There have been numerous stories covered by the media surrounding schools having to provide laptops to children who don’t have such equipment at home to enable them to carry out their schoolwork. But does the same apply to the workplace? Are employers required to supply their employees with the equipment they need to do their jobs?

Employers actually have no general legal obligation to provide the equipment necessary for homeworking. However, says the International Law Office in its Working from home FAQs, there are exceptions to the rule:

“In guidance issued during the first lockdown, the government encouraged employers to take every step possible to facilitate their employees working from home, including providing suitable IT and equipment to enable remote working. Some employers have developed systems to allow employees to take equipment from the office to satisfy this shorter-term need. Some employers are providing a (generally fixed-sum) budget to employees to buy necessary work equipment for working at home, so long as receipts are provided.

“Employers should provide equipment or flexibility for employees who are identified as being at risk. In circumstances in which equipment is specifically needed to address health and safety concerns, employers are liable to fund the cost of that equipment (and possibly have a role in selecting it).

“Disabled employees may be entitled to auxiliary aids as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010. If such an aid is reasonably needed, employers must ensure that it is provided – at their expense – to individuals when working from home. Employers and employees should review their respective insurance policies to ensure that work equipment used at home is covered.

“There is no income tax or national insurance contributions (NICs) charge where employers provide office equipment for employees working from home under a formal homeworking arrangement if certain conditions are satisfied, including that the property remains the employer's and that there is no significant private use of the equipment. A new temporary COVID-19 exemption has been introduced whereby employers reimburse employees for the cost of office equipment purchased by the employee between 16 March 2020 and 5 April 2021, provided that certain conditions are satisfied, including that there is no significant private use.

“Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has updated its tax rules for employers which cover the expense of providing or reimbursing the cost of homeworking equipment.”

Working with display screen equipment
Most people working from home will be using some form of display screen equipment (DSE), which comes with its own health risks. The HSE advises that, for those people who are working at home on a long-term basis, the risks associated with using display screen equipment must be controlled. This includes doing workstation assessments at home.

If a DSE user works at home, or remotely, the DSE Regulations still apply, and their workstations must still be set up properly. Homeworkers may encounter both the normal risks associated with DSE work and some potentially increased risks that may arise from social isolation, stress, lack of supervision, lack of employer commitment and difficulties in undertaking risk assessments. It is not always practicable for the employer to send someone else to conduct a risk assessment for homeworkers, so a good solution is for the employer to train such workers to undertake their own DSE assessments.

Keep DSE arrangements under review
As any period of temporary home working extends, the HSE says employers should have regular discussions with workers to assess whether additional steps are needed, for example where they report:

• aches, pains or discomfort related to their temporary DSE arrangements;
• adverse effects of working in isolation, on remote IT systems; and/or
• working longer hours without adequate rest and recovery breaks.

Where employers decide to make working from home arrangements permanent, they should explain how to carry out full workstation assessments and provide workers with appropriate equipment and advice on control measures.