Employees working from home
Working from home can bring a wide range of benefits for both businesses and employees, but it needs to be properly managed to be successful.
Managing staff performance
Effective performance management can bring about many benefits to your business, including improved staff performance, greater productivity, and stronger employee engagement.
To manage your employees effectively, you will need to be able to set clear goals and objectives and provide regular and constructive feedback to your staff.
Ongoing Support
Give employees the appropriate care and attention in the absence of an office environment.
Working Preferences
Managing employees based on how they work best, rather than expecting them to adopt one particular approach.
Resilience Practices
Develop the ability to cope with and rise to the inevitable challenges, problems and setbacks of remote working
Performance Management
Creating goals and expectations of each employee that are managed in the way that suits both you and them.
Monitoring performance
Monitoring and assessing the performance of people who work at home is perhaps the most significant managerial challenge. It can be helpful to measure their effectiveness in terms of their output rather than the hours they work.
Agree set goals and deadlines for particular tasks. Keep a close eye on how well the targets are being met and give feedback promptly and sensitively if things go wrong.
Staff training
Training can prepare employees and help them develop the skills they need. This might include:
- self-management skills, e.g., in time management
- general skills, e.g., in using IT more effectively or writing reports
- job-specific skills
Encouraging communication
For staff who work alone, a sense of isolation is one of the factors most likely to make home working fail. As a result, it's important to put formal systems in place to ensure people feel part of the team. For example:
- frequent two-way feedback sessions about work and work-related issues
- regular scheduled visits to the workplace
- inclusion in social activities
- clear procedures to follow and people to contact if things go wrong
If an employee's job is home-based from the start, it's a good idea to carry out their induction at your premises. Home workers are more likely to be focused and productive if they have a chance to establish a clear idea of the people and company they're working for.
Contact us here or call 01292 676063 to discuss.
Working from home tax relief
You may be able to claim tax relief for additional household costs if you have to work at home on a regular basis, either for all or part of the week. This includes if you have to work from home because of coronavirus (COVID-19).
You cannot claim tax relief if you choose to work from home.
You may be able to claim tax relief for:
- gas and electricity
- metered water
- business phone calls, including dial-up internet access
You cannot claim for the whole bill, just the part that relates to your work.
How much you can claim
You can either claim tax relief on:
£6 a week from 6 April 2020 (for previous tax years the rate is £4 a week) - you will not need to keep evidence of your extra costs
the exact amount of extra costs you’ve incurred above the weekly amount - you’ll need evidence such as receipts, bills or contracts
You’ll get tax relief based on the rate at which you pay tax. For example, if you pay the 20% basic rate of tax and claim tax relief on £6 a week you would get £1.20 per week in tax relief (20% of £6).
Contact us here or call 01292 676063 to discuss.
