Working from home can be a big challenge for those not used to it.
As the number of home workers increases with the coronavirus outbreak, your new office environment will play a big part in your productivity, and mood, over the coming months.
Briony McDermott, employment solicitor at Wake Smith Solicitors in Sheffield, looks at employers’ responsibilities and offers her top tips for remaining efficient and positive in your temporary home-office space.
She said: “Employers have a duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that they safeguard their employees’ health, safety and welfare, even when they are working from home.
“In simple terms this means that employees should be protected from anything that may cause harm.
“Employers have specific duties under health and safety law to assess potential risk and should carry out a risk assessment of the work activities to be undertaken by employees at home and take appropriate measures to reduce any associated risks.
“It is not necessary for the employer to visit the employee’s home, especially in these difficult times, to carry out the risk assessment, as it can be conducted by the employee from home.
“The purpose of the risk assessment is to check whether the place of work is suitable, however as most work carried out at home is going to be office-type work it is unlikely that there will be any significant risk identified.
“Employers are responsible for ensuring that any work equipment which they have provided, like laptops and mobile phones, is safe and fully tested as and where required.”
Top tips for working from home:
1. Maintain regular hours
Set a time schedule, and stick to it, as much as you can. Having a clear timetable for when you start and finish will help you maintain a work-life balance. Working remotely sometimes means extending your day or starting early to accommodate someone else's timings. Make sure this fits into your schedule.
2. Create a routine early and take regular breaks
Deciding you'll sit down at your desk and start, and finish, work at a certain time. Create a routine that gets you into the seat positively – that might be first making a coffee, walking round the garden or putting a wash in the machine. Take a lunch hour and regular breaks, your productivity will improve. Then perhaps talk a walk when you finish.
3. Divide home and work life
Try not to blend work and private life. It does take discipline to do this. Maintain your previous daily routines and work your designated hours. You should get ready to ‘go to work’, get dressed and change clothes after finishing work, and sit at the designated place etc. This helps avoid the feeling of constantly being at work. If you find yourself working one minute and looking at a new TV on the internet the next, don't reprimand yourself too harshly. Instead, ask yourself whether people in an office setting do the same thing. If the answer is yes, cut yourself some slack, then get back to work.
4. The office space
Dedicate a suitable chair and desk away from everyone else, if you can, for work use. If you do not have a dedicated place to work, try to create an area, for example on the kitchen table. Do not try to work off sofas or soft seating for long periods.
5. Other people at home
If you are sharing your work space with others, then set clear rules about what they can and cannot do ie: interruptions, help, make you coffee, let the dog out etc.
6. Support from your employer
Make sure you have all the equipment you need for home set up. It might change after a couple of days in when you realise you don’t have the correct software or programmes. Laptops, tablets, mobile phones and meetings via video and conference calls all make working from home much easier nowadays. Speak up at meetings to make sure everyone knows you are participating. Tell everyone who needs to know about your schedule, availability and progress often.
7. Don’t forget your colleagues
Loneliness and isolation are common problems in remote work life, especially for extroverts. Remember your colleagues are a call away. Take time to stay in touch with them. A break might be the right time to call one of them for a quick work chat.
8. Use of technology
Collaborative software tools Web-ex, Skype, Teams, Zoom, Google Hangouts etc come into their own at this time. Take this opportunity to learn how to share and work on documents amongst colleagues in real time and use the video and instant messaging capabilities.
9. Make it harder to access social media
To counteract the easy use of your social networks during work hours, remove them from your browser shortcuts and log out of every account. This ensures you stay signed out. It's a guarantee that you won't be tempted into taking too many social breaks during the day.
10. There are perks
Working remotely comes with unique perks. Take advantage of them. If you want to bake a cake then do, if you want to weed the garden then go for it. Just make sure all the work is done.
For further advice on looking after home workers and other employment law issues contact Briony McDermott at Wake Smith Solicitors on 0114 266 6660.
