Sun, sea and Slack: As many Brits plan to work from abroad – what are the actual rules?
As we enter the holiday season, millions of British workers will be planning to ‘work from the beach’ this Summer as they aim to lap up on the benefits of flexibly working.
As the schools wrapped up for the Summer, many of the country’s airports will be jammed packed as the holiday season kicks off. As most companies have a flexible policy in place following the pandemic, workers will be swapping their home office for the beach.
However, what are the rules around working from outside of the UK? Employment lawyers explain the rules and issues that might creep up for both employees and employers.
“We have all seen the headlines about being able to work anywhere, anytime,” noted Remziye Ozcan, principal associate at Mills & Reeve, but she added “the reality is that in fact, that may well not be the case, and can cause issues for employees and employers.”
As Kelly Thomson a partner at RPC agreed, noting that “the legal risks in working from the beach vary hugely in practice.”
She explained that “checking the odd email before hitting the all-inclusive buffet is clearly not the same as setting up an office by the pool for two solid months.”
“In most cases employees working abroad on a temporary and short-term basis will pose little risk to employers,” explained Joseph Lappin, partner and head of employment at Stewarts.
However, he did note that giving staff flexibility to work abroad has benefits such as employee satisfaction.
Lappin went onto add that employers should have policies in place which set out the rules concerning remote working, including working abroad. “Failing to treat requests to work abroad consistently will inevitably lead to allegations of unfairness and possibly complaints of discrimination,” he warned.
What are the issues?
Thomson stated that “there are lots of good reasons why your organisation might choose to restrict its people’s ability to work from another country and why they may treat breach of those restrictions as a disciplinary issue.”
Lappin outlined that “Employers will be concerned that staff may not be productive when working abroad, will be subject to foreign tax regimes and that confidential information cannot be sufficiently protected.” adding that “compliance with data protection legislation and health and safety laws are other concerns.”
Ozcan stated that confidentiality and data security could be an issue such as if that local Wi-Fi is really secured.
While Thomson pointed out that “depending on the circumstances, you might need a visa for immigration purposes and, or specific regulatory permissions to work outside the country.”
Another issue that might flag up is depending on what industry you work in, as those operating in a regulated industry, as Lappin noted, such as the financial services, “will need to consider whether the regulator needs to be notified that a senior member of staff will work outside the UK.”
What should you do?
For the employee, Ozcan stated that “before you head off into the sun with your laptop, check first that you can, and don’t assume anything.”
While Lappin added that “proper planning, sensible dialogue between employer and employee and recording the terms of the agreement in writing is usually sufficient for overcoming these ‘problems’”.
“Check your organisation’s specific rules and, if in doubt, ask,” warned Thomson.