Employers need to reappraise their responsibilities around working from home say Toyah Marshall and Charles Spencer of HR and legal expert Ellis Whittam.

Accountancy businesses have taken a pragmatic, short-term approach to office-based employees working from home. However, despite being introduced as a temporary arrangement to endure lockdown, the business mindset regarding home working appears to have shifted.

Permanent change?

A quick browse of online job boards reveals a lot about the direction many employers are headed, with a good proportion of accountancy roles now appealing to candidates through headlines like ‘remote working opportunity’, ‘potential for home working’ or simply ‘location: anywhere’.

Clearly, there is an awareness that this kind of flexibility is high on people’s list of priorities when searching for a new position, and with COVID-19 giving some their first taste of home working, this may well become the default in accountancy and wider financial services even after the dust has settled.

However, if this is to become the norm rather than an informal, short-term solution, there are a number of implications for employers concerning their health and safety duty of care and the employment law position.

Here are some practical tips for those who employ or manage people.

1. Don’t assume everyone enjoys home working

Probably most of your employees will be open to working from home on a long-term basis. Others may not share their enthusiasm – especially for a permanent change.

Parents may have found home working a less positive experience due to the distractions created by children in the home. Those who live alone may have found home working equally difficult due to reduced social interactions.

A more permanent move towards home working is likely to also impact more junior employees, who may find the prospect of being given more autonomy particularly daunting.

In these cases, you will need to properly weigh up whether home working will be beneficial, or whether it may result in more disengaged, less productive employees. If you are contemplating a more permanent transition to home working, consider how this might impact different people in different ways and what procedures can be put in place to monitor wellbeing. Some ways to support staff include:

• Providing training for managers on how to identify stress and anxiety, especially as it will be harder to spot when staff are struggling.
• Setting up regular one-to-ones to check in with employees – both in relation to their work and also their mental health – and making sure this becomes habitual even after the ‘novelty’ of home working wears off.
• Using “coffee roulette” to pair up different employees each week for a short chat over whichever video conferencing software you are using – this is a great way for colleagues to support each other and will keep communication strong between different departments.
• Ensuring employees have everything they need to carry out their role remotely, as frustrations around technology, software and access to information can be another source of stress.

2. Review your contracts

If you are planning to have staff work from home on a temporary basis until it is safe and practical to return to the workplace, this is unlikely to change an employee’s contractual place of work. Nonetheless, to avoid ambiguity, it is important to make clear to staff that this is a temporary arrangement, indicate how long you expect it to last, and explain that it can be ended at any time at your discretion. In any such discussions, take care to avoid making permanent ones that you cannot later end.

If you are contemplating making home working a more permanent fixture, you will need to agree with your employees a variation to terms. Given that most employees will view this as a positive change, this should be a relatively painless exercise. However, if staff aren’t so receptive, you will need to have a reasonable basis to change their terms unilaterally. In the current circumstances, employers may have justification to do so based on health and safety reasons or perhaps to avoid redundancies, but you will need to demonstrate that this was necessary.

3. Understand your health and safety duties to homeworkers

While home working might appear relatively low-risk, it’s important to remember that employers still owe homeworkers a duty of care. The core piece of health and safety legislation in the UK, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, also applies to anyone working from home and requires employers to eliminate or reduce risks where possible.

This does not mean that as an employer, you are responsible for everything that goes on in somebody’s home. You would not, for example, be expected to record someone tripping over a family pet in their living room as a workplace accident. However, if they were electrocuted while using a work laptop, this would need to be logged.

Back in March when employers initially reverted to home working, the HSE’s attitude was that this was a short-term arrangement and, as such, temporary provisions should be implemented such as a basic laptop and phone for communication with other employees. Now, as more businesses consider making home working the norm, employers will need to give further thought as to what measures will need to be introduced to mitigate risk.

Home working Risk Assessment

The best way to do this is by conducting a Home working Risk Assessment with individual employees to assess hazards and decide on appropriate controls. Within this, you should consider both physical hazards, such as those associated with work equipment, work station set-up and working alone, and mental health and wellbeing hazards, such as stress, isolation and fatigue.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a recent survey by the Institute for Employment Studies revealed a significant increase in musculoskeletal complaints amongst homeworkers, with over half reporting new aches and pains.

Your Home working Risk Assessment should therefore include aspects of employees’ workstation set-up when assessing whether they are able to work safely in the home. This is especially important if you are considering having employees work from home long-term.

When deciding on appropriate control measures, keep in mind that employers have a duty to provide employees with suitable work equipment to enable them to complete their job safely.

Editor’s note: insurance is a further area to consider. Many home insurance policies will expect the homeowner to declare they are using the premises for business. Normally clerical use is adequate. While premiums may increase from this disclosure, failure to declare the situation could make cover void.

Summary

The Government’s advice is to ‘work from home if you can, go to work if you must’. On this basis, those working within accountancy are likely to return last to the workplace, if indeed they do at all.

However, while you might have the luxury of time on your side compared to other sectors who have had to scramble to reopen safely, it’s important to use this time wisely, as any permanent shift towards home working will not only create logistical challenges but will impact your legal responsibilities, too.

About the authors

Toyah Marshall is Principal Employment Law Adviser and Charles Spencer is principal Health & Safety Consultant at Ellis Whittam.

Ellis Whittam has created a free Back to Business Hub for employers, containing all the guidance, risk assessments and template documents you need to reopen safely, compliantly and with minimal employee issues.

Over the coming months, trainee accountants and apprentices will be looking to start new jobs.

Many will not be able to join the office in the traditional way, either because they will be working for home, or they will only be coming into the office one or two days a week.

What can managers do to create an effective onboarding process and help new starters assimilate the culture of the organisation they are joining?

Be empathetic

Sherad Dewedi, Managing Partner at Shenward Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors, says that being on the receiving end of an onboarding process is always a nerve-wracking experience.

“It’s important to be empathetic towards the candidate during both the recruitment and the onboarding phase, especially at such an unprecedented time,” he says. “We’ve successfully run the Shenward annual apprenticeship programme for four years, but this year we’ve had to adapt our approach for hiring and onboarding.”

He says that employers often structure their onboarding processes around their own needs, expectations, and requirements and forget that the success of the process relies on the happiness of the employee.

“It’s no secret that the most productive, loyal and hardworking employees are those who feel happy and respected by management, and a valuable part of the wider team,” he says. 

Organise hardware set-up well in advance

Ensure that your new hire has access to all of the technology they need to perform their role at home, including laptops, phones, headsets, and more, says Chris White, Director at Zellis and an expert in systems and technology for core HR processes, including onboarding.

“Where possible, set up automated alerts from your HR system to your IT team, so that when a new starter has been confirmed, you can work as quickly as possible to get them the equipment they need,” he says.

It is important to make the transition as seamless as possible, says Paul Williams, Director at Highstream Solutions, which provides IT solutions for businesses. 

Talk through your chosen IT software with your new recruit to ensure they fully understand how everything works.

“Send over their new laptop/PC and any accompanying equipment in plenty of time so that they can familiarise themselves with it and set up their new home office. 

“It is also beneficial to do a walk-through with your new employee to ensure they understand their new IT software,” he says. “Be aware that this may be a suite of tools that they have not used before, so setting up online training on their first few days is a must.”

Set the right tone from the beginning

Gareth John, Executive Chairman and Director of Accountancy Training College First Intuition, says managers could send an eye-catching ‘welcome to the team’ e-booklet to new staffs prior to their start date.

This could include:

• Pictures and bios of colleagues
• Mission statement and core values, perhaps with video links of senior staff talking about the genesis of the organisation
• What they will need on their first day; P45, driving licence, passport etc.
• Details of mental health and wellbeing resources
• Video chat etiquette and dress code expectations

“For their first day make sure you have thoroughly planned out a schedule of meetings and training,” he says. “Communicating your organisational culture, ethics and values should be every bit as important as logistics, policies and procedures.”

A ‘first day’ virtual lunch where the new starter can chat informally with colleagues, and a ‘first Friday’ online social event is a good idea, he says. Sending an M&S voucher in advance so they can buy some drinks and nibbles is a nice touch. 

Schedule regular informal contact

Schedule regular touchpoints to ensure that your new member of staff does not feel isolated or lonely.

“Make sure they are subscribed to receive all of your important internal communications,” says Chris White. “Companies are increasingly using ‘social recognition’ platforms in the workplace, which allow employees to celebrate hard work and achievement in a fun, simple, and social way – using GIFs, memes, videos, and more.”

These platforms can help build a coherent team ethos during the crisis, especially for new starters, since its purpose is to recognise employees who have demonstrated a commitment to company values, he says. 

Lee Owen, Director at Hays Accountancy & Finance, says managers should get a new starter involved as soon as possible with their new team. 

“Add them to a group chat on WhatsApp, Skype or similar, send email updates to inform them of what’s happening in the department and invite them to remote social occasions like quizzes or coffee meetups,” he says. It will help them build rapport quicker with their team and get a sense of the social culture.

“Increasingly we are also seeing employers use virtual office tours to give candidates and new hires a sense of what the workplace looks like. If your organisation does not have access to this technology, you could send photos or even talk the individual through a typical day in the office to give them a glimpse into the culture.”

Use a buddy system

“Have a buddy system where each new starter is paired with a buddy who is not their line manager,” says Gareth John of First Intuition.

“Choose someone who works in the same team or bubble, has a couple of years of experience with the organisation, and shares similar personality traits,” he says. 

Getting it right early on is key for loyalty and engagement at work.

‘Employees are a huge investment and it’s critical to support them — over 40% of leaders fail to meet the needs of a new employee within the first 18 months,” says Jonathan Richards, CEO, and Co-Founder of Breathe, a cloud-based HR software platform which works with SMEs.

“As part of the onboarding process, pair them up with a buddy and encourage them to virtually eat lunch together — this will be a more informal introduction and will help them settle in and become part of the team.” 

Create a virtual culture using communication

“Remote working can sometimes create obstacles to communication, collaboration, relationship building, and accessibility within your team, however, with the right strategy and communication techniques you can still maintain a unified team ethos,” says Lee Owen, Director at Hays Accountancy & Finance. 

“A key element of this is effective and open communication,” he says. “It is important that you establish frequent communication via the right digital tools, taking advantage of all channels at your disposal. Video calls help to build a stronger connection between participants, so make sure these feature heavily in your communication plan.”

As well as maintaining transparency, it is important to build in ‘team time’ on conference calls to provide the opportunity to encourage small talk and build relationships. With fewer opportunities for those impromptu interactions which happen in offices, it’s important to make the time for these virtually to help foster working relationships and build team ethos. 

“Efficient knowledge sharing is another part of creating an ethos that needs attention while working remotely,” he says. “Everyone will possess specialist knowledge that is easy circulated in the office, so encourage them to share this through PDFs, webinars or podcasts. This could be a unique opportunity to encourage your team to appreciate one another’s value.”

Choose the right method of communication

Online meetings can be more regular and shorter than in-person meetings which are great for a feeling of constant engagement, says Gareth John of First Intuition.  A ten-minute daily team meeting at the start and end of each day can work wonders.

“Pick the right platforms for different types of communication,” he says.

This could include:

• Zoom video calls where there are a number of participants
• Slack is replacing email for internal communications and can be broken down into channels for different teams and projects, and even for ‘fun and games’. Slack also has an easy one-to-one video call function that replaces a ‘quick phone call’
• Whatsapp for more social interactions and chatter 

He suggests that managers record meetings at which key news or developments are being discussed so that those that cannot attend are kept in the loop and do not feel excluded.

Think about your own management style

“Managing trainees is not always easy even when you’re in the office, so now everyone is working from home, it can be a real challenge which requires changes to your management style to overcome,” says Lee Owen, Director at Hays Accountancy & Finance.

“While some of your trainees will need reassurance to feel secure and satisfied, others will flourish working more independently under flexible circumstances, so account for personality when supervising and see how you can add different value to the individuals you manage,” he says. 

If you are managing multiple remote trainees, it is going to be impossible to infiltrate every aspect of their working day, so effective delegation is important, he says. 

“Take sufficient time to brief individuals on particular tasks so you can empower them with the responsibility while easing your own workload. It shows you trust your workers to get the job done without too much oversight and helps their development and progression.”

Supervising trainees working remotely does mean that you will need to be sensitive to their schedules, so make allowances where possible.

“Give them the freedom to decide when their breaks will be, how they will spend them and when they get back to work. Offer support wherever possible while also making deadlines clear.” 

Do you really need to have everyone back in the office?

“We are now much more open to recruiting remote workers in the future,” says Caroline Collyer, Head of People, Bright. 

“This is due to the fact that we have successfully navigated running the company with everyone remotely and adapted comfortably to the tools of communication needed,” she says. “This will do wonders for opening up new roles to a wider range of people and has the added benefit of improving accessibility and diversity.”

Further reading:

• Your views: how will the government pay the bill for coronavirus?
• Self-employed must register properly to avoid National Insurance snag hitting pensions
• Remote control: how to manage and motivate a virtual team

Remote working is different, and you need to think and manage differently if you want to keep staff motivated and productive.

Given that before the coronavirus pandemic only five per cent of the workforce – worked from home, it’s strange to think how the transition to remote working has gone more smoothly than anybody expected.

We spoke to HR expert Natasha Kearslake, director of consultancy Organic P&O Solutions, to get some insights.

From ensuring that water-cooler chat continues to dealing with apprentices in pyjamas, read on for expert advice… 

• Jump to sections
• 1. Restructuring your team for remote working
• 2. Getting the most out of your staff
• 3. Managing apprentices and trainees/ Managing younger staff
• 4. Employee wellbeing
• 5. Recruiting and dismissing

Whether it’s behemoth corporations such as KPM seamlessly shifting its 16,300-strong UK workforce to home working or small practices questioning whether they need to pay expensive office rents, most firms have adjusted to their workers slogging away from their kitchen tables or garden sheds.

Even as lockdowns start to lift, it looks as if some people may never return to their office cubicles or endure soul-crushing commutes ever again. Facebook expects half of its workforce will work remotely over the next five to ten years; Twitter has announced that its staff can work from home “forever” if they choose.

That doesn’t mean that remote working hasn’t thrown up considerable challenges. In particular, many managers are concerned staff could be slacking given that it’s now difficult to monitor them. There are also some reports of trainees being furloughed because the experience of supervising them and delegating tasks has gone so badly.

1. Restructuring your team for remote working

Assess staff needs

“The first step is recognising that some people will adjust to this easily and others will struggle,” says Kearslake. “Assess what remote working means for your people. Do they have enough physical space? Do you need to loan them any equipment? Will home working affect their mental health? Identify these issues first.”

Establish a team ‘check-in’ 

Within your organisation, it’s worth having a team ‘check-in’, somebody who speaks to staff individually on a daily basis at a fixed time. This remote manager will monitor what staff are currently working on, as well as acting as their go-to person should they have any concerns or worries.  

2. Getting the most out of your staff 

Set team objectives and express these clearly

Workers have actually become more productive during lockdown. One recent University of Montreal study revealed that one third of those surveyed feel their performance has improved since they started working virtually.

However, not every boss is confident that their hires aren’t spending all day scrolling through Instagram feeds or playing with their pet dog. In fact, now that physically hovering over their desks is no longer an option, there’s no way of guaranteeing whether staff are slacking or not.

Kearslake’s advice is simple. Because remote-working requires staff to take more responsibility, managers should abandon any ideas about presenteeism. They should ensure that any work produced has to be results-driven, perhaps setting assignments with timescales and deadlines. 

“Because you can’t see staff working, it increases the case for managing by results,” says Kearslake. “Don’t focus on how many hours they should be working. Instead, have a conversation about what you expect them to achieve.”

Clarity is essential here. “You need to be absolutely clear with staff about deadlines and what you expect them to produce by a certain day,” says Kearslake.

If in doubt, managers can monitor email traffic, phone calls or financial performance. However, before you start snooping their data, Kearslake warns that you should check whether such surveillance is in your employment contracts. Another (more drastic) measure is to contact a private investigator: in Las Vegas De Becker Investigations has caught home-workers playing tennis and golfing after their suspicious companies hired the detective agency to do some sleuthing. 

Become an inspiring leader by developing the personal touch

“If you praise people when they produce good work, they’re more likely to repeat it,” says Kearslake. “The postal service hasn’t disappeared – try sending a thank-you card or gift.”

It’s also worth making yourself more visible as a leader, she adds. “Think about content, whether it’s a video you put on your intranet page every morning or blog posts.”

Keeping company culture alive 

The fabric of the workplace thrives on water-cooler chat. Some companies even claim informal conversations lead to innovation – see Google, which keeps its canteen lunch-lines deliberately long in the hope this “serendipitous interaction” will foster inventive ideas.    

But how can you inspire team bonding when everybody has dispersed into isolated, one-person units? Kearslake recommends changing the means of communication. “If most of your work is conducted on email or Zoom, then consider encouraging staff to chat with each other on less informal channels such as Slack, social media or instant messaging.”

The last few months has also seen countless creative examples of staff letting their hair down online: digital happy hours, quarantine quizzes and virtual pizza parties (whereby pizza is delivered to all team members during their videoconferencing call).

3. Managing apprentices and trainees/ Managing younger staff

What to do when an apprentice doesn’t attend a virtual meeting because they’re having a lie-in… 

Start by observing their working habits, suggests Kearslake. “Does this person operate on their own initiative or do they need motivating? Is this apprentice capable of getting themselves breakfast or will they wander through the day in their pyjamas? It’s about seeing how they get on.”

Ditching nine-to-five working patterns is also a good idea. “Work with the rhythms of your staff the best way you can,” advises Kearslake. “Be flexible: concede not everybody needs a 9am start. If somebody functions better when starting later in the day, let them do that. Also, set clear boundaries about what they need to achieve, rather than focusing on when they’re available.”

According to research by Henley Business School, millennials and generation Z (those born those born between the mid-1990s and early-2010s) desire flexible working and would happily trade pay for the freedom to work wherever and whenever they want.

“With that particular age group, if you show that you’re prepared to give some leeway, you’re more likely to win their hearts when it comes to things that you can’t be flexible about,” says Kearslake.

Be mindful of their home working conditions

Junior members of staff, apprentices and trainees are more likely to be working from a parental home or shared accommodation. It’s something that bosses should be conscious of, says Kearslake.

“What kind of space are they working in? Have they got a spare room to work from? Or are they using the kitchen table as a desk? It might be noisy with lots of children around, or they could be caring for their relatives.”

If that’s the case, Kearslake suggests exercising some leniency. “These are unusual times and you can’t apply traditional working principles,” she says. “You’ve got to be understanding about the challenges they’re facing. Find out the best times of day for them to work. It might also mean that the apprentice has a conversation with their families, such as telling their furloughed mother they can’t watch Netflix in the background of their Zoom calls.”

Become acquainted with asynchronous working

Asynchronous working broadly means that business hours won’t be at the same time for everybody.

“Think carefully when scheduling hours for your staff,” says Kearslake. “For example, you could move somebody to starting early before their kids wake up, because that’s the only time when the house is quiet. Or you could shift other staff to the evenings because that’s when they’re most productive.”

Helping workers who aren’t tech-savvy

“Find whatever technology they are comfortable with,” says Kearslake. “If the rest of the team is on Zoom, and they’re more comfortable with telephone conversations, consider that instead.”

Helping less confident trainees

Holding team meetings on virtual conference calls may mean the voices of bashful staff may struggle to get heard. Fortunately, many videoconferencing platforms have chat functions where team members can type messages for co-workers (see Zoom’s ‘Raise Hand’ feature or Google Hangouts’ Google Chat).

4. Employee wellbeing 

Looking after… the physical health of workers

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers have a legal duty to protect staff when they carry out their work. This includes home-workers. Although it’s logistically difficult to ensure staff are using equipment properly – you can’t visit their homes, after all – you must educate and train them on any potential hazards, plus provide any devices to help mitigate any risks. Kearslake suggests referring to the Health and Safety Executive website [HYPERLINK: hse.gov.uk], as well as “giving information to the employee so they can conduct their own risk assessment at home and report back.

Looking after… the mental health of workers

The lack of face-to-face interaction can leave staff members feeling lonely and isolated; one recent Nuffield Health study found that around 80 per cent of British people working from home feel that lockdown has negatively affected their mental health. Managers should check in on the wellbeing of their staff, and refer them to professional support such as counselling should they need it.

5. Recruiting and dismissing

Recruiting virtually

Body language and other non-verbal cues are an essential part of job interviews and something that doesn’t immediately translate to video calls. Kearslake suggests conducting more than one interview for potential recruits and setting them some work. “You can also learn about them from how they turned up for the call,” she says. “Did they attend on time? Did they have tech issues? The way they approach remote working is important, as it’s how we’ll all be working in the months ahead.”

Dealing with underperforming staff and firing them

“You need to change the standard template of any correspondence to reflect the fact that these are unusual times,” says Kearslake. “Also, let them have a say in how the meeting happens. You should never accuse underperforming staff of being lazy either – you need to find out what’s going on [at home] and give them an opportunity for them to tell you they’ve hit a problem.”

In summary

The Covid-19 pandemic has radically altered the way that businesses operate. Even when restrictions are lifted, it’s likely many firms will permanently shift to home working, as it can result in increased productivity and a reduction in fixed costs. By recognising that employee living conditions aren’t always a place of calm, setting crystal-clear boundaries to staff, plus constantly observing what works with remote working (and what doesn’t), managers have a critical role to play if they want their companies reap any benefits.

Further reading

• Coronavirus help and information
• Different ways to study
• Get the most out of distance learning.