Skip to main content

working from home

 



Guide to protecting the business when staff are working from home

WITH MANY COMPANIES PLANNING TO INTRODUCE SOFTWARE TO MONITOR STAFF PRODUCTIVITY REMOTELY*, HR EXPERTS HAVE HIGHLIGHTED TOP STEPS TO PROTECT BUSINESS OWNERS WHEN STAFF ARE WORKING FROM HOME.

According to a recent YouGov survey on remote-working compliance commissioned by Skills Cast*, one in five firms has introduced or is planning to implement software that can track employees’ work remotely to monitor their productivity.

These actions could put business owners in breach of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and pose a risk to businesses if employees feel their privacy has been invaded as part of the monitoring process.

The Employment Practices Code** states that an employer is liable to pay compensation for damage suffered by an individual as a result of a breach of data protection law, arising from the actions of the line manager, if it is clear that the line manager has been acting outside of their authority.

As an employer, it is important to make sure that you have clear procedures and training in place to avoid breaching any

data protection laws,

“With good management, employers should be able to trust their employees and should have sound measures in place which demonstrate whether or not staff are working efficiently without the need for spyware options. Instead, employers need to support managers in managing the situation, as coming down heavy on employees is counterproductive.


Here are the steps you can take to protect your business when staff are working from home:

  1. Provide key training around the GDPR legislation
    It is a key requirement for all businesses to train their staff on GDPR legislation. Ensure that you are providing adequate training for your team and have a data protection policy in place. Senior employees must be made aware that they need to be transparent with staff about how they are using and safeguarding the personal data of employees, inside, and outside of the business and should provide an employee privacy notice for this purpose.
  1. Sharpen management skills
    Implementing good management practices that employers can follow while staff are working from home can increase staff efficiency and trust without the need for micromanagement and productivity monitoring software. Management should be practical, supportive, and flexible while bearing in mind that staff working from home could potentially be dealing with home schooling and anxiety.
  1. Strengthen communication
    Managing a team remotely can prove difficult and poor communication can make the situation more complicated. Make sure your business has robust communication mechanisms in place to keep employee/employer relationships strong. Remote working arrangements need to be structured with regular check in’s, 1-2-1 meetings and key performance indicators (KPI) & Service Level Agreements (SLA) monitoring. Set expectations so all team members are on the same page within your business.
  1. Offer technology training
    Staff members may not be aware of how best to use technology when working from home. Avoid assuming that it will be an easy switch for staff to leave the office and continue their roles in a remote working arrangement, it may be
  2. overwhelming for them to set up by themselves. Provide employees with the opportunity to take up technology training or computer refresher courses. Once staff members are aware of how to use their technology, they will also be less likely to accidentally breach data protection laws while remote working. It is important that you comply with data protection legislation and have adequate policies and procedures in place. Your organization can be inspected and could face significant penalties if your practices are in breach of GDPR

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

52 Work From Home Jobs for you

  52 Work From Home Jobs Paying as Much or a Lot More Than the Average UK Salary. The money can be pretty good but you're on your own. For some people that's the best part. 1. Affiliate Marketer  When the visitor clicks the affiliate link and buys the book, Amazon will pay you a percentage of the sale. People love affiliate marketing because they can start earning money passively with few startup costs. 2. Animator Are you an artistic and creative individual who is able to create animation and visual effects for television, movies, video games and other types of media? 3. Baker/Caterer/Chef If you have a knack for baking or cooking, then turn your passion into a side business. From your own kitchen, you could start a catering business or become a personal chef. If you're a baker, you could sell you goods to friends, neighbors, online or at local farmer's markets. 4. Blogger Blogging is inexpensive and easy to start doing. It could be as simple as you just writing about ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Building Websites

  How To Make Money Building Websites. If you have experience building websites, you have the potential for a great side hustle or even the ability to leave your traditional 9-5 job behind for flexible, enjoyable self-employment. But the biggest question for most people when evaluating how to make money building websites is how to get started. We’ll explain step-by-step how to get started and make a profit with building websites Do you know how Does Making Money with a Website Work? If you have skills in website design can make money because not every business owner has the time or ability to create their own website.  Generally, the cost for building a website is a flat fee that you charge for setting everything up for the customer. Then you hand off the final product for them to manage or you can charge a monthly fee to manage the website moving forward. Alternatively, you could build a website and use it to generate side income. The best way to do that is to set up ads and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Buying and Selling Stuff Online

  Interested In Buying and Selling Stuff Online? Here’s How You Can Start Out Buying and selling stuff online can be a great way to make money. It’s a comeback of the flea market world, made more convenient through the web. And if you’re into buying and reselling, you can find numerous items to flip on eBay. There is a lot of stuff out there to be sold both online and offline. Selling stuff online can be even more fun and addicting but you have to understand that there are a lot of gains and losses especially when your business is just starting. Let’s take you through the journey and how you can set yourself up for success. 1 First Identify Or Create Products That Solve A Problem If you want to make money selling online, you’ll need to select or create products that solve a problem. Solving problems is the best way to make money. Find products that solve a problem and you will never run out of customers.  For example, if you are creating or improving an existing product (or se...
Post a Comment
Read more