Are your Homeworkers Working Longer Hours?
Some employees who are working wholly / partly from home can find that they are putting in more hours than when ‘in the office’. There can be many reasons for this such as an increased workload, employees feeling pressure to be seen to be ‘present’ or a blurring of the lines between work and home life. In light of this, some employers will be considering what they can do to help support employees who are working remotely / have a hybrid working pattern to facilitate good performance and work-life balance.
If your business is one of those employers, steps you may wish to consider could include:
- Ensuring that good communication is maintained between managers and employees. This will help managers to ensure workloads and working hours are appropriate and give employees the opportunity to seek advice or help with a work related matter at an early stage. Not only can this help to save time, but knowing support is there if it is needed will be welcomed by employees.
- Reminding employees of the importance of taking a lunchbreak and encourage them to take it in full. Under the Working Time Regulations most adult workers are entitled to a minimum in-work rest break of 20 minutes if they are working for more than six hours a day but many employers give employees the right to a longer break in their contracts. It can be tempting for such employees to shorten their break if they are busy or otherwise feeling under pressure, to meet deadlines for example, but it can be counterproductive. A break can help employees to re-energise and better focus for the rest of the day.
- Checking in with employees towards the end of the day to see how they are doing and if any help is needed to enable them to log off on time can help with work-life balance. It can be easy for employees to just carry on working at home if they are busy and don’t notice the time or if it has become a habit in the absence of the commute.
If you would like information regarding the limits on working time and rest breaks for employees, or you have any other employment law matters you would like assistance with, please do not hesitate to contact Kingfisher Professional Services Ltd as we are happy to help.