Homeworking

Home becomes a place of work

Homeworking is a regular agreement to perform some or all work from home. Hybrid working combines remote and workplace attendance; fully remote work may use home or another agreed location. These arrangements overlap, but they are not automatically identical.

Agree where the employee may work, expected attendance elsewhere, working hours, availability and how the team keeps in touch. A change in contractual workplace or hours should be confirmed as a contract variation rather than left as an informal diary pattern.

The Acas guidance on home and hybrid arrangements suggests testing the role, employee needs, communication and practical requirements without making assumptions about who should prefer home.

Safety duties travel with the work

An employer's health-and-safety responsibilities extend to home workers. Assess the real risks of the role, including display-screen equipment, stress, isolation, the working environment and any equipment provided. A worker can help with a self-assessment, but the employer still needs to review concerns and act on them.

The HSE homeworking guide explains the proportionate approach. It does not require turning a home into an office replica, but it does require a suitable and safe arrangement.

Keep access and expectations practical

Set out equipment, expenses, information security, confidential conversations, accident reporting and any reasonable access needed for maintenance or assessment. Manage outcomes consistently with office-based staff and make training, meetings and progression accessible.

Review the agreement when the person moves home, their duties change or the arrangement becomes more remote than first agreed. Northern Ireland employers should apply the NI health-and-safety responsibilities and separate flexible-working rules.