Employees working from home

Kitting out people who work at home

You're likely to be responsible for providing, installing and maintaining all equipment unless the employee uses their own kit. Equipment you need to provide may include:

• workstation, including suitable desk and chair
• filing cabinet, drawers and shelving
• PC with office software, email and broadband Internet connection
• dedicated business telephone line
• printer and fax machine
• stationery and office supplies

Advances in technology can allow you to create virtual teams where employees work together despite working from home. A basic virtual team could be two employees talking over the phone, or you could use more sophisticated tools like high-speed Internet, email or video conferencing. IT equipment can be expensive, so make sure it is compatible with your existing systems and meets a genuine business need.

For information about IT provision, read the page in this guide on how technology can facilitate working from home. For more information, see our guide on mobile technology.

Remember that you still have health and safety responsibilities for people who work at or from home. See the page in this guide on your health and safety obligations towards homeworkers.

You'll probably need to extend your business insurance to cover equipment used by employees in their homes. The employee's home insurance policy is unlikely to cover this. They should check with their insurer to make sure they're covered for working at home. It's also worth mentioning to potential homeworkers that if they use part of their home exclusively for work, they may have to pay business rates for that portion of their home. It's a good idea to get them to check the position with their local council.

You also need to ensure that employees take care of business equipment in their possession. Establish procedures to be followed if any item is damaged or lost.

You can also download information on equipment for teleworkers from the DTI website (PDF).

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Advantages and disadvantages of employees working at home
• Types of work and skills suited to home working
• Employment contracts and working from or at home
• Kitting out people who work at home
• Manage employees who work from home
• Your health and safety obligations towards homeworkers
• How technology can facilitate working from home
• Responsibilities of homeworkers
• Here's how I manage the performance of my homeworkers and keep them motivate

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