LEGAL
Moving towards permanent homeworking: Overcoming the legal challenges
In a recent survey by the Institute of Directors, 74% of companies said they plan on maintaining some form of home working. While there’s many benefits, adopting a more permanent remote or hybrid working model requires a significant change to how businesses comply with their legal obligations. Rena Magdani (pictured), a partner at Freeths LLP specialising in employment law, sets out five legal considerations for organisations looking to make this move and how to overcome them.
HEALTH AND SAFETY The Health and Safety Executive guidance on homeworking recommends that employers need to consider the type of work employees will be carrying out at home and whether control measures need to be put into place to protect them. For temporary or short-notice homeworking, a
full workstation assessment may not be needed. If working from home becomes permanent, employers will be required to carry out full risk assessments and take appropriate measures to reduce any risks.
EMPLOYEE WELLBEING Consider how you might regulate stress levels, manage isolation, ensure rest breaks are taken and other legal obligations under the Working Time Regulations 1998 are met. Employers need to be aware that certain
mental health conditions may be considered a disability under the Equality Act 2010 and they have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to an individual’s role to support them.
MANAGING YOUR WORKFORCE Motivating and managing teams remotely is far from straightforward. Out of sight should not mean out of mind. Training your mangers to manage remotely is
crucial. If there are employee performance, conduct or other wellbeing concerns, a line manager will usually be the first person to become aware of them. Managers should be trained to recognise the
signs, handle any issues and know when to consider more formal procedures together with support from HR. If employees are not managed appropriately
and processes are not correctly followed, the organisation is at risk of workplace grievances.
HOMEWORKING POLICIES It is a good idea to introduce a homeworking policy or guidance for employees, which ensures both the employer and employee understand what is required of them during remote working.
Dividend payments must be fair, says firm
Shareholders are at risk of being treated differently and unfairly over dividend payments during the pandemic, law firm Nelsons has warned. As companies conserve cash due
to the financial impact of the Covid-19 crisis, dividends – a distribution of profits by a firm to its shareholders – have been cut, deferred or cancelled by many businesses. Nelsons has received enquiries
from individuals claiming directors are still receiving their dividend payments, despite theirs being withheld, attributing the lack of payout to “different classes” of shares that allow a variable dividend rate to be applied. Some companies
offer two classes – A and B, for
example – and the rights attached to those assets could allow for dividends to be paid to the A shares in priority to the B shares. Lynsey Burke (pictured), senior
associate and solicitor who specialises in commercial disputes, said: “Withholding payment to those B shares is only legally allowed if it’s stated that different classes of shareholders can be treated differently in a shareholders agreement or the articles of association. If directors want to pay different rates of dividends to different shareholders, a company’s articles of association must be amended. If they are not, a breach has occurred, and people may have a case for bringing forward a minority shareholder petition on the basis of unfair prejudice.”
Join Rena Magdani will lead a talk about The legal implications of the shift towards remote working as part of the Chamber’s HR forum series on 9 March from 10-11am, free to members only. To register, visit
bit.ly/HRForum090321.
CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT These will need to be updated to take into account changes to the place of work and hours of work. Confidentiality and data protection can be
difficult to supervise remotely so include language to address what is considered confidential information and the necessary protections required (such as encryption, a secure filing cabinet or a shredder). Make sure data protection obligations are
maintained and appropriate measures are taken to prevent accidental loss of data.
Employment advice on offer at workshops
Businesses and charities can find out the answers to common Covid- related employment questions at free virtual workshops hosted by Bhayani HR & Employment Law. The Leicester-based firm is offering the online advice sessions to
keep employers up to date on changes to HR law resulting from the pandemic. In December, it was recognised as one of the British Chambers of
Commerce’s #UKBusinessHeroes in recognition of its work in offering free support to hundreds of businesses via webinars, workshops and newsletters over the past year. The firm, which also has offices in Sheffield, Leeds and London, will
host the HR and employment law in the Covid world workshops roughly every two weeks over the coming months. Typical issues to be covered include whether employers must send a
new letter to employees on flexible furlough every time working hours change, whether firms can force staff to take the vaccine and what to do if a person wants to continue working from home. The next sessions to be held are on Monday 15 March, 3pm to
4.30pm; Tuesday 30 March, 9.30am to 11am; Wednesday 7 April, 10am to 11.30am; and Monday 19 April, 1pm to 2.3pm.
To book a place, visit
https://bhayanilaw.co.uk/hr-employment-law- in-the-covid-world/
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