Financial Matters
With David Frederick FCCA | Marcus Bishop Associates | marcus-bishop.com
Homeworking Under COVID-19
T
he coronavirus pandemic finds employees either furloughed or working from home. If you are a furloughed employee, this means you remain on your employer’s payroll but you are not required to undertake any work for your employer during your period of furlough. Any work requested from you is a deliberate breach. However those of you working from home may have the same question that I was asked recently, “can my father invoice my employer for the additional use of electricity?” Prima facie, I thought, how much additional electricity is being used via an 18 months old laptop? Then I reflected and recognised the great rush to transform employees into homeworkers overnight has left a gap in some quarters. I wonder how many employers have reflected or even addressed this small matter? Similarly how many employees working from home have had this matter addressed by their employer? It would be interesting to see the results of this research. As some background good news before addressing the main question, employees working from home should be aware of the following nontaxable employment benefits of the provision of: • a mobile phone and SIM cards without a restriction on private use; • a laptop, tablet, computer, and office supplies for business purposes without significant private use. However, the same does not apply to office equipment purchased by the employee and reimbursed by your employer. These purchases are taxable and must be reported on a PAYE settlement agreement. HMRC has already put in place guidance to avoid employers being bombarded with a mountain of claims for household expenses. All employees forced to work from home due to measures to control the coronavirus pandemic are covered by HMRC home-working expenses rules. HMRC have recently updated its working from home expenses
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guidelines to include employees working from home due to COVID-19 where: • their workplace has closed, or • they are following advice to self-isolate. As a reminder furloughed employees are not covered, because they are being paid by their employer but they should not be undertaking any form of employment duties for their employer. The working from home rules applicable 2020-21 allows employers to pay employees a maximum of £6 per week or £26pm to cover their additional costs if they have to work from home. For employees home working in 2019-20, the maximum allowance was £4pw or £18pm. There will be no requirement to keep records to claim this working from home allowance. Homeworkers can go to https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/claim-taxrelief-expenses/who-claiming-for, the HMRC online tool to check if the expenses they have incurred in working from home qualify for relief. In the pandemic rush to advise or request employees to work from home, employers and employees may have overlooked the cornerstone of homeworking best practice, homeworking arrangements. When requiring or requesting employees work from home employers should ensure that there is a written homeworking agreement in place, outlining the homeworking arrangements, the equipment and supplies to be provided by the employer and any expenses that will be met. Whilst under the current climate this may be difficult, given the volume of employees that some employers are having to relocate to home working and the daily changing operating and political environment, it is still advisable that arrangements are put in place to minimise and avoid any future disputes or challenges arising. At the same time as the homeworking arrangements are being crafted and agreed between employers and employees, employers should also consider the impact of homeworking within reference to their telecommunications security and GDPR policies. Pandemic or not, the rush to homeworking goes beyond the distribution of mobile phones and laptops to employees and waving them goodbye, until we meet again.
