Teleworking (working from home)
Introduction
PCI Pal employees with a Teleworking arrangement can be sorted into the below three categories;
1) Home Worker: frequently (i.e. 1+ days per week) works from home, usually as there is no office within one hour’s commuting distance for them to work from.
2) Mobile Worker: spends the majority of their work time away from an office but may be based at various sites (including customer offices). They may infrequently work from home (i.e. less than 1 day a week).
3) Office Worker: spends the majority of their work time in an office but may work occasionally from home (occasionally is defined as in the case of an emergency - for example weather conditions, or a physical injury that does not prevent their normal duties.
Homeworking is not to be used in lieu of sick leave, nor to provide childcare for babies or small children that require close supervision as there are specific policies to cover these scenarios.
Hereafter home, mobile and office workers are referred to as Teleworkers, and all must read and comply with this policy prior to any (even infrequent) Teleworking.
Each of the above must comply with the Core Policy and the specific sub-policy for that arrangement.
Core Policy – for all Teleworking arrangements
There are usually three situations where the type of worker will need to be defined:
1) Prior to commencing employment: where geography or job role dictates the new person may be a Teleworker.
2) Change in role: a promotion or job change may enforce or remove a Teleworking status (for example, moving to a sales role).
3) Personal circumstances: a change in personal circumstances means the employee may wish to be considered as a Home Worker. They will be asked to go through an application process to assess their suitability prior to agreement being given.
Teleworking is one of the flexible working arrangements available to all staff. PCI Pal is committed to improving the working lives of all staff, and to help them to achieve a balance between the demands of their jobs and their personal lifestyle.
Whilst Teleworking is a type of flexible working, employees should not assume that other aspects of flexible working (such as amended hours) are automatically part of a Teleworking arrangement. Teleworkers may also apply for other flexible working arrangements.
If a post can be considered a Teleworking post, prospective staff members should be made aware of this option through any recruitment advertising material or upon initial job offer.
The employee hired for such a role will go through the standard probation period, and their compliance with Teleworking policy will be a critical element of their probation review.
PCI Pal has the right to review any existing Teleworking arrangements and, through a process of negotiation and written agreement, to vary an existing arrangement. PCI Pal will not exercise undue pressure on a member of staff to change their working arrangements, nor will PCI Pal alter a member of staff’s working arrangements without consulting with them and receiving their informed consent (except where otherwise stated in this policy).
Upon transitioning to a new teleworking arrangement, there will be a three-month trial period of this arrangement. This period is to assess how suitable the arrangement is for the employee and PCI Pal. If the arrangement seems to be detrimental to performance of work, PCI Pal may require the employee to revert to their former working arrangements.
Flexible working arrangements including Teleworking can be reviewed and possibly withdrawn if it is demonstrated that;
· the performance of an individual member of staff suffers as a result
· that the effective operation of the team or office is compromised as a result
· the ability of PCI Pal to achieve its objectives is compromised as a result
Flexible working arrangements including Teleworking can also be withdrawn from members of staff who abuse the system. Such staff may also face disciplinary action under PCI Pal’s Disciplinary Policy.
Employee expectations
PCI Pal expects all teleworkers to adhere to the same policies regarding security, health and safety, and general performance as laid out in the company handbook.
The hours of work will be specified in the terms of employment/contract. PCI Pal expects all employees to be promptly contactable during these hours, except where agreed in advance. Any intent to vary or shift these working times must be agreed between the employee and their line manager and, if a regular occurrence, formalised in a flexible working arrangement.
PCI Pal may specify to a teleworker a minimum number of visits expected at their offices per month, which may only be varied with written approval from their line manager.
In accordance with the EU Working Time Regulations, staff should not work more than 48 hours per seven-day period, calculated over an average period of 17 weeks. Staff should not work more than 10 hours in any one day, and a minimum of 30 minutes rest break should be taken when more than 6 hours are worked in a given day.
If an employee discovers they are approaching any of these limits, they should notify their line manager promptly and, if necessary, cease work to avoid breaching these requirements.
PCI Pal will not pay any additional running costs or expenses other than those agreed (or specified below). Should there be a need to change this, the employee must make an application in writing to their line manager.
If they have an office desk phone or ‘fixed’ office contact number, Teleworkers should ensure that calls placed to these phones/numbers are redirected to a mobile or landline number they can access on their Teleworking days. In the case of an Office Worker working from home or remotely on an impromptu basis with no prior warning, the Office Worker should contact their Line Manager to ensure their calls are redirected appropriately.
Teleworkers must make sure their contact details in the Staff Contact List document are kept up to date. It is their responsibility to make sure these details are kept accurate, and failure to do so may be considered abuse of the system (see below).
Health, safety and equipment
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that an employer shall ensure, so far as it is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees – this also extends to Teleworkers. As the control that can be exercised over a member of staff working remotely is limited, the main responsibility will be with the Teleworker under Section 3 (2) of the Act. This places obligations on the Teleworkers themselves to ensure that they and other persons who may be affected, including other members of the household as well as the public, are not endangered by work activities undertaken at their home or in public spaces using PCI Pal equipment.
All staff working remotely should ensure they have a suitable environment in which they can focus on work. Teleworkers should ensure they work free from disruption, for example, this could include but not limited to having adequate care arrangements in place for dependents who may be at home during working hours.
Legislation concerning the use of display screen equipment and desk work also applies to Teleworkers. As such, PCI Pal will supply advice and any reasonably necessary medical aids (either temporarily or on indefinite loan) to enable Teleworkers to work safely and with respect for their health and comfort outside of PCI Pal offices.
PCI Pal will ensure that adequate first aid provisions are supplied to Teleworkers upon request. Teleworkers must report to their Line Managers any incident that required usage of these first aid provisions, regardless of whether it happened ‘on company time’, to receive any replacements.
PCI Pal will maintain its own equipment but will not be responsible for maintaining member of staff’s own computers and equipment (e.g. electrical sockets and other parts of a Home Worker’s domestic electrical system are their own responsibility). Should a problem arise with PCI Pal loaned equipment used to enable a Teleworker to perform their job, the Teleworker will be supplied with replacement equipment as required, subject to availability. Damage to PCI Pal equipment through the teleworker’s negligence or action will be treated the same as for any other employee – this includes negligence in securing the equipment from visitors, family members or theft. Personal equipment will be the responsibility of the employee to repair.
Regardless of any security measures or efforts taken by the IT team, the logical and physical security of a Teleworker’s device is to be considered the responsibility of the member of staff during any period of Teleworking. Disabling or modifying anti-virus and firewall software, sending unencrypted data across unsecured or weakly-secured Wi-Fi networks, failing to monitor and safeguard the physical devices used for work purposes, or in other ways compromising the security of PCI Pal data may result in withdrawal of any flexible working arrangements including Teleworking, and may further result in disciplinary action under PCI Pal’s Disciplinary Policy as outlined in the Handbook.
Employees should ensure they take reasonable care to ensure both they and their working environment are safe and fit for purpose (for example; and not limited to, clear exits in case of fire, safe use of equipment, etc).
Abuse of the system
Teleworking is offered to employees as one of many options to improve their working lives but requires a greater degree of trust between the employee and PCI Pal, and a greater level of responsibility. If the employee cannot fulfil these responsibilities, or PCI Pal feels that the employee is abusing the system, PCI Pal may withdraw any flexible working arrangements including Teleworking, and may further result in disciplinary action under PCI Pal’s Disciplinary Policy as outlined in the Staff Handbook. One potential cause for this would be if the employee failed to act with appropriate care and responsibility for the devices and data of PCI Pal.
Teleworkers must comply with PCI Pal’s Sickness Policy as outlined in the staff handbook and ensure that they contact their line manager if they are sick or unable to work. Failure to do so may be considered abuse of the system.
