Home Working Guidance

If you are categorised as a Hybrid Worker, your base will be home and you will spend the majority of your time at home. If you are an Agile Worker – Site Based, you may occasionally work from home.

Therefore it is important that your home is appropriately set up for you to work and that you follow some key home working guidance which is noted below. If you have any concerns about working from home you should discuss this with your line manager in the first instance.

Will equipment be provided for home working?

The following package for home working shall be provided and maintained by North Lanarkshire Council:

Provision of laptop PC and software.
Provision of “key fob” facility for access to Council systems.
Access to network printer as necessary (within the service base)
Mobile phone where necessary.

A chair, monitor and ancillary equipment (for example foot rest, wrist support, riser etc.) will be provided by the Council as required and in line with the appropriate Health and Safety assessments.

Will my hours of work be the same at home?

An employees working hours at home should largely mirror those normally undertaken in the office, unless otherwise agreed by the line manager. These working hours can vary to accommodate work life balance arrangements, if agreed with the line manager and in line with the Smarter Working policy.

If you are currently entitled to flexi time, this will continue, unless otherwise advised by your line manager. All working hours should be recorded electronically via the time and attendance module on mySelf. Employees should ensure, where possible, to limit interruptions during their working day, unless previously agreed with their line manager. Under no circumstances should they undertake any other responsibility e.g. childcare, during the hours they have agreed to work.

Health & safety assessments

A Homeworking Self Assessment should be undertaken for each home workspace at the beginning of the home working arrangement and reviewed periodically thereafter. The self assessment form can be found here and should be completed by the employee and returned to your line manager.

You should also undertake the relevant online learning to ensure you are clear on the need for good DSE and workstation layout and posture. Please see e-learning available on Learn NL.

Looking after your wellbeing

Employees should ensure that they are taking steps to look after their wellbeing during their period of working from home. This includes:

maintaining regular contact with your manager and colleagues
taking regular breaks and exercise and to structure your working day
avoiding being ‘always on’ by ensuring that they identify non-working time
contacting the employee assistance programme if they need support, for example, in relation to heightened feelings of anxiety.
being aware of the things that can cause them poor wellbeing and the activities and resources that can help to address this

More information to support your wellbeing can be found here.

Insurance and mortgages

Employees will be responsible for seeking confirmation from domestic insurance companies that their domestic insurance policies have been noted, or adjusted, if necessary. It is not anticipated that there will be an additional cost to home insurance for working from home.

Working at home may have implications for an employee’s mortgage or lease arrangement. Consequently, employees are obliged to advise their mortgage provider or landlord that they are working at home.

Useful Links:

Frequently asked questions relating to the topic of working from home can be found here.

Further information on working from home is available here on Learn NL.

Updated on 1st June 2022

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