Under coronavirus lockdown, the majority of the UK working population worked from home. Unless you’re a keyworker, or unless you were under furlough, it’s likely that you spent much of the first half of 2020 remote working from home.

Even before coronavirus lockdown, remote working from home was fast becoming the norm in the UK. As the UK gradually eases out of lockdown, employees and employers alike may find it easier to continue working from home. After all, there are fewer restrictions to worry about with remote working. And even if it becomes clear that we’ve beaten the virus for good, many employees might still prefer to work from home.

So remote working from home could become the new normal for UK businesses. It’s something that employers everywhere may just have to adjust to. So let’s take a look at some of the great opportunities, as well as some of the challenges and new business requirements, that remote working from home could bring.

Advantages of Remote Working from Home for Employees

The biggest benefit for employees is that remote working from home can make life significantly easier.

No Commute

There’s no big commute to worry about. Instead, all employees have to do to is open their laptop, and they’re at work. Similarly, all they have to do to leave work is close their laptop.

Improve Work/Life Balance

In this way, working from home can vastly improve your work/life balance. If you’re not spending countless hours each day travelling to and from work, you’ll free up a lot of time that you can dedicate to more wholesome practices.

Avoid Workplace Politics

Remote working from home can make office squabbles and petty workplace politics a thing of the past too. If you work from home, you can do everything on your terms. All of those endless arguments about heating, air conditioning, and the quality of the coffee will vanish overnight. In this way, working from home can improve working relationships.

Disadvantages of Remote Working from Home for Employees

Some employees struggle to switch off. If all it takes to go to work is to open your laptop or check your phone, then some employees may be tempted to work a lot longer than they would otherwise. Remote working from home could improve your work/life balance. But it could harm it, too.

Over-Working

Employees working extra hard might sound like it could benefit the business. But overwork makes employees stressed and anxious. It’s bad for employee wellbeing, which means it can be bad for productivity, morale, and working relationships. Working from home takes discipline. For it to work, employees must set clear limits on when and where they work.

Loneliness

This isn’t the only way in which remote working from home isn’t for everyone. Some people just find it to be too lonely. Many employees will have missed the casual office chats and the camaraderie while under lockdown. They’ll be longing to return to the workplace just so they can see people again. So for some, the idea of always working from home could be unwelcome.

Advantages of Remote Working from Home for Employers

Increased Productivity

So long as employees know when to switch off, working from home can actually lead to increased productivity. Studies show that, in a eight hour working day, most employees are only productive for about two hours. This is because not all of us are built for the 9-5. But when you work from home, you’re free to work on your own terms, at whatever time and in whatever place works best for you. If your employees are disciplined enough, you might see a rise in productivity.

Improve Working Relationships

We mentioned above how remote working can improve working relationships. It could improve relationships between staff and management, too. If you let your employees work from home, you’re basically showing that you trust them. Employees might reward this trust with increased loyalty and, perhaps, increased productivity.

Improve Your Business Reputation

Remote working from home, like any flexible working situation, is a forward-thinking idea. Embrace it, and you could improve the reputation of your business as a whole. It could help you to attract the sort of talent you need to make your business grow, and it could be exactly the sort of progressive policy that will convince certain clients and customers to choose you.

Disadvantages of Remote Working from Home for Employers

As we said above, it takes discipline to be able to effectively work from home. If your employees lack this discipline, it could cause a range of problems to your business.

Under Delivery & Employee Burnout

One is a drop in output, as your employees consistently underdeliver while working remotely. On the other end of the scale is stress and burnout, as your employees struggle to switch-off and neglect to take necessary breaks.

It’s Not Possible for Everyone

Also, it will never be possible for all employees to work remotely from home. If all you need to do your job is a computer and a smartphone, then working from home is easy. But what if you work in a warehouse, or with specialist equipment out in the field? If some employees are allowed the “luxury” of working from home and others aren’t, it could lead to tension between your teams.

Communication Issues

Finally, remote working from home could reduce petty office disputes. But think of all the other conversations that won’t happen – the chats and discussions that could lead to genuine innovation, or at the very least to more productive working relationships. There are many benefits to remote working from home. But something is certainly lost when people don’t work together, in the same room.

Remote Working from Home for Employers – The Practicalities

Soon it will be possible for many UK workers to return to the workplace. Many may prefer to still work from home, so it might be time to write a working from home policy for your business. This can act as an outline of the essential rules you expect all employees to follow when working from home. It can help people find the discipline they need to remain productive while not in the office, without overworking to the point of stress and burnout.

But the biggest practicality to consider is insurance.

• If you employ people, no matter where they work, you have a legal obligation to get employer’s liability insurance. This will cover for any accidents or injuries your employees sustain while on the job, and it absolutely extends to home-based workers.
• If you work from home, your equipment will be your livelihood. You should consider contents insurance, so that you’ll be covered should anything ever happen to your smartphone or laptop.
• If you work remotely from home, you might have to access sensitive data using less-than-ideal connections. It’s vital that you consider cyber security. But you should also get some cyber breach response insurance, to cover you in a worst case scenario.

It’s also important to consider whether working from home will affect your home insurance, or your tax situation. Read our guide to running a business from home for more information.

If you would like an insurance quote or have any questions about our products please give us a call on 020 7846 0108 or email us at info@tapoly.com.