Coronavirus update: Tuesday, 8 December

With the ongoing severity of the coronavirus pandemic and the Government continuing to encourage people to work from home where they can, we anticipate that our offices won’t fully reopen before April next year.
 
With this in mind, we’ve put together some key information to further support colleagues to work from home safely, comfortably and productively in the coming months.
 
As you know, in the future, as we travel less and work from fewer offices, colleagues are likely to work from home more.

A new policy that provides guidance about this longer-term way of working will cover these points in more detail but, recognising that we're still dealing with the here and now of the pandemic, we hope this updated guidance is helpful.

Workstation setup

Due to the uncertainty of this ongoing situation, it's fair to say that many of us have muddled through, finding the best possible temporary solutions to help us work productively at home.

Being mindful of the challenges people continue to face, we want to ensure we're doing everything we can to help colleagues through the coming months. 

Early in the New Year, an updated DSE (Display Screen Equipment) assessment with additional focus on home working will be available and you'll be encouraged to complete it.

If your DSE assessment is currently due, you should log on to Skillgate and complete one. Although the existing assessment isn’t specifically tailored to home-working, you'll be asked to complete it based on your current home-working setup.
 
Any issues identified from these assessments will be resolved with the support of the Environmental Health & Safety team (EHS).
 
If you're DSE assessment is up-to-date but you're having health and safety related issues with your workstation environment, please flag these concerns with your line manager who'll advise you of the next steps to take.
 
Where a clear need is identified from a health and safety perspective, the Group will address these issues in a reasonable manner by providing chairs, ICT equipment, footrests and similar items.
 
It’s important to note that we're all responsible for taking reasonable care of ourselves and cooperating with our employer to comply with health and safety regulations.

Once a health and safety need has been identified, the following two options are available:  

Collecting office equipment

One way of improving your home-working experience could be to collect a more comfortable chair from your office base. Please speak to your line manager before contacting the relevant site manager to arrange an appropriate day and time to visit an office and – where applicable – please use the online desk booking form.
 
Purchasing office equipment

If a clear need has been identified from a health and safety perspective, you’ve flagged this issue with your line manager and visiting an office to collect equipment is not a feasible solution, the Group will address these issues in a reasonable manner.
 
Please speak to your line manager, who will in-turn liaise with EHS about the best way to resolve the situation. At this point, suitable equipment could be sourced and provided to you or you may be advised to purchase something yourself. If it’s agreed that you need to purchase something yourself, you’ll be able to claim back the money you spend.
 
If you’ve already purchased additional equipment you’ve needed from a health and safety perspective to enable you to work from home - such as chairs, desks and footrests - and this equipment is seen as suitable, appropriate and reasonable, you’ll be able to claim back the money you’ve spent. Please speak to your line manager for further guidance on this. 

Extra hardware, such as headphones, an additional screen or a webcam to help you better connect with team members and other colleagues, could help you work more productively.
 
Please complete a hardware request form or raise a case with the ICT service desk via the ICT portal. If you’ve already collected ICT equipment from an office, please inform the ICT Team.

In the absence of office-based PAT testing, please undertake a regular visual inspection of the equipment you're using at home, looking out for any damage to wiring, plugs or signs of overheating. 

Don’t worry if the PAT testing sticker indicates the test is out-of-date. It’s not a legal requirement that these tests are completed but they're a good way of ensuring the equipment is checked. It’s more important that you remain vigilant for anything that appears to be damaged.
 
More detail on what to look for can be found on the EHS SharePoint site.

Please report any faulty equipment to ICT.

In line with the approach taken by other similar organisations, Longhurst Group won’t contribute to the cost of colleagues' heating, electricity, broadband or other utility bills.
 
However, if you’re working from home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, you may be able to receive tax relief from HMRC for additional household costs.

If you have to work from home on a regular basis, either for all or part of the week, you may be able to claim tax relief on either:

• £6 a week from 6 April 2020 (for previous tax years the rate is £4 a week) – with no evidence needed of extra costs
• the exact amount of extra costs incurred above the weekly amount -  evidence such as receipts, bills or contracts will be needed. 

Any tax relief you receive will be based on the rate at which you pay tax. For example, if you pay the 20 percent basic rate of tax and claim tax relief on £6 a week, you'd get £1.20 per week in tax relief (20 percent of £6).
 
More information about this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home.

If you have any financial concerns relating to working from home, please speak to your line manager.

All equipment that belongs to Longhurst Group is covered by the Group's insurance policy.

If you haven't already done so, it would be sensible to inform your home and contents insurer that you're continuing to temporarily work from home due to the pandemic. 

Although most insurance policies automatically cover this, because working from home represents a change in circumstance, it would be sensible to check with your provider. Many insurance companies have information about this on their website. 

With some data protection risks heightened due to home-working, it’s essential we all remain aware of our duties under the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

You’re responsible for keeping all documents and information associated with the Group (hard or electronic copies) confidential and secure at all times.  
 
Please read and adhere to the Group’s Data Protection Policy.

Please liaise with the Business Support team to order and collect stationery from your office base. If you’re unable to visit an office, please keep receipts for work-related purchases and submit an expense claim.

Please continue to refer to the range of advice and support that has been made available to help colleagues with their health and wellbeing and economic resilience, including free and confidential counselling and financial information.  
 
To find out more and access this support, visit our Wellbeing Hub on Our Workplace.

A range of helpful courses are also available on the Learning & Development hub. 
 
Useful tips

The BBC has put together a really helpful article, entitled 'Coronavirus: How to be happier while working from home'. which provides some great advice about the things we can do to improve our home working experience. To read the article, click here. 

If your wellbeing is suffering because you’re really struggling working from home, then please speak to your line manager about the possibility of working from an office.