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      10-17-2020, 12:38 PM   #1
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Home working. Employers legal obligations?

Looking for some advice for a UK friend.
He's working from home.
With spina bifida he had a special chair at work.
Since working from home. No one has made arrangements for the chair to be dropped off.
He also has a height adjustable desk. Far too big and heavy for him to handle by himself.

My questions are:
1. Does the employer have a legal obligation to provide suitable equipment for wfh?
2. Would the same rules apply to those without needs for adjustments? For example his colleague prefers using a mouse and keyboard. The office is empty but she's been told she cannot take these.

Cheers.
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      10-17-2020, 12:50 PM   #2
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You say that 'no-one has made arrangements for the chair to be dropped off'

I think the first question is as follows : Has he ASKED for it to be dropped off ?

In addition, you're talking someone needing to drop it (and his desk) off. Couriers and delivery companies are not going into people's houses, so unless he's got other people living in his house who can move it for him, it'd just sit on his drive or in a garage.
And that brings up another thing : if the items were delivered to the house, and another house member got injured moving them, then who is liable for that injury ? The company ? If the chair falls apart 6 months later and he gets injured, where is the liability ?

It's always someone else's fault ... and where there's blame, there's a lawyer ...
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      10-17-2020, 12:57 PM   #3
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I can only speak for our company here, but our take is that all employees are entitled to DSE assessments regardless of location. If they need specialist desks, chair or equipment we are buying it for them as its our legal duty.

Obviously that easier said than done if someone has no room for a desk in their home or cant assemble etc. But the duty to provide is still there.
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      10-17-2020, 01:00 PM   #4
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Hi
1) Yes they have, they are requiring him to wfh and are paying him as such. Really they should do a risk assessment on his working conditions? Any adjustments special chairs etc should be provided. They are still responsible for the H/S of their work force even when at home. Given they know he has requirements they should provide this. But as above has he chased this? He needs to put it in writing to a manager not just wait.

2) Again ask for a Risk Assessment. Not everyone has a home office and sitting on a stool in the kitchen bent over a 15" laptop all day is not really ideal.

A friend did the above and requested various items for home and got ordered back in to Office...so be aware of possible options being used.

Your friend could also say he is unable to do his work much longer with out the correct chair etc as it's damaging to his health...may help speed things up?
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      10-17-2020, 01:02 PM   #5
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As above the first step should be for the employee to ask. Yes it would be nice for the employer to ask but with lots of employees working from home the employer has little knowledge of their arrangements at home so really the initiative should come from the employee to set out his needs.
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      10-17-2020, 01:05 PM   #6
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He's made a written request but due to the HSE champion being claimed by COVID-19 there is no one else available at present to carry out the risk assessment. He probably needs a lawyer or shop steward to put his case further.
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      10-17-2020, 01:21 PM   #7
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I'm no expert but I'd think a lawyer or shop steward seems a ludicrous escalation of maters unless I've missed something (likely).

Surely your friend can perform some level of self assessment DSE? Then everyone takes the next steps from there.

That's what we have all done at work and many have simply taken their kit home where feasible, others have requested and then had new kit delivered.
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      10-17-2020, 01:26 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robbiep View Post
You say that 'no-one has made arrangements for the chair to be dropped off'

I think the first question is as follows : Has he ASKED for it to be dropped off ?

In addition, you're talking someone needing to drop it (and his desk) off. Couriers and delivery companies are not going into people's houses, so unless he's got other people living in his house who can move it for him, it'd just sit on his drive or in a garage.
And that brings up another thing : if the items were delivered to the house, and another house member got injured moving them, then who is liable for that injury ? The company ? If the chair falls apart 6 months later and he gets injured, where is the liability ?

It's always someone else's fault ... and where there's blame, there's a lawyer ...
Couriers and delivery companies are permitted to go into peoples houses and still are. I had a new triple bunk delivered and built for my son last week, and a new wine fridge put in room of choice.
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      10-17-2020, 01:45 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Goneinsixtyseconds View Post
Couriers and delivery companies are permitted to go into peoples houses and still are. I had a new triple bunk delivered and built for my son last week, and a new wine fridge put in room of choice.
I didn't say they weren't permitted. I said that a lot are not entering people's houses.
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      10-17-2020, 01:50 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robbiep View Post
I didn't say they weren't permitted. I said that a lot are not entering people's houses.
You said they’re not entering homes, not a lot aren’t entering homes. Apologies, if that’s what you meant to say you’re right, some aren’t, but it wouldn’t be hard for an employer to find a company that was,
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      10-17-2020, 02:17 PM   #11
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The fundamental principle is that the employer is responsible for assessing and providing a safe working environment for its employees, and that includes the desk / seating / computer equipment / etc.

I've worked for businesses which were relatively early adopters of formal Working From Home policies, BUT, in some/many cases a request (or a need, i.e. salesforce) to WFH came with the condition that a permanent allocated desk in the office was forfeited. Basically, can't have the cake and eat it.

Government policy as a result of coronavirus has forced many employees to work from home, but that doesn't lessen the employer's responsibilities.

Long story sort, yes the employer should provide a suitable 'regular' DSE-compliant workspace for all employees, and specialist equipment where it is justified (i.e. those which have certified medical conditions).
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      10-17-2020, 05:09 PM   #12
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I would have thought that with his condition he would have a pretty good idea of what his needs are? Has he asked for an equivalent set up for what he has in the office? We have been doing a self assessment form to understand the regular needs.

Those with reasonable adjustments are firstly going via self assessment and then to be assessed by occy health. They go to the top of the list for any additional needs.

One thing I'm not clear on is contractually our base is still the office and we've not been offered a revised contract yet? If we need to continue WFH which were gearing up to do will that need to change?
To be fair we do look after staff and things are being provide its just the volume and therefore the time to do it is challenging.

When lock down happened my employer like many was caught with its pants down. 3000 staff suddenly need to WFH. We had to proritise . We've bought laptops first so staff can work on a company secured device. We couldnt send desk tops as people didn't have space for a full setup. Next were now dealing with peripherals via a docking station so folks don't hunch over a laptop. Then we can agile work if we are coming back on site as role demands it. We've sent chairs home from the offices based on the self assesment forms. So we're playing catch up. We are planning to be WFH for 2 years now. Over time the desk tops will get passed out and we will have dual set ups at home and office with docks in home and office.
I work for a university.
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