7. Who pays the costs of homeworking?

Updated TUC guidance, published at the start of the third COVID lockdown, says that no worker should be expected to pay for their own equipment, such as computers or WIFI, while working from home. Who pays for what will largely be a matter for collective negotiation, but there are some useful legal baselines that can support a negotiation (see box on next page).

The union can make an economic case during such negotiations, based on the savings the employer will make. Employers with experience of homeworking estimate that every full-time homeworker saves them at least £6,000 to £7,000 each year, according to professionals’ union Prospect. The union points out that these savings provide the basis for negotiating financial arrangements which are also beneficial to the homeworker, for example, paying/retaining metropolitan city weighting allowances when working from home.

Prospect recommends that the employer should help to reimburse homeworkers for providing office space, energy costs (such as cleaning, heating and lighting) and wear and tear.

Whatever the outcome of negotiations, it should be made clear from the beginning which costs the employer is prepared to cover. This information should be set out in the written statement of employment particulars or a collective agreement so that there is no dispute.

Employers will often treat homeworkers who are contracted to work from home on a permanent basis differently from ad-hoc homeworkers, or even regular homeworkers.