Working from home: Frequently asked questions

We frequently receive questions from business owners and managers about employee flexible work arrangements and working from home, so we’ve put together this blog post to answer them.

Do I have to allow people to work from home?

Every employee in New Zealand has the right to request flexible working arrangements at any time and employers are required to consider any requests fairly and in good faith.

Requests and responses must be in writing.

Employers need to respond as soon as possible but no later than one month after you receive the request.

You can only refuse a request on specific grounds, e.g. there's a good business reason or it conflicts with a collective agreement.

Whether or not working from home will work for your business depends on your operations and

individual needs. For some businesses, there will be certain roles that can only be done at the workplace.

If you decline a work-from-home request, consider if there are other ways to boost employee engagement, e.g. further training or career advancement opportunities, benefits and perks, or additional leave policies.

Do I need a work-from-home policy?

Deciding whether or not you allow employees to work from home (some or all of the time) will depend on your business and the types of work your team members do.

If you are going to let people work from home, having a written work from home (WFH) policy will help ensure everyone knows the rules and expectations. A wider policy on flexible working arrangements, including working from home, helps with transparency and ensures flexible work requests are handled fairly.

If you do notice a drop in employee productivity, you want to be able to raise the issue with the employee and potentially revoke the work from home arrangement. Having any potential consequences documented in a policy reduces the risk of it becoming contentious.

Also, if staff are working from home, the employer has health and safety obligations that extend to the employee’s house because that is now their place of work. So, a robust WFH policy should have a checklist for ensuring the working environment is safe, e.g. Do you have the equipment that you need? Is there a chair and a desk? Are cables all tucked away?

What should a remote working policy contain?

Firstly, consider what flexible work options you are open to, so you can document the guidelines clearly in a policy. The options could include:

• Employees working from home on an ad hoc basis.
• Employees working from home on particular calendar days.
• Employees working from home on a rotating basis, e.g week on, week off.
• Eligibility criteria if opportunities will be limited to certain roles or teams.
• Certain minimums or maximums, e.g. being at the office at least 50% of the time.

The policy should detail the application process for employee requests and how the business will consider and respond to them. Also include any criteria or conditions for granting requests, e.g. performance indicators.

If you want to introduce mandatory work-from-home arrangements, you will need to run a formal consultation process with all affected employees.

MyHR works with employers everyday and we have a WFH policy that we provide to our customers, as and when needed.

How do I respond to a work-from-home request?

Every request should be in writing, which you should formally acknowledge. Your response to the request must also be in writing and it's good practice to document your consideration process.

An online system for handling and responding to requests will make the process easy.

When approving a work-from-request, it's wise to specify:

• What tasks will be performed.
• Hours of work.
• Where the work will be carried out.
• Furniture and equipment needed to do the work.

When granting requests, be clear whether the change is on a trial or temporary basis or whether it is permanent.

How do I manage employees working from home?

All normal workplace rules and policies should still apply regardless of the working situation, e.g. health & safety, anti-bullying or harassment policies, zero-tolerance for drugs or alcohol, absence notification procedure.

When employees are working from home, remember to check in frequently and set up virtual communication tools. Having well-integrated, digital communication and HR systems will help everyone stay connected with a minimum of hassle.

Set clear expectations for availability during work times, as well as performance and productivity to keep the arrangement on track. Define how you will monitor performance and inform employees when they are not meeting expectations.<

What are my health and safety obligations?

When employees work from home or another premises, that place is considered a workplace and both the employer and employee have the same health and safety obligations as if the person was at the workplace. This also includes the potential risks that could result in ACC claims.

In normal business conditions, you should only allow employees to work from home if the work hazards are identified, assessed, and controlled (as far as is reasonably practicable).

You must always seek to eliminate the risk where you’re reasonably able to, and if not, you need to consider what you can do to minimise the risk.

Remind employees to identify potential elements and factors around their home that could potentially cause them (or their family) harm. Consider electrical equipment, cables, overloaded outlets, slip/trip hazards, excessive noise, lighting, fire hazards, and other people in the work-space. Ideally, the work environment should also be warm and dry.

Get more tips on working from home safely at WorkSafe.govt.nz.

How should employees set up their home workstations?

It is important to ensure an employee's home office or workstation is set up correctly. Some key things to consider are:

• Setting up a workstation or office desk in line with ergonomic guidelines, e.g. correct desk and chair heights, adequate equipment spacing.
• Ensuring the employee has a suitably designed chair with adequate lumbar support.
• Reminding employees to take 2- or 3-minute “micro breaks” every half hour.
• Reminding the employee to stretch and move, keep a dynamic posture while working, and spend time working standing up (if possible).

What each worker needs in order to do their job from home will depend on the business and role, but items may include: laptop, monitor, keyboard, phone, headphones, internet connection.

Do I have to pay for work-from-home equipment?

Yes. The equipment is related to work, so employers should bear the cost of providing it.

If you cannot provide everything necessary, you can ask your employees to buy items and then reimburse them for these expenses or compensate them for using personal items. It is important to record any agreements and budgets in writing.

To make expectations clear, you should make sure your flexible work policies include the rules about the use, storage and return of equipment and what employees should do if equipment is faulty, lost, or damaged.

Am I obligated to look at the ergonomics of an employee’s work-from-home set-up and possibly provide extra equipment?

Overall, it is the employer's responsibility to make sure employees have a safe and healthy working environment.

Who provides the equipment can depend on whether you are requiring workers to work from home or not. If some team members have to work from home - e.g. you don’t have enough desks at your workplace to have all your employees on site at the same time - then you are obliged to provide any equipment an employee needs. However, if it's an employee request to work remotely and they already have a safe and suitable setup at home, you wouldn’t need to provide the equipment. You should check that the working environment is safe and healthy, and to monitor it over time to ensure it stays that way (or if health problems develop, you should have a conversation about getting better gear).

You could also stipulate in your WHF policy that if an employee wants to work from home, they need to supply the equipment and an environment that is safe and healthy, e.g ergonomic desk and chair, good lighting and ventilation.

How do we fairly manage 'hybrid' expectations when some roles in the business (like warehouse or front-of-house) cannot work from home?

This situation requires a bit of thoughtful management to keep everyone on side. But, at the end of the day, if your warehouse or front of house staff have to be on site, you can't offer them work from home arrangements while your office staff may be able to work remotely.

It's okay to have different policies or different working arrangements for different teams because they do different work. You're not treating people unfairly; you're just treating them differently because of the roles they perform.

You do need to make sure that you handle the issue with practicality as well as sensitivity. If warehouse staff feel like they can’t contact their WFH colleagues when they need them, that could harm productivity and create resentment.

How do we distinguish between an employee's 'right to request' flexibility and the business's 'operational requirement' to have them on-site, without damaging morale or risking a personal grievance claim?

You can approve or decline a flexible working request based on the requirements of the business and the role, but what is difficult to avoid is how an employee might react if you decline their flexible working request, even if it was for a perfectly legitimate reason.

It is hard to win an emotional argument with a logical argument, and you should be prepared for employees feeling frustrated or disappointed. Have an open conversation with them about why you are declining their flexible working request and how you came to your decision. Again, it’s best to have these matters covered in a company WFH policy so everyone knows the score.

An employee can’t raise a formal complaint because you declined a request or because the person disagrees with the reasons you cite. They can only challenge it if you didn’t follow proper process in considering the request or notifying the employee of your decision.

Employment.govt.nz lists the reasons an employer can decline a flexible working arrangement request.

What's the best way for employees to maintain good mental health when working from home?

Working from home or remotely can lead to employees feeling isolated or unsupported. People may also work long or irregular hours, or not take suitable breaks.

Employers should ensure everyone stays in touch with each other (and management) and that there are good communication channels so people can raise issues or reach out for support if they need it.

Self-care when working from home is vital so encourage workers to look after themselves and pay attention to how well they are coping.

Having a routine and structure helps. Set boundaries and expectations about people working usual hours and taking regular breaks, as well as allocating time for micro-pauses, hydration and meal breaks, exercise, and talking with colleagues.

Ensure everyone can also separate work from home life, by working away from the bedroom or family rooms (if possible) and switching off devices at the end of the work day.

Read our blog post on keeping remote workers healthy and productive.

How do we keep up social interaction when people work from home?

Social interaction is a key component in any good company, and when people work from home it's easy to feel detached from the team. So maintaining connection is really important.

Having good online systems that allow people to connect easily and fluidly is essential. Consider creating a dedicated channel for people to chat, share jokes, or let off steam. It doesn't all have to be about work, all the time.

You can also schedule in regular social catch-ups, e.g. once or twice a week, to share stories, wins, or gripes, or to have a drink (it doesn't have to be alcoholic). Give everyone a chance to have their say and have some fun.

What happens if someone is working from home but goes to a café or another city to work without reporting it?

It all depends on what your expectations are and the conditions of any company WFH policy.

There may be valid reasons why you need employees to be at their agreed-to place of work (e.g. they work with sensitive or confidential information or their home has the most secure/ reliable internet connection) or you could allow employees to work from other places on a case-by-case basis.

This should all be detailed in your WFH policy, so employees know what they can and can’t do and what the consequences could be if they don’t follow the policy. If you find employees are working from locations you aren’t comfortable with or they haven’t requested or been approved to work from, start by having a conversation with the person to reset expectations. If an employee is repeatedly ignoring the policy, it may be a disciplinary matter.