Hello all, 

I would love to gather some thoughts from the HR community on something. I am the HR manager of a small (around 70 employees) technology company. We, like everyone else, were forced into home-working last year. We are now (again, like many others) going to formally move towards a type of working pattern where we offer a blend of home and office work. Our thought was to suggest 2 days in the office and 3 at home - but this could be flexible. 

My thought is around the compliance aspect. If we offer this working arrangement in an 'official' sense, what are our liabilities? As I understand, we would need to consider the health and safety aspect (i.e. risk assessments, safe working at home etc.), employer's liability insurance (as in is home-working covered), and employees own home insurance (I think). Are there any other big compliance considerations here I have missed? For example, do we run the risk of employees considering their home their place of work and claiming millage to travel to the office?

There is another element to this. It is the contractual side. All contracts currently state the office as the place of work. My current idea is to get the managers/HR to consult with their teams and agree the right blend of home and office work (which would vary, of course) and then issue them with a 'homeworking agreement' for them to sign etc. Does this sound sensible (not to mention compliant)? The idea is to be flexible, trusting and open in how we work, but I have started to realise that for some people we would nee more certainty (hence the suggestion to record it all in the agreement). 

Any thoughts on this would be most gratefully received! 

Thanks, 

Chris