The Essential Elements of a Hybrid Working Policy
Following on from our previous post 'Your Must Have Hybrid-Working Checklist' having hybrid working policies and agreements in place is essential when returning employees to the office and agreeing a split between working form home and in the office. We see the important elements of a hybrid working policy to be the following:
1. Detail the split between attending work and working remotely
Your hybrid working policy should detail the split between attending work and working remotely and state what number of days an employee will spend attending the workplace and working remotely. The number of days will depend on but is not limited to some of the following;
- the nature of the employees role
- what is happening within their role and team at any particular time
- individual circumstances
- the needs of the business, including space available at the businesses work locations
2. Working Hours
The working hours the employee must work in the office and at home must be stated, for example: For days on which the employee is attending the office, their normal hours of work are set out in their contract of employment.
Ensure you also detail that while working remotely, they must be available and working during their normal hours of work, as set out in their contract of employment while also listing the break and lunch times and being clear that they must avoid overworking, down time from work is essential.
3. Safe-Working While Working Remotely
Detail the procedure your employees must follow should they have any health & safety concerns while working at home, for example; if any work-related accidents occur in your home.
4. Remote Working Procedures
This section of the policy is where you will detail:
- Sickness Absence
- Compliance with Policies
- Technology & Equipment
- and a reference to data protection
Bright Contracts have recently updated the software to include a hybrid working policy which can be found under the 'Terms & Conditions' section of the handbook. If you'd like to preview this content prior to consider purchasing a licence you can do so here.
Related Articles:
- Your Must Have Hybrid-Working Checklist
- The Link Between Hybrid Working & Employee Engagement
Your Must Have Hybrid-Working Checklist
The coronavirus pandemic has completely changed how we live, not just in our personal lives but the way we work too. With hybrid-working becoming a dominant feature in the workplace for everyone businesses are now faced with developing a hybrid policy, creating agreements with their employees and ensuring the success of these arrangements. We believe that preparation is essential for employers when implementing hybrid working which is why we have developed a checklist for employers which can be followed when looking an the implementation of a hybrid model:
Step 1: Look at what works best for your organisation
Step 2: Communicate your intentions
Step 3: Written agreements
Step 4: Implement your hybrid policy
and 5: Refer back to your covid-19 response plan
- Step 1: Hybrid working can bring huge benefits in terms of productivity, flexibility and employee wellbeing – but it’s not the best option for everyone.Think carefully about what your organisation has learned during the pandemic and how your people feel about it. What have been the benefits of working at home and the disadvantages of not being together in the workplace? If hybrid working does appeal, think about what would be the best blend – more home working or more time in the office. Ensure you also look at your HSA health & safety checklists for office and home working. The HSA has these checklists available on the HSA website.
- Step 2: Once you’ve worked out what could work best for your business, make sure you communicate your plans to your employees. Do this well in advance of any change so employees have a chance to feed back their views.
- Step 3: You must ensure you have written agreements in place with your employees which communicates what is expected of them in order to avoid any confusion and any possible future disputes. Bright Contracts have template hybrid working letters available on the Bright Contracts website which can be downloaded here and edited to suit your businesses hybrid model arrangements.
- Step 4: Once written agreements are in place next you need to implement a hybrid working policy within your organisation which we have just made available on our Bright Contracts Software. We hope this provides organisational leaders and business owners a simple but effective framework to make hybrid working a successful reality. With government guidelines on safe working constantly changing in response to the pandemic, hybrid working policies need to be reviewed much more regularly than most other policies
See our follow up blog post 'The Essential Elements of a Hybrid Working Policy' to read what your hybrid policy should detail.
Bright Contracts has a hybrid working policy available in the software which is available under the 'Terms & Conditions' tab. If you'd like to see a sample of this content you can do so by downloading the software and availing of a free trial. we have also recently upgraded our software to include hybrid working in the employment contracts which can be viewed in the contract section fo the handbook under the heading 'Places of Work'.
Related Articles:
- Hybrid Working: Know The Basics
- The Link Between Hybrid Working & Employee Engagement
Supporting Female Employees: Implementing a Menopause Policy
2021 has been a year of big change for everyone and has given rise to many different topics of conversation, a vitally important topic is that of menopause among the female workforces. A media outlet which we believe captures the importance of the conversation around menopause perfectly is The Irish Times who published an article in May 2021 about menopause and the article made reference to how ‘The menopause is where mental health was 10 years ago’. A statement which could not be more true. The origin of this article stemmed from women’s testimonies on Joe Duffy’s Liveline programme and has continued across all media since including being taken up in the Seanad by Senator Pauline O’Reilly. These discussions have brought to the surface the realisation that menopause is considered a taboo subject, like mental health was and like mental health we are not educated enough in what menopause is, the symptoms of it and how we can help those going through menopause which is why it is so important for employers to educate their workforce and to recognise the importance of supporting women in the workplace who are transitioning through menopause which is why we believe it is vitally important for organisations to implement a menopause policy as we believe it needs to be acknowledged and recognised as an important occupational issue requiring supports to be made available.
To ensure that companies show a positive attitude towards the menopause, we want to encourage employers to create an atmosphere where women feel there are colleagues with whom they can comfortably discuss menopausal symptoms and that they can ask for support and adjustments in order to work safely and without fear of negative repercussions. For this reason, the menopause is an issue for men as well as women. So let’s touch on the basics of menopause by answering the simple question, ‘What is menopause?’ Menopause is a natural stage of life when a woman’s estrogen levels decline and she stops having periods. As menopausal symptoms are typically experienced for several years, it is best described as a ‘transition’ rather than a one-off event. The menopause typically happens between age 45 and 55. The ‘perimenopause’ is the phase leading up to the menopause, when a woman’s hormone balance starts to change. For some women this can start as early as their twenties or as late as their late forties.
There are various symptoms that can be experienced through menopause and can be both physical and/or psychological. They can include: hot flushes, insomnia, headaches, fatigue, memory lapses, anxiety, depression and heart palpitations and each of these symptoms can affect an employee’s comfort and performance at work which is why we developed our menopause policy to ensure you are assisting your female employees in their daily duties. In order to assist those experiencing these symptoms in their daily duties, it is important that your company menopause policy explores making reasonable accommodations to the individuals role or working environment with the aim of reducing the effect that the menopause is having on the individual which is explored in our new menopause policy available on Bright Contracts today! We are committed to ensuring appropriate support and assistance is provided to female employees and that exclusionary or discriminatory practices will not be tolerated. Our menopause policy is fully compliant with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 as well as the Employment Equality Acts 1998 – 2015.
Check out your Bright Contracts today to view the update, or if you would like to become a Bright Contracts user you can download the software and purchase a licence today.
To access the update, log out of your Bright Contracts company file and log back in, you will then see a yellow bar across the top of the page asking you if you would like to upgrade the content.
The Vaccine & The New World of Work Webinar
With vaccination rollout currently underway across Ireland employers are beginning to look at returning a number of their employees to the workplace over the coming months which means plans need to be in place and actions need to be carried out to ensure it is as smooth and safe a return as possible.
We recently hosted a webinar recently which detailed for our customers how best to tackle returning their employees to the workplace including implementing a vaccine policy. To view the webinar recording click below:
Bright Contracts has recently updated its software to include a COVID-19 vaccine policy applicable to any business/ industry. This policy is in addition to the COVID-19 Response Plan and Temporary Working From Home Policy currently available on Bright Contracts.
You can avail of a free trial of the software or purchase a Bright Contracts licence to adapt these policies to your business today. If you are looking to adopt or change your HR Software book a free 15-minute online demo to see how Bright Contracts can change your world of HR.
Privacy Policies - a GDPR requirement
One of the main principles of GDPR is that Data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner, these three elements overlap and all three must be satisfied in order to demonstrate compliance.
Employers, as both Data Controllers and Processors, must be able to show how they comply with the new data protection principles and be clear and open with their employees about the processing of data and their rights. The GDPR stipulates that anywhere personal data is being collected, either directly or indirectly, Privacy Notices should be in place, these policies are critical to complying with the transparency obligations in the GDPR. So the introduction of an Employee Privacy Policy will cover the required elements and ensure demonstratable compliance in this regard.
The Privacy Policy should be written in a clear and easily-understandable format and must include;
• What data is processed – name, address, PPS no., bank details, etc.
• How it was obtained – employee detail request form, CV, ROS, etc.
• The ‘legal basis’ for processing the data – contractual necessity, legal obligation, etc.
• Who has access to it and any third parties– HR dept., payroll clerk, pension company
• How it is stored and security – HR system, Thesaurus software, encryptions, etc.
• How long it is kept for –set in company policies or statutory requirements
• The rights of the employee – right to access, rectification, erasure, etc.
• If data is transferred outside the EEA
• Contact details of Data Controller
We have recently upgraded our Bright Contracts software to include a new Employee Privacy Policy feature, so now employers can facilitate the main GDPR principle of lawful, fair and transparent processing of the employee data. We have also updated the Data Protection Policy within the Handbook and the Data Protection Clause within the contracts.
To download a free trial of Bright Contracts, click here.
To request a free online Demo of Bright Contracts, click here.
Bright Contracts | Thesaurus Payroll Software | BrightPay Payroll Software
