Working from Home 'due to Adverse Weather Conditions'

19 January 2011

How many times over the last few weeks have you heard the phrase “…due to adverse weather conditions”. It was not just the mail, supermarket orders, Christmas gifts and countless other deliveries that were impacted by the severe weather, for the many staff unable to reach their workplace, working from home suddenly became a necessity as flooding, snow and ash clouds became dramatic, albeit temporary, features of our everyday working lives. 

These were not just overnight phenomena that resulted in a couple of days off work, but seriously disrupted transport routes for a week or more with the knock on implications to businesses, communities and individuals. Airports had to close due to volcanic ash clouds and snow, major road networks ground to a halt in the snow and ice, not to mention weeks of frozen ground so icy that office car parks and pavements were more suitable for skating than walking. Flooding too was another “adverse weather condition” to be dealt with by residents and businesses alike.

Every day when we are working with clients helping them to develop strategies for maintaining critical activities in the event of an incident that disrupts access to the workplace, the one that heads the list is asking staff to work from home.

A logical assumption you would think and indeed why not. Such a strategy instantly reduces the need to maintain a significant number of costly seats at a business recovery site. Staff do not have to find their way to different locations, negotiate potentially disrupted transport routes, etc. Most people have access to a PC or laptop and internet connection at home, so it seems like a no-brainer.

It should be that easy, but it’s worth taking some time to think through some of the implications of working from home so that when and if the time comes, everyone knows where they stand.

For many staff, suddenly finding that they are required to work from home because they cannot be in the office due to an incident, can present something of a minefield when it comes to knowing how to access systems remotely and what services will be made available, when. When we are at a client’s and speaking with their personnel as part of the business impact analysis, a not uncommon answer to the question “Do you have access to a laptop?” is “Yes, but I don’t always take it home.” Another typical response is that it is quite likely staff do not know how to access corporate systems remotely or would not have the capability to do so from home.

So it is important to ask some questions before making the assumption that working from home is the logical course of action for those staff required to maintain critical activities post-incident:

• Do staff have the appropriate equipment at home for accessing the internet?
• Are they required to use a company laptop to access the corporate systems to maintain appropriate security levels?
• Have they been issued with company devices to enable them to log in securely and do they know how to use these, e.g. passwords?
• Do the existing IT systems and services have sufficient capability to cope with a sudden surge in the number of remote users?

Around 3 million people work from home routinely every day and there is a whole load of legal and regulatory issues that are relevant to home workers that should be understood by employers. Some of these are listed below:

• Review employment contracts if employees could be required to work from home
• Are there any insurance implications, e.g. using employer’s equipment offsite
• Who will bear the costs of working from home, e.g. connectivity, electricity charges
• Employers are obliged to carry out a health and safety risk assessment of the employee’s work activities at home
• Employers are responsible for the maintenance of company equipment used for working at home
• Information security
  • Does the organisation’s information security policy cover data that is used remotely and whilst being taken to/from the workplace
  • Are your systems and networks securely protected so only approved users can gain access externally and how do you know who is accessing them
• Confidentiality and data protection – are employees aware of their obligations in terms of managing information under the Data Protection Act.

Once you have developed the solutions, make sure they work in practice by holding a technical recovery test and business continuity exercise. Document actions that should be taken post incident in the business continuity plan and test them out too.

As part of pre-incident planning, ensure all personnel are made aware at regular intervals of the information they will need if suddenly required to work from home. Remind them to take laptops home and check they are confident about using the necessary procedures to gain access to systems remotely. Be aware of any health, safety and security implications that may become applicable if staff are asked to work in a different location from usual.

Working from home is an ideal solution for managing critical activities if it is not possible to use the workplace and most office-based functions can be satisfied in this way assuming appropriate kit and services are available. However, this has to be balanced alongside the needs of the business and it is likely that at least one member of each recovery team will want to be located at a recovery site with other colleagues to aid communication and workflow. Remember to stay in touch with those people based at home so they know what is required of them and to keep them updated on the situation.

Once systems and procedures are in place to enable working from home, employers may choose to adopt a more flexible approach to working which has other benefits too, such as reduced overheads and improved recruitment and retention of staff.

Further information on home working and flexible working can be found at:

Health & Safety Executive
Homeworking - Guidance for employers and employees on health and safety
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg226.pdf

Department for Business Innovation & Skills
www.bis.gov.uk/

The Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) Regulations 2002
www.legislation.gov.uk/

Businesslink.gov
www.businesslink.gov.uk/