplying staff with wireless enabled laptops so they can use broadband hotspots as they travel around and so minimise downtime
  • having staff working from a number of different locations around the UK - or even around the globe - connected together by broadband
  • using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony to save on the costs of calls between employees working remotely and the office
Some businesses have even decided that they no longer need a permanent office at all - with dramatic cost savings!
 

Q) What are the benefits of flexible working?

The benefits encompass the employer (increased productivity, normally happier more settled and motivated staff, reduced accommodation footprint), the employee - many people have to combine work with family care commitments.  If you can help employees to work from home or stagger their journey, they can enjoy more flexibility in their lives, saving time, money and stress - the environment - less congestion means less CO2 emissions and even the local community.
 
These benefits can mean:
  • time saved on travelling to the office can be spent more productively
  • sharing desk space and thereby reducing overheads or expanding without the need for more office space
  • attracting a more diverse and higher quality of  staff simply by offering the prospect of a good work-life balance or allowing staff to work remotely without the need to move house
  • more mootivated staff who are more productive and less likely to take sick leave
  • Increased staff loyalty and an increased number of women who return to work after maternity leave.
In today's business world, true competitive advantage does not add up to office based 9-5pm working. Smarter more flexible forms of working means you can align your business more closely to peaks and troughs, client and empoyee needs.
 

Q) What sort of technology do I need?

You may need no new technology - smarter more flexible forms of working could simply mean coming into the office a little later or using existing equipment such as laptops and mobile phones.
At the next level, you might save travel time and costs by making use of teleconferencing from home or from a local e-work centre. You could add to accessing email and your company files facilities that enable you to access collaborative web-based software (list management systems like www.sign-up.to or 'digital-meeting' applications (audio, video and web-based) from organisations like BT, DataComm UK or Technilink iT Ltd. instead of physically going to a meeting.
 
Secure remote access or use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) gives employees access to files on your network from a remote location, so they can work from home as easily as they do from the office. You can also save the costs of phone calls and allow seemless transfer of calls between employees working from home and the office by communicating over the Internet using such as VOIP technology  

Q) What about costs?

Obviously the costs depend very much on your individual flexible working situation and the technology you choose, but as a rough guide, the main types of technology cost in the region of the following:
  • conference calls £10's
  • applications sharing £10's
  • secure remote access (VPNs) £100's

The Business Link ebusiness and innovation team advisors can provide further indications and sign-post you to appropriate, often local, suppliers. 

Home Office Set-Up

Q) What equipment will I need to supply for the employee's home?

If you would like a member of your team to work flexibly from home then you may consider providing some or all of the necessary equipment - this is something for you to decide. It's worth noting early on that you are responsible for your employee's health and safety whilst they are working (wherever they are located), so it may be easier to meet your health and safety responsibilities if you do provide suitable equipment.
Some things you may consider contributing towards could be paying a proportion of broadband costs and/or a contribution to an adjustable chair. Of course, if your employee needs a computer to work from home, this will often be provided (a laptop is usual, to give true mobility).
A separate telephone line in the employee's home may be considered appropriate to manage bills effectively, but some companies may opt for more extensive use of a mobile phone or the flexibility and potential cost savings of a VoIP internet telephony system.
 

Q) What about managing consumables such as print cartridges and stationery?

When staff come in for meetings or are office based for the day, they can pick up anything they need, or contact you in advance to order in the necessary items for them. This way you would be in control of what's being used and be able to budget accordingly. Alternatively you could consider opening an account with a local stationers so that your staff can keep themselves stocked up and you simply receive a monthly invoice. A third option is to ask staff to buy stationery and consumables as and when they need it, keep the receipts and claim it back on expenses

Q) What if a homeworker leaves?

If a member of staff leaves employment and does not return the equipment I have supplied, what recourse do I have? Do I have right of entry to their house?
Legally, you wouldn't be able to access their house without permission, but it may well be prudent to have an agreement with your flexible workers that when they leave your employment any company equipment will be returned. This is something that a flexible working agreement could cover.

Q) How can I assess whether a particular employee is suitable for remote or home based working?

Individuals considering smarter more flexible ways of working, including home based or remote teleworking need to be self motivated people who are good communicators. The home should offer a suitable working environment both in terms of space and being free from distractions. Importantly, such working should never be imposed on employees - they should want to work flexibly.

Q) What are the insurance implications?

 
There are implications for both the employer and the employee.
If working from home, employees' contents and building insurance companies need to be informed. In addition, there are three areas that the employer will need to ensure are covered by suitable insurance - employee public liability, equipment in the home and finally people and equipment in transit.
These areas may already be covered but it is important to check and know and then decide which if any of the shortfalls will need to be covered and by whom.

Q) Are there any other considerations?

The biggest factor in adopting more flexible working practices is the change in culture required. This involves trusting the employee whilst they are not under direct supervision. One of the ways to overcome these challenges is to start gradually and take flexible working one step at a time.
Management focus needs to shift from hours worked to measurable outputs, and in this sense, employees productivity should be more focussed towards achieving business objectives.
The important thing with flexible working is that both the employer and employee are committed to it.  

Q) What do I need to do to comply with Health and Safety legislation? Do I need to check the working conditions at employees' homes?

You need to consider the health and safety of your employee when they are working from home as carefully as if they were working on your premises; all the same HSE legislation for the workplace applies equally to workplaces in the home.
You will therefore need a risk assessment for remote working to be done, but the basis of this can be a self assessment checklist to be completed by the employee. (This is available as part of the MATISSE Toolkit)

Q) Why am I being asked by my manager to carry out a H&S risk assessment on my home ‘office environment?

This is in both employee and employer interests and also because it is a statutory requirement under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1992). An example H&S questionnaire is included within the appendix of the MATISSE Toolkit and best practice Guidance. Click here to view or download the toolkit
 

Q) I am not sure whether I will like home based working, I can imagine feeling isolated or lonely or not really motivated to work when the sun is shining and the great outdoors beckons…

It is true that not everyone is suited to home working as it requires a particular range of personal qualities.Organisations that have a long experience of home and mobile working suggest that home and mobile workers need to be:

  • self motivated;
  • able to work without direct supervision;
  • able to cope with minimal social contact and less direct support from work;
  • well organised;
  • able to cope with any additional stress from dealing with work at the same time as domestic responsibilities
  • able to complete work to scheduled deadlines;
  • able to provide space to work at home and to make available the necessary workspace for storage and equipment etc.;
  • able to demonstrate initiative and flexibility.
Please note: parents with small children still need to make childcare arrangements as care of children while trying to work is both unproductive and dangerous for the children and doubly stressful for the parent.
 
Finally, we are not advocating full time home working, for many one or two home based days per week will be the norm and in such circumstances, the risks of isolation etc are much, much less

Q) What would you say are the most important things to focus upon as a manager with team members embarking on the project?

You probably already have much of this in hand, but best practice guidance suggests that you should make sure:

  • Everyone in your team is aware of the nature of the plans to introduce Smarter-Working
  • The type of work carried out by any participants is suitable for home/remote working
  • There are clear goals, you have performance measures agreed and opportunities exist for individual and team development
  • Suitable arrangements are in place for information and knowledge sharing across all members of your team
  • Suitable arrangements have been made to ensure effective message taking and phone cover

Tax Issues

Q)  I work for a District Council. If we have an officer who works out from home, goes on site visits and occasionally visits the office for admin purposes, has their base reallocated to home?
 
A) We think this is unlikely to apply to most occasional home-working  'flexible workers'. Their main work base would still be a Council  site somewhere. For those staff who are virtually permanent 'homeworkers' then if in compliance with HMRC definition of home worker, their work base can be 'home' and they should be able to claim mileage allowances from home (e.g. their normal, predominant work base location). If however there are regular trips to HQ (the office) this is likely to be treated by HMRC as a taxable 'commuting' mileage payment' 
 
Q) If employees are claiming mileage from their base and they live outside of the county area, do you restrict that they only claim mileage once they cross into the administrative district in which they work?
 
A) Yes this is likely to come under the definition of 'patch' workers when they cross into their 'patch' (as in HMRC definition of 'patch workers')