Workers need to be notified in writing of their place of work (or, where they are required or permitted to work at various places, an indication of that). Additional requirements apply where the worker is required to work outside the UK for more than one month. Any changes to these details must be notified to the worker ‘at the earliest opportunity’. The contract may also entitle the employer to change the place of work unilaterally, although these ‘mobility clauses’ need to be exercised with caution.

Regardless of where employees work, UK employers have a duty to provide a safe work environment. This may be more difficult to manage where the employee works remotely, and more bespoke policies may need to be developed in certain organisations.

Rights under UK employment law typically only apply where the employee is working in the UK at the time. The position becomes more complex where employees split their working time across borders. Employees working remotely from other countries may have different rights and protections under local employment laws.

Working patterns can impact an individual’s employment status. For example, remote working typically involves more independence for the individual and less control by the employer. This may result in a move away from ‘employment’ and towards ‘worker’ or even ‘self-employed’ status. A regular employment status audit can help businesses identify these risks. It may suit some businesses better for those individuals working remotely to all have a distinct employment status, with rights which match their working pattern.

The place where the employee is working will have implications for the tax that is payable on their income. The employer may still need to operate PAYE for employees who work abroad, and there is potential for further tax deductions depending on the place and duration of overseas work. There are also separate rules governing the employer’s obligation to make social security contributions in relation to employees working overseas; including a post-Brexit regime with the EU. There may even be tax implications where an employee relocates within the UK, for example from England to Scotland. Employers should also bear in mind the risk that having employees working overseas will amount to having a permanent establishment in an overseas jurisdiction for corporation tax purposes.

Employers must also ensure that the employee has the right to work from each relevant workplace, from an immigration and regulatory perspective (and that any relevant conditions are complied with). Employers should monitor immigration requirements for short-term business travel between the UK and the EU.

Monitoring employees working from remote locations has many challenges, as does keeping information confidential. Cyber-security issues are discussed further down.

If the workforce splits based on where employees are working (for example, office v home), this could have both cultural and legal implications, particularly if those working from one location tend to share a protected characteristic for discrimination purposes.

Workers need to be notified in writing of their normal working hours, and if/how their hours may vary. UK workers can be asked to opt out of their right to a maximum 48 hour working week (and most will have done so). They cannot however opt out of rest break and annual leave entitlements, which the employer must accommodate.

There are various definitions for different purposes. It is not usually as simple as when employees are ‘working’, and can include stand-by and other times when they are treated as at the employer’s disposal. In some circumstances, travelling time between different workplaces counts as working time. Where the lines between ‘working’ time and ‘private’ time become blurred, accurately measuring working time can become challenging. Employers must have a mechanism for accurately tracking working time, not least because a failure to keep accurate records attracts criminal sanctions. 

Hybrid working has in some cases increased employee productivity, but often at the price of longer hours when employees can forgo the commute, with potential mental health implications. 

A legal right to disconnect has already been introduced in several EU countries (including Ireland). The laws prevent employers requiring their workers to be available outside their working time, and co-workers from contacting colleagues for work purposes. Although the UK government initially intended to implement a ‘Right to Switch Off’ preventing employees from being contacted out of hours except in exceptional circumstances, this was not included in the Employment Rights Bill, and there has been no further commitment to this proposal.

Increased adoption of hybrid working arrangements has resulted in more staggered shift times. While the flexibility may suit some, it places additional burdens on others, who for example have childcare arrangements which are only compatible with a more typical 9-5 work pattern.

UK employees have the right to request flexible working, and the UK’s Employment Rights Bill will strengthen this mechanism, by ensuring that the employer can only refuse the request if one of the existing statutory grounds for refusal applies, and it is reasonable for the employer to refuse the request on that basis. On the other hand, the Bill also introduces a mechanism for workers on zero or low-hours contracts to gain greater stability, by requiring employers to make a ‘guaranteed hours offer’ to certain qualifying workers, based on the average hours worked over a reference period. Balancing these twin drives for more flexibility and more stability will need to be part of employers’ modelling of new working patterns.