ChatterBank4 mins ago
Working From Home
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Hypothetical question. Should a boss/line manager be allowed to visit the employee during working hours without notice?
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//One thing I have found odd is that companies dont visit the home site for H&S reasons.//
Me too, youngmaf. I have managed lots of staff who WFH and all my H&S responsibilities (DS equipment, accommodation, office furniture suitability, etc.) were undertaken as required. It meant a lot of travelling (at times I had staff located from Cornwall to Scotland) but it had to be done. That said, WFH was very much an exception and a privilege to be granted at management’s discretion. The effectiveness of WFH staff was closely monitored and it was not unknown for the arrangement to be ended if it didn’t work out.
I have a nephew who works from home in totally inappropriate conditions. Essentially he lives in a small flat and works on a laptop at a kitchen table with poor lighting and spends his working day perched on a wooden chair. Occasionally he might decamp to his lounge sofa (where his laptop really does live up to its name). Unsuitable posture, unsuitable lighting, unsuitable seating. He wants to return to an office as he believes he is not working as effectively as he might (and since he is not too well off, is finding heating his flat seven days a week too expensive). His employer (a local authority Housing Association) has relinquished most of their premises and he has been told that WFH is now permanent. I’ve told him to develop a “bad back.”
All my WFH staff had to show they had suitable accommodation before being allowed to WFH (something I had to sanction) and they had proper office furniture and equipment provided. I made sure their working conditions complied with the latest guidance and I had an audit trail of my H&S inspections available if any problems arose. I never visited them unannounced but I made it clear that I would be visiting, by appointment, as frequently as I thought fit. Some received more visits than others. My nephew would not even have got a look in at WFH in the conditions he does, even if he wanted to, let alone if he didn't.
I cannot believe how employers are abrogating their responsibilities in this manner (usually, but not always, with the connivance of their employees).
Me too, youngmaf. I have managed lots of staff who WFH and all my H&S responsibilities (DS equipment, accommodation, office furniture suitability, etc.) were undertaken as required. It meant a lot of travelling (at times I had staff located from Cornwall to Scotland) but it had to be done. That said, WFH was very much an exception and a privilege to be granted at management’s discretion. The effectiveness of WFH staff was closely monitored and it was not unknown for the arrangement to be ended if it didn’t work out.
I have a nephew who works from home in totally inappropriate conditions. Essentially he lives in a small flat and works on a laptop at a kitchen table with poor lighting and spends his working day perched on a wooden chair. Occasionally he might decamp to his lounge sofa (where his laptop really does live up to its name). Unsuitable posture, unsuitable lighting, unsuitable seating. He wants to return to an office as he believes he is not working as effectively as he might (and since he is not too well off, is finding heating his flat seven days a week too expensive). His employer (a local authority Housing Association) has relinquished most of their premises and he has been told that WFH is now permanent. I’ve told him to develop a “bad back.”
All my WFH staff had to show they had suitable accommodation before being allowed to WFH (something I had to sanction) and they had proper office furniture and equipment provided. I made sure their working conditions complied with the latest guidance and I had an audit trail of my H&S inspections available if any problems arose. I never visited them unannounced but I made it clear that I would be visiting, by appointment, as frequently as I thought fit. Some received more visits than others. My nephew would not even have got a look in at WFH in the conditions he does, even if he wanted to, let alone if he didn't.
I cannot believe how employers are abrogating their responsibilities in this manner (usually, but not always, with the connivance of their employees).
^^^^ Thats why I gave up work when I did as I dont have anywhere to work from home. I'd hate to be stuck in my spare room (lucky to have one I know) which is tiny and I'd be on a fold up chair against a bedside table!
Nevertheless the thought of the boss or the H&S Officer knocking on the door to assess my home would have given me a Stress Related Ilness!
Nevertheless the thought of the boss or the H&S Officer knocking on the door to assess my home would have given me a Stress Related Ilness!
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