Flexible, Remote and Hybrid Working Policy (May23)

Definitions

Flexible working: a way of working that suits an employee’s needs by way of hours or location of work, for example having flexible start and finish times, changing to part-time or term-time only working or working from home. All employees who meet the minimum length of employment criteria have the legal right to request flexible working by making a statutory application.

Remote working: the practice of an employee working at their home, or in some other place that is not an organisation’s usual place of business.

Hybrid working: an adaptable working model where an employee works some of their time at home, or at another location remotely and some of their time in the office or at a central hub. The parameters within this model, such as the division of time between home and office working and the equipment to be used etc. are to be agreed between the employer and employer.

Introduction

We are aware that a better work-life balance can improve motivation, performance, productivity and wellbeing and are therefore open to flexible working arrangements (on a formal, statutory basis) where appropriate, provided that both the needs of the business and the employee can be satisfied.

We are also open to requests on a more informal basis, to work from home/remotely or to have a hybrid working arrangement, again, if this meets both parties’ needs.

We very much encourage an open dialogue between employees and line managers so that we can work together to decide upon a mutually agreeable working arrangement.

Whilst the concept of working from home and remote working have been in existence for some time, the hybrid model for working arrangements is a relatively new phenomenon, which was accelerated by the change in the way people worked during the COVID-19 pandemic and a desire to retain a more balanced division of time between working in the office and at home in the longer term.

Purpose

This policy is designed to inform you of the types of circumstances in which we will allow you to work flexibly, remotely or in a hybrid working arrangement and outlines the management arrangements required to support these types of working arrangement.

Scope

This policy applies to all firm employees.

Responsibility

Failure to comply with the requirements set out within this policy will be a disciplinary offence and may result in disciplinary action.

General principles

The general principle of the policy is to:

Enable suitable employees to work flexibly, remotely or in a hybrid working arrangement, where agreed; and
Set out the requirements for each method of working from both the firm and the employee’s perspective.

Part A – Flexible Working

Preliminary note

Employees have a statutory right to request flexible working; the purpose of Part A of the policy is to inform you of the considerations that must be made before making a flexible working request and our procedure for making such a request.

It is also worth noting that it is a requirement under Lexcel v6.1 4.10: “Practices must have a flexible working policy,” and it is best practice for all firms to have this in place.

Flexible working is to be distinguished from agile working which gives maximum flexibility over the time and place of work. See further information in the ‘Agile working’ section in Part C below.

The flexible working aspect of this policy does not form part of your contract of employment and the firm may change it at any time.

Responsibility

Nicola Robinson is responsible for the flexible working aspect of this policy, monitoring our obligations in respect of flexible working and for developing and monitoring the effectiveness of our flexible working policy and procedures.

Your right to request flexible working

You have the right to make a formal request to a change in your working pattern if you:

are an employee;
have worked for the firm continuously for at least 26 weeks when you make your request; and
have not made a flexible working request during the last 12 months (unless it related to a statutory entitlement such as a request for a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act).

You do not have a right to flexible working. However, if you meet these criteria, you have the right to have a request properly considered.

What is a flexible working request?

A flexible working request means a request to do one or more of the following:

reduce or vary your working hours;
reduce or vary the days you work;
work from a different location (for example, from home).

You can request a flexible working arrangement for a temporary period if you so wish.

How to make a flexible working request

You should put your request in writing and submit it to a director. Your request must include:

the date of the application;
the change you are seeking and when you would like it to come into effect;
what effect you think the change would have on the firm and how in your opinion, any such effect might be dealt with;
that this is a statutory request rather than an informal enquiry; and
if you have made a previous request, the date of that request.

If you are making a reasonable adjustment request under the Equality Act, you should clearly indicate this in your request.

How your request will be handled

The firm will arrange a meeting to discuss the request with you. If you wish, you may be accompanied at that meeting by a work colleague of your choice, subject to there not being a conflict, for example, choosing your manager may put them in conflict with their position in the firm.

The firm will seek to deal with the request promptly but in any case, must complete the process and give you its decision within three months of receiving the request.

If you do not keep the appointment for the meeting and a subsequent rearranged one without a reason, then the firm will treat the application as withdrawn.

We may grant requests in full, in part, or refuse them. Additionally, we may propose a modified version of your request, grant your request on a temporary basis or suggest a trial period. If a trial period is agreed with you, that will extend the deadline for a final decision.

If your request is accepted, the firm will write to you with details of the new working arrangements and the date on which they will commence. The firm will normally set one or more review dates when it will discuss with you how the arrangements are working and make any suitable adjustments.

Every request will be considered on a case-by-case basis and acceptance of one request will not set a precedent for future requests.

Why might your request be refused?

The firm may refuse your request for one or more of the following business reasons:

the burden of additional costs that will damage the business;
detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand;
inability to reorganise work among existing staff;
inability to recruit additional staff;
detrimental impact on quality and performance;
insufficiency of work during the periods that you propose to work; or
the business is planning changes to the workforce.

If the firm refuses your request, it will write to tell you which of those reasons applies.

Part B – Remote Working and Hybrid Working

Preliminary note

Remote and hybrid working arrangements can bring benefits for the firm, but there are many factors to consider when making the decision as to whether to allow our employees to work in this way, either much or some of the time. Similarly, remote/hybrid working does not suit everyone, but there can be benefits for employees who have the necessary attributes and it is suitable for their job role. A remote/hybrid working model will work best where the needs of the firm and our employees balance out.

The greatest risks for our firm in relation to remote working are people, in terms of effective supervision and individual personal wellbeing, therefore it is important that safeguards are put in place. For more information, please see the relevant sections below.

Responsibility

Nicola Robinson is responsible for the remote and hybrid working aspects of the policy (namely Parts B and C), monitoring our obligations in respect of remote and hybrid working arrangements and for developing and monitoring the effectiveness of our remote and hybrid working policy and procedures.

Legal framework

Whilst remote and hybrid working are neither contractual nor statutory rights and we are under no obligation to approve any request to work in this way, as a firm, our ethos is to promote agile and flexible ways of working to support high performance, productivity and wellbeing.

We are committed to working with you to agree upon the most appropriate working arrangement taking into account your job role and any related client expectations, your attributes and personal circumstances. For this reason, we will not be adopting a standard, mainstream model of remote or hybrid working as we appreciate that a one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate, and we need to do what is right for our business and our individual employees.

Exclusive remote working

We do not offer exclusively remote working option to our employees. We do however offer a hybrid working model to employees, provided that certain criteria are met – for more information see below.

Occasional remote working

For those employees who are exclusively office based, occasional remote working which coincides with medical appointments is permitted. This is on the proviso that your line manager has approved such requests due to there being a clear business benefit for you to work at home rather than in the office.

How to make a remote or hybrid working request

If you wish to work remotely or in a hybrid working arrangement, occasionally or on a regular basis, you must secure the agreement of your line manager prior to the actual date of commencing a remote or hybrid working arrangement. Retrospective requests will not normally be agreed, and any absence may be considered as unauthorised, which may lead to disciplinary action being taken.

When approving requests, your line manager is responsible for ensuring that your job role and attributes are suited to remote working and that there will be no detriment to the business as a result.

How your request will be handled

Your line manager will consider a request to work remotely or in a hybrid arrangement on the following criteria:

The nature of your job. This encompasses several considerations, such as does your job require regular, face-to-face contact with colleagues or clients, meaning that it is unsuitable for you to work from home (e.g., a receptionist, office-based employee whose duties cannot be carried out at a different location) or would your ability to deliver excellent client service be compromised by you working remotely?
Your skills, abilities and personal attributes. Your performance will be considered in determining whether you are considered suitable to work unsupervised and whether your productivity would be expected to be adversely affected.
Impact on your team. The demands likely to be placed upon your colleagues and the impact upon other teams with whom you work with. In other words, your line manager will need to be confident that sufficient resources are available within your team to cover your absence from your normal workplace and that suitable collaborative working platforms are available to connect remote and office workers (see below for more information on collaboration and communication with colleagues whilst working remotely)
The suitability of the home location. This will take into account matters such as the home office area – whether this is in a shared space, noise levels, work equipment, access to broadband and Wi-Fi and network speed etc and may include an in-person check being carried out before remote working begins.

Trial period

It is likely that any new remote or hybrid working arrangement will be subject to a trial period to ensure that it works for the firm and the employee before it becomes permanent.

Part C – Considerations for all Remote Working Arrangements

Expectations of employees who are working remotely

Whist working remotely, we expect our employees to be engaged on agreed work and contactable during normal working hours, unless a more flexible and agile approach has been agreed with your line manager.

If we do not consider that expectations are being met, despite opportunities being given to make improvements, disciplinary action will be taken and/ or amendments may be made to the working arrangements if there are performance issues.

Management direction and training

We recognise that flexible working requires managers to adapt their leadership style to ensure maximum productivity. We encourage the following approach to foster a positive working relationship between management and employees:

Managers ensure any allocated tasks are very clear and employees know where to go for questions and support.
Employees are given freedom and responsibility and trusted to figure out the most efficient way for them to complete tasks.
Managers are supportive and keep employees accountable with follow-on tasks to be completed within a specified time period.
Employees are treated on an individual basis with their different needs being taken into account e.g., childcare or caring responsibilities, mental health issues etc. We provide regular training to our management team on how to support different groups of employees.

Remote supervision – all employees

The SRA requirements regarding supervision remain applicable irrespective of where employees are working.

These are as follows:

Paragraph 3.5 of the Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs requires: ‘Where you supervise or manage others providing legal services:

you remain accountable for the work carried out through them; and
you effectively supervise work being done for clients.’

Paragraph 3.6 requires: ‘You ensure that the individuals you manage are competent to carry out their role, and keep their professional knowledge and skills, as well as understanding of their legal, ethical and regulatory obligations, up to date.’

Similarly, paragraph 4.4 of the Code of Conduct for Firms requires that: ‘You have an effective system for supervising clients’ matters.’

We encourage our line managers to be in regular and close communication with those that they supervise who are working remotely and to have an open line of communication so that team members know where to turn for support. This can be done via the collaboration tools referred to below (face to face 121 meetings, whether virtual or in person are encouraged to take place at least monthly, as well as regular team meetings) or via email or voice calls or a by a mix of different communication methods.

The responsibilities of supervisors are set out in the Matter supervision section of the File and Case Management Procedures Manual and in the Supervision Procedures policy. We are mindful that effective supervision of remote workers may require closer attention to be paid to certain aspects that may be less obviously apparent when colleagues are out of sight, such as workload, capacity and wellbeing (see the section on Wellbeing below for more information). We require all our managers to undertake training on unconscious bias to help to manage the risk of those working in the office being favoured over those working remotely, for example in relation to allocation of work or at performance review time.

Knowledge sharing and development

We encourage our staff to learn from each other and share knowledge from wherever they are working, whether this be in the office or remotely. Examples include discussing cases during team meetings, attending training sessions and sharing useful guidance or notes from training courses attended etc by email.

Collaboration and communication with colleagues whilst working remotely

We are keen to create a consistent employee experience and a feeling of team cohesion and connection, so far as possible for those working in the office and remotely and to ensure that remote workers, in particular, feel included in their teams.

We use the following collaborative working platforms (which have encrypted networks to ensure privacy and confidentiality) to communicate and connect with colleagues and work together via video calls, instant messaging and voice calls Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype etc. These platforms can also be used to hold virtual meetings with clients.

We believe it is important to be mindful of colleagues’ boundaries and preferences with regard to how we are communicating with each other digitally. Please see the digital wellbeing section of our Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy for guidance on appropriate etiquette for emails and video conferencing.

Wellbeing

We are mindful that hybrid and remote working arrangements have the potential to raise unique considerations for both general wellbeing and digital wellbeing. It is important therefore that we raise awareness of potential issues that may arise, such as the importance of separating work and home life, and steps we are taking to proactively counter possible negative side effects of working in this way.

We have set out extensive guidance on stress and digital wellbeing in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy and require all staff working in this way to familiarise themselves with the relevant sections and understand where to turn to for support.

Our line managers are encouraged, as part of the regular 121 meetings, to openly discuss/ check-in on the wellbeing and mental health of those in their team and to create support networks with colleagues.

Work/ IT equipment

A laptop which is in good working order will be provided to you if you will be working remotely on a regular basis. Any request for such equipment will need to be authorised by a Director on a case-by-case basis.

Should the above equipment be provided, you will be required to cooperate in bringing any portable equipment into the office for an annual check at a date and time agreed with the firm.

You will also be required to participate in a DSE assessment to ensure the suitability of your workspace and desk setup and to cooperate with all of the various checks that the firm will need to undertake before a change to a remote or hybrid working arrangement is agreed, for example acceptable broadband speed and appropriate data allowance in place and whether the home internet network is encrypted.

Please see our BYOD Policy for guidance on what is expected of you when using a personal device to undertake work business on.

Telephone

You may be required to use your own telephone for making occasional telephone calls while working remotely. We provide external access to voicemail via our 3CX system, which should be checked regularly when working from home.

Security and data protection

When working remotely, or in a hybrid working arrangement, you must be aware of the increased risk of a security breach. You must ensure that your work laptop or PC is password protected and turned off when not in use. You should also lock your laptop or PC when away from your desk.

IT equipment provided to you to support working remotely is for the exclusive use of you alone. You are not permitted to allow family members or friends to use IT equipment provided to you.

When logging into work systems from outside the office, you must use a secure VPN (an encrypted barrier protecting your network and its data from outside access) which is far more secure than using public Wi-Fi.

Confidential hard copy paper documents should not be taken from the office to work on at home unless essential and with your line manager’s explicit prior approval. Hard copy documents which are used when working remotely must be treated in the same way as you would whilst working in the office, so keep a clear desk and lock documents away when you are not working on them to ensure that other household members/ visitors cannot access them.

In general, those adopting a remote/hybrid working arrangement, should not print any documents off when working out of the office, however if this is absolutely necessary, you must ensure that the documents are stored securely and return all confidential waste to the office to be disposed of properly.

Please see the Retention and Disposal Policy for more information on the secure disposal and destruction of documents.

In addition to your obligation to comply with confidentiality and data protection requirements, you must also comply with our policies that cover the use of IT equipment and applications – in particular, please see the section headed ‘Keep IT secure’ in our Information Management and Security Policy.

Health and safety in the home environment

Please see the ‘Working from home or another remote location’ section of our Health and Safety Policy for more information on obligations of the employer and the employee that apply to working from home.

Agile working

Agile working has a broad ranging meaning with the aim of making a business as adaptable and efficient as it can be: ‘Agile working incorporates dimensions of time and place flexibility, but also involves doing work differently focusing on performance and outcomes.

We understand that remote working may not necessarily mean working from home and at specified hours of the day and that some employees may require a more flexible approach to their working location and working hours (due to personal circumstances such as childcare or caring responsibilities, for example). Our technology and collaboration tools allow for this agile approach where required.

We are supportive of an agile working environment, when working outside of the office, where it promotes an efficient way of working and provided that our confidentiality and data protection requirements (see the ‘Security and data protection’ section above) are complied with, wherever you are working from.

Requests for a more agile working arrangement must be agreed in advance with your line manager.

Absence and sickness

If you are unable to work on a day which you had expected to work, remotely or in the office, due to sickness, injury or otherwise, you must follow our absence reporting procedure and sickness absence policy and procedure. You are required to keep your manager informed of the likely date of return to work, the reason for the absence, and progress, as if you were normally attending work.

Disciplinary procedures

The disciplinary policy and procedures set out in our People Management Procedures policy apply equally to office-based and remote working arrangements.

Any abuse of flexible, remote or hybrid working arrangements in place for your job role amounting to misconduct may be subject to disciplinary action.

Monitoring and review

Your manager will be responsible for monitoring your performance while working remotely.

Variation

We reserve the right to vary this policy.

General

This policy supersedes any previous arrangements with regard to flexible working or working from home.

If you have any queries regarding the application of this policy, please speak to Nicola Robinson (Director).

Review of this policy

This policy will be reviewed at least annually by Nicola Robinson.

May23

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