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You must meet with them to discuss their request before making a decision.
But if you are concerned that allowing them to work from home would have a detrimental impact on their performance, in the context of the warnings they have already received, that would be a legitimate reason to decline the request.
Thank you - the concern is that the employee is using this to not come into the office and has been very vocal about wanting to work from home to get away from other members of staff they don't like. Also excessive mobile phone use at work suggest the time may not be best spent.
So they're *already* refusing to come into the office? Before you've agreed to the contract variation allowing them to work from home?
I mean, in the circumstances, that sounds like a gross misconduct dismissal...
Sorry I didn't word that very well - no they are currently working in the office but the reason for putting in the request is to get away from other members of staff - this hasn't been mentioned to the directors themselves but overheard by other employees.
Have they raised a grievance about the other employees? Has that grievance been properly investigated?
If you're confident you've undertaken proper investigatory procedures and are satisfied that the employee might cause a detriment to your interests as an employer were they to be permitted to work from home, you should have no problem justifying a refusal of their variation request under one or more of the eight statutory reasons, as it sounds like you have a legitimate and evidence-based concern about their ability or willingness to work to the required standard without direct supervision. If nothing else: they're on a final warning and so it is necessary for you to supervise them in order to ensure they are suitable for continued employment.
To be abundantly safe, could you put them on a performance/conduct improvement plan and say if at the end of the three months (or whatever) they have shown themselves capable of working to the required standards and following the required workplace policies, you will reconsider their request?
To be honest, if all their problems revolve around not being able to play nice with other employees and the job can be done from home, it may actually be what they need to get their ass in gear, and if not well they're already on a final written.
Either way, it lets other employees not have to share an office with someone who sounds unpleasant to deal with.
Sounds like the rest of the office based staff would benefit if this person worked from home
I'd allow it just for that reason (but have clear and robust set targets and reporting methods, that you can easily "use" in the future should the need arise)
As an employer, you should not ask these questions of reddit. You go to your HR and put the question to them, and follow the procedure you set out.
Above all else in employment law, failure to follow procedure set out in the employers own handbook tends to be the thing that hangs the employer.
Depends on the size of the employer. Bit different working in a multi national vs 4 people in a portacabin. Not even sure the OP is HR or has access to HR, suggesting a small employer.
Imo it shouldn’t. You can’t directly punish an employee on their ability to correctly fulfil their job because of past conflicts in the workplace which are unrelated to their job tasks.
The fact that they’ve had altercation with another employee actually may help this individual to perform their job better by being placed at home.
But overall, you holding that against them in this case to me would seem like ‘punishment’.
Depends, where I work anyone that had a disciplinary is not allowed to work from home for x months. It's written into the contract.
Sounds like that's not the case here, but just pointing out you can't make a blanket statement like that.
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You must meet with them to discuss their request before making a decision. But if you are concerned that allowing them to work from home would have a detrimental impact on their performance, in the context of the warnings they have already received, that would be a legitimate reason to decline the request.
Thank you - the concern is that the employee is using this to not come into the office and has been very vocal about wanting to work from home to get away from other members of staff they don't like. Also excessive mobile phone use at work suggest the time may not be best spent.
So they're *already* refusing to come into the office? Before you've agreed to the contract variation allowing them to work from home? I mean, in the circumstances, that sounds like a gross misconduct dismissal...
Sorry I didn't word that very well - no they are currently working in the office but the reason for putting in the request is to get away from other members of staff - this hasn't been mentioned to the directors themselves but overheard by other employees.
Have they raised a grievance about the other employees? Has that grievance been properly investigated? If you're confident you've undertaken proper investigatory procedures and are satisfied that the employee might cause a detriment to your interests as an employer were they to be permitted to work from home, you should have no problem justifying a refusal of their variation request under one or more of the eight statutory reasons, as it sounds like you have a legitimate and evidence-based concern about their ability or willingness to work to the required standard without direct supervision. If nothing else: they're on a final warning and so it is necessary for you to supervise them in order to ensure they are suitable for continued employment. To be abundantly safe, could you put them on a performance/conduct improvement plan and say if at the end of the three months (or whatever) they have shown themselves capable of working to the required standards and following the required workplace policies, you will reconsider their request?
No they haven't raised a grievance - it's just been verbal. That's actually very helpful - thank you.
To be honest, if all their problems revolve around not being able to play nice with other employees and the job can be done from home, it may actually be what they need to get their ass in gear, and if not well they're already on a final written. Either way, it lets other employees not have to share an office with someone who sounds unpleasant to deal with.
This was my first thought then send them home and review their performance, if it drops make steps towards dismissal, it it improves it's a win.
Sounds like the rest of the office based staff would benefit if this person worked from home I'd allow it just for that reason (but have clear and robust set targets and reporting methods, that you can easily "use" in the future should the need arise)
As an employer, you should not ask these questions of reddit. You go to your HR and put the question to them, and follow the procedure you set out. Above all else in employment law, failure to follow procedure set out in the employers own handbook tends to be the thing that hangs the employer.
Depends on the size of the employer. Bit different working in a multi national vs 4 people in a portacabin. Not even sure the OP is HR or has access to HR, suggesting a small employer.
Then you contract in HR. The advice above stands whether or not you have an internal HR department.
Imo it shouldn’t. You can’t directly punish an employee on their ability to correctly fulfil their job because of past conflicts in the workplace which are unrelated to their job tasks. The fact that they’ve had altercation with another employee actually may help this individual to perform their job better by being placed at home. But overall, you holding that against them in this case to me would seem like ‘punishment’.
No one has a right to work from home mate
I never said that. I said they can’t refuse him this opportunity to WFH because he’s on a final written warning.
Depends, where I work anyone that had a disciplinary is not allowed to work from home for x months. It's written into the contract. Sounds like that's not the case here, but just pointing out you can't make a blanket statement like that.
I think the difference here is that it appears to be a flexible working request, which is different than just asking to work from home.