Home working: 23 FAQs

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1. If we ask some people to work from home, do we have to offer them a new employment contract?
2. Can we require people to work from home?
3. Can we cut the pay of people who work from home?
4. Do we have to pay new workers, recruited to work from home, at the same rate as employees moved from our offices to work from home?
5. We employ home workers on piece rates. How are we supposed to calculate whether they are paid the minimum wage?
6. What protection do we have against home workers using their time and our equipment to work for other people?
7. Someone who has been working from home is refusing to accept promotion because it means coming back into the office. Can we force him to come back in?
8. One of our employees has asked to work at home, but we object. Can we refuse?
9. We want some employees to work from home, but one is refusing. Can we sack her?
10. How long is it reasonable to give workers who have opted to work from home the opportunity to change their minds?
11. Some employees have agreed to work from home. Is there any documentation we need to issue?
12. Is there a time limit on issuing a revised statement of particulars?
13. What are the legal implications, if we ask current employees to work from home on a self-employed basis?
14. If we employ people to work from home on a freelance basis, are we likely to find ourselves paying their tax and NI?
15. Who is responsible for the health and safety of employees who work from home?
16. Do we have to have health and safety inspections?
17. Are home workers entitled to sick pay, like other employees?
18. How do we ensure that employees who work from home do not do in excess of 48 hours a week?
19. Do home workers have to be permitted breaks after six hours, like people who work on our premises?
20. Are we responsible for data kept at a worker's home, or accessible on a home worker's computer?
21. If we get an employee to work from home, do we have to cover her expenses when she travels into the office for meetings?
22. If we buy and install the equipment at a home worker's home, whose insurance covers it?
23. If we contribute to a home worker's extra costs (eg heating), what is the tax and National Insurance position?

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