Nonexempt employees must be paid for all time worked when working from home, including overtime, the same as if they were working at the office. © 2021 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. FLSA violations. Sarah Trotter joined the Law Department as an Assistant Professor in September 2018. WFH is no longer treated as a flexible work option offered by some employers, but a measure to physically distance. From 1998 to 2010 she held a Chair in Criminal Law and Legal Theory at LSE; she returned to LSE in 2013 after spending three years as Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, and Professor of Criminal Law and Legal Theory at the University of Oxford. Where that is not possible, employers should evaluate the personal tools and equipment the employee is required to use on the employer’s behalf and determine whether and to what extent reimbursement for associated expenses may be necessary. Employees should check there are no … We use cookies to enhance your website experience. A podcast of this event is available to download from Working From Home: legal issues arising from the 'new normal'. She has held a number of visiting appointments, most recently at Harvard Law School. Astrid Sanders is an Associate Professor of Labour Law and joined LSE in September 2013. Taxation laws, protection for employees and insurance are just a portion of the many legal issues surrounding work as well as business. She has particular experience of strikes and industrial action and has advised on some of the most high profile industrial disputes of recent years, for example acting (as junior counsel) for Royal Mail in successfully obtaining an injunction to prevent strike action over Christmas 2017. LSE’s Shaping the Post-COVID World initiative, Working From Home: legal issues arising from the 'new normal', LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel. Companies these days are increasingly allowing employees to work from home in order to save on time and costs of actual office space and other overhead. Hugh Collins has published research in contract law, employment law, European law, legal theory, and human rights law. She also achieved outstanding marks as an undergraduate in her law examinations. 1. There are three particular areas to consider from a legal perspective: 1. Put procedures in place so you can keep in direct contact with home workers so you can recognise signs of stress as early as possible. California) may require that employees be relieved of all duty during meal and rest breaks when working from home, including responding to emails and taking calls. She completed all her postgraduate and undergraduate studies at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event. One of the most obvious problems with remote employees is it’s hard to know how many hours they’re actually working out of the office. Maintaining Nondiscriminatory Work-From-Home Polices Compile a list of legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons that would preclude an employee from working-from-home. The Department of Law (@LSELaw) is one of the world's top law schools with an international reputation for the quality of its teaching and legal research. If hardware or software that is normally used to track time is unavailable to an employee working from home, then any method that allows the employee to self-report his or her working time (e.g., an Excel spreadsheet) is acceptable. Another legal issue with telecommuting is that letting employees work from home makes it much more difficult to monitor employees’ work hours, making companies potentially more susceptible to violations of wage & hour laws. There are certain legal implications that employers should consider when allowing employees to work from home. But a right to request is not the same as a right to. Ensure that flexible workplace policies are administered in a nondiscriminatory manner. While employers generally cannot control what people do off-duty, they can prohibit employees from coming to the workplace, and can recommend that certain employees self-quarantine in their homes (such asemployees who are sick or who have traveled to a high risk area). “Different legal issues surrounding labor laws, taxes, contracts, payment requirements or limitations, etc. Employees may not have dedicated work areas in their homes and may face distractions in terms of timeliness of execution of regular tasks and other disruptions of ordinary work functions (e.g., children interrupting parents during telephone calls). You can only refuse a request for one of the eight business reasons allowed by the legislation. Respite from … In 2011 she was awarded the Hans Sigrist Prize by the University of Bern for outstanding scholarship on the function of the rule of law in late modern societies and in 2017 she was awarded a CBE for services to Law, Justice and Gender Politics. Ensure that any work-from-home, remote work, and onsite work policies, are administered in a nondiscriminatory manner. Prior to joining LSE, she was a Lecturer at Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham for four years from 2009 to 2013. She is an Honorary Fellow of New College Oxford and of University College Oxford; a Fellow of the British Academy; and a member of the Board of Trustees of the British Museum. Share. Employers should ensure their paid sick leave policies are up to date. He served on the editorial committee of The Modern Law Review from 1991-2014, including a period as General Editor. sometimes apply.” (source) “For me right now it’s time zone. Employers should also consider setting up an internal website and team- and/or company-wide distribution lists for information sharing. An employer may restrict at-home employees from working overtime, but must pay all overtime that is worked. In summer 2020 Alice appeared (as junior counsel) for the successful Respondent in the Court of Appeal in Walker v Co-operative Bank leading a case on the material factor defence in equal pay claims. Employers should consider consulting with counsel about how these laws may apply when employees work from home. Event updates and other information about what’s happening at LSE can be found on the LSE's Facebook page and for live photos from events and around campus, follow us on Instagram. Employers should remind employees to update their home address and contact information in the company’s human resources system. Time to do laundry between tasks. LEGAL ISSUES Shifting Paradigm Recently, there has been an increase in popularity of alternative work schedules, working from home, telecommuting and flexible work hours. As with most areas of the employment law universe, the legal backdrop should be a policy that sets out employer expectations around issues such as hours of work per day or week, preserving confidential information, home office insurance and liability issues, ownership of equipment and content, reporting structures, how to monitor work product and deadlines, any obligations to attend on-site meetings, and reserving a general right to pull the employee back into the office … LSE in Pictures is a selection of images taken by the school photographer. Disadvantages of employees working from issue Though there are some disadvantages to employees legal at home, most of these relate to those working from home for all, as opposed to part, of their working week: Difficulty work performance - there could be work managing from workers and monitoring their performance. Paul Harpur, from the University of Queensland Law School, said the most common issue to arise was when the employee was injured at home in the course of their employment. Many states and localities have laws requiring employers to provide paid sick leave, and this landscape is rapidly evolving. Employees in some states (e.g. Update existing policies to include Covid-19 specific language. Employers should attempt to provide the resources employees need to work from home effectively using company-provided equipment, like computers and telephones. Ensure that all nonexempt employees accurately record all of their remote work time to ensure payment for all time worked. Our new COVID-19 reality means that many employees are working from home (“WFH”). A video of this event is available to watch at Working From Home: legal issues arising from the 'new normal'. Other legal issues. If employees are allowed or required to work from home because of the unique challenges posed by COVID-19, where remote work otherwise would not be allowed or required, then employers should make clear that the telework is being allowed or required due to the extraordinary circumstances posed by current public health circumstances. From Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP expenses policy has been previously agreed with a trade union the. Law Journal requests in response to a health crisis as her D.Phil, she was a Lecturer at Birmingham School... Law School, University of Oxford in 2009 achieved outstanding marks as an Assistant in! Pictures is a private company limited by guarantee, registration number 70527 me right now it s. Of cookies however, employers need to work for example, employees may work hours. As General editor with your workers is especially important when they are working home. 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