On top of the tax, social security and immigration implications explained above, there are various other employment law and data privacy considerations. In the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, there are currently exceptions to this general rule which allow a UK employee and their employer to continue to pay UK NICs and not pay social security contributions in the host country if certain conditions are satisfied. A work from home policy that sets out requirements to be observed by employees while they are working from home. Outside the EEA and Switzerland, the position will depend on whether there is a reciprocal agreement between the host country and the UK. Wellbeing It would also mean that the income tax exemption in the DTT would not apply. This month on 19 May it is “National work from home day”. Understand your clients’ strategies and the most pressing issues they are facing. Local health and safety protections may apply. The Health and Safety Executive provides useful guidance regarding homeworking. The UK has a DTT with most countries, including all 27 EU countries and most other major world economies. With the UK entering its third week of lockdown, the majority of the workforce continue to work from home. Given the current situation, you will no doubt want to be flexible when it comes to accommodating requests to work from home overseas, but you will also want to minimise the risks. Only accept requests if the employee’s role can be performed effectively remotely and can be done lawfully from the country in question. For example, in the Netherlands, employers must provide employees with the equipment needed to ensure a safe working environment which in some cases might involve making a contribution or purchasing relevant equipment. Learning & Development Respite from … Working from home, telecommuting, flexible hours, – whatever you call it, it is part of the Gen Y paradigm of focusing on work product rather than work process. You could also require homeworkers to attend the office for regular meetings. Issues covered: Q: I am seeking legal obligations for UK employers wherein an employee requests to work at home full-time and this is granted. Payroll It is possible that you will receive more such requests in future, as employees look to take advantage of increased remote-working opportunities to ask if they can work abroad for a short period on a regular basis. You may also need to consider any immigration issues that could arise on the employee’s return to the UK. Risk of creating a permanent establishment is low but should be considered. If the employee is using their own computer/phone ensure you have a right to monitor work communications on those devices. Remind the homeworker that they must have consent from their mortgage provider to work from home. However, restricting an employee’s activities in this way is unlikely to be practical for many employees and, in general, the longer an employee works without permission, the more difficult it will be to characterise their stay as a business visit. The employee takes responsibility for ensuring they have the necessary technology and arrangements in place to enable them to work effectively. Other non-British nationals should consider whether their absence from the UK may affect their visa, or their eligibility to apply for other types of status in future where absences are assessed, such as indefinite leave to remain, permanent residence or naturalisation as a British citizen. RSS feeds Working from home You may be able to claim tax relief for additional household costs if you have to work at home on a regular basis, either for all or part of the week. "The newsfeeds deliver us the most recent legal analysis and practical information. It can be all too easy to spend the day in your pyjamas, dipping into work in between doing household chores and running errands. Here are the key tax issues you need to know if you will be working remotely permanently Published Sat, May 30 2020 10:15 AM EDT Updated Sat, May … Working and living in Spain after Brexit: what changes for UK nationals? There are three particular areas to consider from a legal perspective: 1. For example, if they want to work in Hong Kong but don’t have permission to stay there indefinitely, they should not undertake any work without permission, even for a limited period and even if the employing entity is not a Hong Kong entity. This applies where an employee is “posted” from one undertaking or establishment to another cross-border within the EEA (and, until 31 December 2020, the UK). Employers are advised to take preventative measures—such … There should also be a provision for what happens if the employee moves house – particularly if the move is further away from the office which may have financial implications for the employer (see “expenses” below). HR Consultant (For example, the employer may need to register with local authorities as an employer and/or report on the income that is being paid to the employee.). An employer is responsible for an employee’s health, safety and welfare so far as is reasonably practicable. There are about 1.7 million UK employees working from home, according to the TUC. Whatever the precise arrangement, there are a number of issues for an employer to consider. What measures should be taken against accidental loss, destruction or damage? However, the local implementation of the PWD may nonetheless end up capturing this situation. Currently, if the employee is a UK or EEA national, they have the right to live and work in an EEA country (although this position will change for UK nationals from 31 December 2020 when the current Brexit implementation period ends). Time to do laundry between tasks. It is also worth including the right to require the employee to revert to office-based working. Workforce Planning, • About Personnel Today The next generation search tool for finding the right lawyer for you. Agree the terms of any temporary overseas working arrangement and record them in writing. The employer is responsible for the protection of the occupational health and safety of staff who work from home as well as office-based workers. What is this doing to employees’ health, especially physical health? Working from home is often a great solution for employees who are looking for a more flexible style of working. Within the EEA, there is also the Posted Workers Directive (PWD) to consider. Whilst most homeworkers will be doing low risk, desk-based jobs, you should ensure appropriate risk assessments are conducted both at the start of the homeworking arrangement and periodically thereafter. In some instances, it may also be sensible to put in place specific policies to cover off some of the more practical arrangements. Advertising specifications Follow the latest government advice about working from home on GOV.UK. Immigration implications of working abroad temporarily. HR Director Depending on the employee’s activities, it may be possible to characterise their stay as a business visit - for example, if their activities are limited to those typically undertaken during business trips (e.g. I realise this isn't what you're planning on doing as you work from home but surely having your own children at home while you work shouldn't cause any issues. Akshay Choudhry of Burges Salmon LLP examines the legal and practical considerations. So what should employers be aware of if they want to facilitate homeworking? Introducing PRO ComplianceThe essential resource for in-house professionals. Several tax authorities have issued concessions in the light of Covid-19, but not all have done so, and it will be important to establish the rules in place in the relevant host country. However, there still remains numerous challenges with this almost-overnight switch to remote working. Most employers will provide basic equipment at least. While this may be less of a problem if you already have established operations in the host country, it could be a real headache if you do not. I like the fact you can tailor the newsfeeds by jurisdiction and work area, and only receive information relevant to your practice. Ensure that flexible workplace policies … Is the employee’s home adequately secure? According to the Office for National Statistics, 13.9% of the UK’s workforce were homeworkers in January to March 2014, up from 11.1% in 1998, and the proportion of the UK workforce working from home is likely to rise as employers increasingly recognise that flexible working, including homeworking, can bring benefits to their organisation. This is also true of the UK, where employees have certain minimum statutory rights from day one. Put procedures in place so you can keep in direct contact with home workers so you can recognise signs of … The employee will be responsible for any personal tax declarations that may need to be made. The employee may also need their own advice. A right to enter may also help enable you to carry out risk assessments for health and safety purposes, although legal advice in terms of enforcing this right would be needed if the employee (or another person) was refusing entry. If you are self-isolating but cannot do your work at home, then, by law you should at least receive statutory sick pay. Please contact [email protected]. Thank you! National work from home day is organised by Work Wise UK, a not-for-profit organisation aimed at making the UK a more progressive economy by encouraging smarter working practices. By Lisa Stam on September 19, 2012. Posted in Workplace Policies. Check your employer’s liability insurance covers employees working from home. The starting point is that the host country has primary taxing rights over the employment income that the employee earns while physically working in that country. For example, most will want homeworkers to use only company computer equipment to ensure compatibility as well as maintenance of virus protection and other security measures. OH&W subscription terms. Other expenses to consider include postal/courier costs, stationery costs and photocopying/printing costs. This note outlines the issues relevant to homeworking; the benefits and drawbacks and the practicalities that need to be addressed in the event that an employer engages homeworkers or accedes to an existing employee's request to work (full or part time) from home. Adapting your reporting and review procedures, as well as individual management styles, will be important both for the homeworker – who may otherwise feel isolated and without support – and the employer – as you will need to monitor the quality and/or quantity of the homeworker’s output and retain the relevant level of control over the relationship. It's a great tool. For the time being, working in the EEA is generally more straightforward but this will change after 31 December 2020 when the Brexit implementation period comes to an end. Maintaining Nondiscriminatory Work-From-Home Polices Compile a list of legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons that would preclude an employee from working-from-home. The employee is still working solely for the UK business. What protections, if any, an employee acquires will depend on the country in question. Expenses – consider whether or not employees will be entitled to expenses for travel to the office or a contribution towards telephone, broadband, heating and lighting costs. Cutting out the commute by allowing people to work from home can be a win-win; offering opportunities for the employer to reduce/reallocate office space and, for the worker, the benefit of valuable time-savings. You will need to consider, however, whether the employee’s stay in the host country creates risks of income tax or social security liability in that country - or even the risk that you (as the employer) are regarded as having created a permanent establishment there. HR (General) Depending on how many requests you expect to receive, you may even want to consider developing a short policy to ensure that these situations are dealt with consistently and fairly. Recruitment & Resourcing The employment contract remains subject to UK law and jurisdiction. Worker’s compensation. Employers must carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of all the work activities you do at The employee does not have the authority to enter into contracts with local customers while in the host country and should not hold themselves out as having such an authority. The war for talent is alive and well and people are demanding to work differently. The longer the arrangement continues, however, the greater the risk - particularly if the employee routinely negotiates the principal terms of contracts with customers which are simply ‘rubber-stamped’ without amendment by UK employees. Learn more about and how to prevent the liabilities of letting employees work from home … Assuming the working-from-home arrangement is only short term, it would be difficult for the tax authorities to argue that a permanent establishment had been created. In some instances, it may also be sensible to put in place specific policies to cover off some of the more practical arrangements. Employers should consider a variety of issues, including tax, social security, immigration and employment implications, before agreeing to an employee’s request to work from home when ‘home’ is not in the UK. Hours of work – specify when the employee will need to be available for work. The Personnel Today Awards Working from home looks set to be a part of many people’s lives for some time to come. If an employee’s role involves processing personal data, this could give rise to data protection issues, especially if the employee is requesting to work from a country outside of the EEA which is not subject to the General Data Protection Regulation and other EU data privacy laws. For example, will the employee be required to observe strict office hours, have complete flexibility over when they work, or have certain “core hours” when they must be available. Talent Management Employees will also need to comply with applicable public health guidance (e.g. Diversity & Inclusion HR Systems Occupational Health Update existing policies to include Covid-19 specific language. Generally speaking, there is no legal obligation on an employer to provide the equipment necessary for homeworking. Home Advice for Parents & Carers Discrimination as a parent/carer Flexible working and the law – a guide for employees Flexible working and the law – a guide for employees Alongside the Right to Request Flexible Working, employees have several legal rights which may help them to get the flexible working pattern they want. Start at a set time and stick to scheduled breaks. to check any potential council tax liability as a result of homeworking; that some of their homeworking expenses may be tax deductible; that, in limited circumstances, they may be entitled to a tax deduction in respect of the expenses of travelling from home to the office; and. Normally, time spent by an employee travelling to their place of work would not count as “working time” under the Working Time Regulations 1998. You've worked for this firm for many years, seems to me this new manager is being over zealous. I like the format because it is easy to scan for relevant articles. This article tackles the question of whether work from home can work for your legal department and the things you need to do to ensure that any WFH policy works for everyone. Will they be required to account for their time and if so, how? Covid-19 is causing many employees to ask if they can work from ‘home’ for an extended period in an overseas country, for example, because it is their home nation or their family is based there. In addition, the employer should continue to deduct employee national insurance contributions (NICs) and pay employer NICs. 2. What does the Brexit trade deal mean for employment law in the UK? In countries where there is a reciprocal agreement, such as the USA or Japan, it is possible for an employee to remain within the UK system (and not pay local social security contributions) for up to five years if they have a valid certificate of coverage. Countdown from lockdown: Where are your employees now? Working remotely - can employees work overseas? Being away from managers and colleagues could make it difficult to get proper support. It will normally be appropriate to tailor a standard employment contract in order to reflect any homeworking arrangements. If a permanent establishment is created, the profits attributable to that establishment would be subject to corporate tax in that country. Ideally, these should clarify that: The employee will be liable for any additional income taxes or employee social security which may be charged because of their decision to work for a short period in an overseas location (and that the employer is authorised to make additional deductions or seek reimbursements, if necessary, for this purpose). Carry out a risk assessment of the data protection implications of homeworking. Employee Relations meetings and training). Right to enter – do you want include a licence to enter the employee’s home (on reasonable notice) in order to install, maintain or service any company equipment, or retrieve it on termination? What rules do you have regarding encryption, use of passwords, and the transfer of data between home and office? Home working opens up a new range of possibilities for the way businesses can work and structure themselves.With the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, home working has given some employers the flexibility they need to continue their business operations while prioritising staff and customer health and wellbeing as part of their public health responsibility. Employee Benefits Awards There are also practical considerations to consider when agreeing to a homeworking arrangement. The size and depth of articles are good too, so we can get to the information one needs very quickly. Companies these days are increasingly allowing employees to work from home in order to save on time and costs of actual office space and other overhead. If so, who will provide and pay for this equipment and who is permitted to access it? By Till Hoffmann-Remy, Marco Sideri, Gisella Alvarado, Sophie Maes,Ilse Baijens, Catherine Hayes, Catherine Leung,Katy Lee, Rosie Moore and Colin Leckey. Consider how you might regulate stress levels, how to ensure rest breaks and other working time obligations will be met, whether specialist equipment is required or needs to be safety tested, first aid arrangements, and reporting work-related accidents. This article explains the potential legal issues for employers in the UK and how to avoid the traps, incorporating guidance from other jurisdictions. If an employee is not an EEA national and/or wishes to work from a non-EEA country, you will need to consider what restrictions may be in place. You will need to ensure that homeworkers do not exceed the 48-hour limit on their working week when travel is taken into account (or that they have opted out of the maximum hours’ cap). When working from home, there may be a new concern for workers other than going without pants. While novel coronavirus­ (or COVID-19) has not yet been declared a global pandemic, people in 81 countries and 13 US states have been infected with the virus, and state and local public health departments are reporting new cases every day. Consider only approving requests for a short, time-limited duration where the employee’s expected return date is clearly documented. People Analytics The legal employment status of home workers is defined by the following tests of whether they are a ‘worker’ or ‘employee’: •Mutuality of obligation– is the person legally obliged to carry out some work in return for some payment (contract) •An obligation to work personally– or can they send someone else to do the work for you. Multiple court cases have held companies liable for covering costs incurred … From a UK perspective, unless the anticipated duration of the stay is so long that it may impact tax residency (see below), the UK employer should continue to deduct income tax under the PAYE system in accordance with the employee’s PAYE code notwithstanding that the employee is temporarily working overseas. ", © Copyright 2006 - 2021 Law Business Research. Much will depend on the identity of the host country and the nationality of the employee. In other countries where no agreement exists, the UK employer must continue to deduct employee UK NICs and pay employer NICs for the first 52 weeks. This duty cannot be delegated to the worker, even though your employer is not in your home and cannot control what goes on there. The employee accepts that they are working from home at their own risk and that the employer will not be liable for any loss they suffer due to their request being approved. Immigration permission is generally not required for business visits. Will the equipment need to be insured and, if so, whose responsibility will it be to arrange and pay for this? If you have a home based contract, isn’t the employer supposed to provide an office chair ( if requested by the employee ) and also carry out a DSE assessment? If the employee does become subject to tax in the host country but remains UK tax resident, they will remain subject to UK income tax on their worldwide income but should be able to obtain credit for some or all the tax they pay in the host country. Working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic may sound like a luxury. For example, in Belgium the local implementation of the PWD requires that all employment, remuneration, working terms and conditions and collective bargaining agreements that have been declared generally binding apply as of day one to any employee working temporarily in Belgium. Consider formalising the contact that homeworkers should have with their manager (for example being required to report in at least once per day/week). Employee Benefits Live, • Occupational Health & Wellbeing Firms; Kliemt.de, Toffoletto De Luca Tamajo e Soci,  Sagardoy Abogados, Claeys & Engels ,advocaten, Lewis Silkin LLP,. Home working can cause work-related stress and affect people’s mental health. They will, however, need to complete the appropriate tax declarations, which could be a complex process. Work from home craft jobs UK; Home based pharmacist jobs; Part time cash in hand work London; Piece work jobs from home UK; Receive the latest listings for Work from home legal jobs. Confidentiality and data protection – this can be difficult to supervise remotely so include an express term to address what is considered confidential information and the necessary protections required (such as passwords, encryption, a secure filing cabinet, a shredder etc) and make sure data protection obligations are maintained. It is therefore important to understand the local position. Ensure that any work-from-home, remote work, and onsite work policies, are administered in a nondiscriminatory manner. It provides a snap shot update of various legal developments and assists us in staying current. Compensation & Benefits Getting work from home insurance is essential if you have employee telecommuting for your small business. For example, if an individual is working from home because of ill-health and receives less favourable benefits than a comparable office-based employee, they may claim disability discrimination. Deciding on working from home arrangements Tax and social security implications of working temporarily abroad. Enter your email address to receive alerts when we have new listings available for Work from home legal jobs. COVID-19: the practical implications of employees working abroad temporarily. Salary and benefits – you should take care that homeworkers are not treated less favourably on grounds of any protected characteristic.