call of duty

As an employer, you stand to benefit as part of your workforce goes remote. Recent studies have shown an increase in employee productivity when teams work from home.

As you reduce your office real estate footprint, you will also get to enjoy substantial cost-savings. That’s why nearly 84 per cent of companies expressed an intention to increase their work-from-home capacity even beyond the pandemic.

However, your employees also face a different set of risks when working from home, compared to working from the office.

And under the law here in Singapore, you owe a duty of care towards your remote employees to take all reasonably practical measures to keep them in a safe and healthy work environment.

This duty of care applies whether your employees work in the office or at their homes. And it also applies to companies of all sizes – from startups and small-medium businesses to the largest enterprises.

How am I responsible for my remote employees?

Singapore legislation and common law require you to provide a safe work environment for your employees and not put them in harm’s way.

And note that the term “workplace” isn’t limited to just offices but to any premise where your employees work, including their homes!

The duty of care you owe to your employees includes the following:

Conducting risk assessments to identify hazards and implement effective risk controls.
Taking reasonable practical measures to make sure that their work environment is safe.
Ensuring safety measures are taken for any machinery, equipment, or process used at the workplace.
Developing and implementing systems for emergencies.
Ensuring your employees are provided with sufficient instruction, training and supervision to work safely.

Failing to carry out this duty of care can result in fines of up to S$500,000 for the first time offenders to S$1 million for repeat offenders.

Also Read: Work from home risks every employer needs to be aware of

How can I fulfill my duty of care in a practical way?

Carrying out your duty of care to your remote employees does not have to be difficult or expensive. We suggest a simple five-step approach.

Step 1: Create a work from home policy

Even if you have only a few employees working from home, this is the first step you should take. A thoughtfully drafted work from home policy will help to align your company’s expectations to your employees’ responsibilities.

And more importantly, it also helps to prevent disputes if anything happens when working from home. An effective work from home policy should include the following:

Your policy brief and purpose
Who’s eligible to work from home
What the approval process like like
What’s the frequency employees can work from home
How are employees expected to communicate with onsite staff
Is there an expected response time
What are their productivity measures and markets
Will the company provide or subsidise work from home setups
What equipment and tech support can employees expect
The dress code
What remote work locations are available
Channels for feedback

Here is a template you can use to get started.

Step 2: Review your employment contract template

We recommend reviewing your template employment contract and making changes, if necessary. Singapore labour law requires the employment contract to mention the employee’s place of work.

So if your company allows employees to work permanently or partially from home, you should also mention this inside the employment contract.

Also Read: Why remote working is the future for startups

Step 3: Conduct risk assessments at the workplace

Workplace risk assessment is an integral part of health and safety at the workplace.

A proper risk assessment helps both you and your employee to identify potential hazards that could potentially cause harm to your employee.

Once you’ve identified the risks, you can then evaluate it, find appropriate measures to control it and communicate this to your employees.

Often overlooked areas of potential risks when employees work from home include:

Poorly set up workstations that can cause postural issues  
Wires, cables, rugs or mats that are a trip hazard  
Overloaded power strips that pose a fire risk

You can conduct a risk assessment in two ways.

The gold standard, which is expensive and time-consuming, is to have an in-person or virtual assessment done by a professional who is trained in workplace safety and/or ergonomics.

An alternative cost-effective method is to have your employees fill in a self-assessment checklist with photo submissions of their home workspace and receive workplace safety training.

Step 4: Evaluate and fill in the gaps revealed by the risk assessment

A properly designed self-assessment checklist and photos should allow you to assess whether there are potential risks or hazards at your employee’s home workplace.

If the gap exists, you should proceed to advise your employee to remedy the issues and train employees on how they can work safely.

For instance, this photo reveals that the employee is working from his bed and on an ironing board.

This should immediately raise a red flag – employers can then choose to provide a proper work desk and chair or a stipend to purchase one, according to the remote work policy.

Do note that while it is your employee’s responsibility to comply with your policy, it’s also your responsibility to ensure that these policies are clearly communicated to them.

Step 5: Ensure you are sufficiently covered for work-from-home related liabilities

If your existing business insurance doesn’t cover liabilities when employees work from home, it’s worth considering adding insurance to protect you and your employees in case of any work from home mishaps.

These insurance could include:

Specialised work-from-home insurance This covers work-related injuries more likely to happen at home, such as ergonomic injuries, mental health support and accidents (trips and falls). 
Cyber insurance This covers any losses from cyberattacks which have increased due to more people working from home.  
Property insurancee This covers damages to the company’s assets outside of the office premises and includes monitors, laptops, phones, chairs, etc. 
Employer or D&O liability insurance This covers the employers for any claims made by the employees, for instance, relating to health and safety injury claims

At the end of the day, other than it being a legal requirement, showing your employees that you care is also good for business.

It helps to increase employee retention, improve their productivity and increase their engagement levels.

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To learn more about how to keep your employees safe and avoid legal liabilities, join our webinar with Esevel founder, Yuying Deng.

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Image credit: Firos nv on Unsplash

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