Managing Remote Workers: HR Compliance Guide for UK Employers (2026)

Remote and hybrid working has shifted from a pandemic necessity to a standard part of UK employment. As of 2026, around 4 in 10 UK workers spend at least some of their time working from home. But many employers are still operating with contracts, policies, and processes designed for office-only work.

This guide covers the key HR compliance areas for managing remote workers lawfully and fairly in the UK.

Employment Contracts and Working Location

The first step is getting the employment contract right.

Stating the Place of Work

An employment contract must include the employee's place of work (or, if there is no fixed or main place of work, a statement to that effect). For remote workers, the options are:

• Home address as primary place of work — clearest for tax and H&S purposes
• Office with homeworking arrangement — employee is based at the office but works from home by agreement
• Hybrid clause — specifies a minimum number of days in the office, with the remainder at home

If the contract says the employee is office-based but they work from home by informal agreement, you may find it difficult to enforce a return to office later — especially after the Employment Rights Bill introduces the right to request flexible working from day one.

Homeworking Policy

Alongside the contract, you need a written homeworking policy covering:

• Equipment and expenses
• Data security and confidentiality
• Hours of work and availability expectations
• Health and safety obligations
• The right to alter or end the arrangement

Right to Request Flexible Working

Since April 2024, employees have had the right to request flexible working from their first day of employment (previously they needed 26 weeks' service). Employers must respond within 2 months and can only refuse on one of 8 statutory grounds.

The Employment Rights Bill (expected to take effect in 2026) will make flexible working the default for most roles, shifting the burden to employers to justify why a role cannot be done flexibly.

Health and Safety

Your duty of care extends to employees' home working environments. This is one of the most commonly overlooked areas of remote work compliance.

Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Assessment

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 apply to home workers who regularly use a computer as part of their work. You must:

• Carry out a DSE assessment for each home worker
• Provide appropriate equipment if the home setup is inadequate
• Ensure workers take adequate breaks from screens

In practice, most employers use a self-assessment questionnaire for home workers. Ensure the form covers:

• Chair and desk setup
• Monitor position and lighting
• Keyboard and mouse ergonomics
• Broadband connection reliability

General Home Working Risk Assessment

Beyond DSE, conduct a broader risk assessment of the home environment:

• Electrical safety (particularly for company equipment)
• Trip hazards
• Fire safety

Employees cannot be expected to make home improvements at their own expense. If a significant hazard is identified, the employer must take reasonable steps to address it.

Mental Health and Isolation

The HSE recognises psychosocial risks as a workplace health and safety issue. For remote workers, these include:

• Social isolation
• Difficulty separating work from home life
• Overworking (remote workers often work longer hours than office counterparts)
• Reduced visibility leading to career anxiety

Employers have a duty to manage these risks. Practical steps include regular 1:1 check-ins, clear expectations around hours, and training managers to spot signs of poor mental health in remote team members.

Working Time

The Working Time Regulations 1998 apply equally to remote workers. Key obligations:

• Maximum average 48-hour working week (unless the employee has opted out in writing)
• Minimum 11 hours' rest between working days
• Minimum 20-minute break in any shift over 6 hours
• At least 28 days' paid holiday per year (including bank holidays)

Remote work blurs the boundaries between work and personal time. Encourage employees to set clear working hours and actively discourage working excessive hours. An "always available" culture creates liability if an employee later claims constructive dismissal due to overwork.

Right to Disconnect

The UK currently has no specific "right to disconnect" legislation (unlike Ireland and some EU countries), but the Employment Rights Bill may introduce measures in this area. Regardless, employers should have a clear policy on out-of-hours contact expectations to manage both wellbeing and potential working time claims.

Expenses and Equipment

Equipment

Decide who provides equipment:

• Employer-provided equipment — simplest for tax purposes, easiest to secure and maintain, clearer for DSE compliance
• Employee's own equipment (BYOD) — cheaper upfront but creates data security challenges and tax complexity

If employees use their own equipment for work, you need a clear BYOD policy covering security requirements, MDM software, and what happens on termination.

Expenses

Remote workers can claim tax relief on certain expenses:

• Homeworking allowance: HMRC allows employees to claim £6/week (£26/month) without receipts for additional home costs (heating, electricity). Employers can pay this directly tax-free.
• Broadband: Employer-provided broadband is taxable as a benefit in kind unless the connection is primarily for work use.
• Equipment purchases: Employer-reimbursed equipment for work use is generally tax-exempt if the equipment remains the employer's property.

Your expenses policy should be clear about what is and is not reimbursable, and what documentation is required.

Data Protection

Remote workers access company data from personal networks and home environments, creating additional data protection risk under the UK GDPR.

Key Obligations

• Data Processing Agreements: if employees use personal devices, include appropriate restrictions in your BYOD policy or employment contract
• Encryption: require full-disk encryption on all devices accessing company systems
• VPN: require use of a company VPN when accessing sensitive data
• Screen privacy: employees should ensure screens are not visible to household members when processing personal data
• Physical documents: if employees print or store physical documents at home, they must be stored securely and disposed of properly (shredded, not binned)

Reporting Breaches

Any personal data breach — including loss or theft of a device, or unauthorised access by a household member — must be assessed and reported within 72 hours to the ICO if it is likely to result in a risk to individuals.

Ensure remote workers know how to report incidents and understand their responsibilities.

Managing Performance and Attendance

Output-Based Management

Remote work requires a shift toward output-based management rather than presence-based management. This means:

• Setting clear, measurable objectives
• Regular 1:1 meetings to discuss progress and blockers
• Documented performance reviews with objective criteria

Avoid using monitoring software (screen recording, keystroke logging) as a proxy for management — this creates legal risk (data protection, employment rights) and destroys trust.

Monitoring Remote Workers

If you do use monitoring tools, the ICO's guidance requires:

• A lawful basis for processing (legitimate interest is most common)
• A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) if the monitoring is systematic
• A clear, written policy telling employees what is monitored and why
• Proportionality — monitoring must be no more intrusive than necessary

Covert monitoring is only lawful in very limited circumstances and should not be deployed without legal advice.

Attendance and Availability

Define clear expectations:

• Core hours when employees must be online and available
• How to log working hours (if required)
• How to report absence (sickness, lateness)
• How to request time off

These should be the same as for office-based staff — treating remote workers differently can lead to claims of unfair treatment.

Immigration and Right to Work

If a remote worker works from abroad (even temporarily), this creates significant legal complexity:

• UK employment law may not apply if the employee is habitually working in another country
• Tax and social security obligations may arise in the country of work
• Immigration status may be affected — working in another country on a tourist visa is typically not permitted
• Right to work checks may need to be refreshed

Even short "workations" (working while on holiday abroad) can create these issues if they become regular.

Establish a clear policy on working abroad and require employees to seek approval before doing so. Take advice if you have employees who regularly work from another country.

HR Systems for Remote Teams

Managing a distributed workforce without good tooling is painful. At a minimum, you need:

Grove HR is built for small and medium UK businesses with remote and hybrid teams, covering all of the above in a single system.

Remote Work Policy Checklist

Use this checklist to audit your current remote work arrangements:

• Employment contracts updated to reflect current working location
• Homeworking policy in place and shared with all affected employees
• DSE assessment completed for all home workers
• Home working risk assessment process established
• Expenses policy covers homeworking allowance and equipment
• IT security policy covers home working (encryption, VPN, BYOD if applicable)
• Data protection training provided to remote workers
• Working hours expectations and right to disconnect policy communicated
• Performance management process adapted for remote context
• Right to work checks completed and recorded
• Working abroad policy in place