Telecommuting: legal and management issues.

The world of work is changing rapidly. Employers and employees are seeking greater flexibility in their working relationships. One outgrowth of these efforts is an increased use of telecommuters (employees who work from home). Impressed with the numerous benefits of telecommuting, some managers are sending staff home to work without fully exploring the legal implications of this type of relationship - a move that can have costly results

Telecommuting has received a great deal of attention in the past few years. And no wonder - the benefits to both employers and employees can be tremendous. For employers it means reduced overhead costs and increased productivity. For employees it means reducing or eliminating lengthy commutes to work (the time savings for an employee with an average commute of 1.5 hours per day is equivalent to nine 40 hour work weeks per year!). Employees can also achieve greater flexibility and balance between their work and home lives.

As wonderful as it seems, telecommuting requires careful planning and consideration to make it work. This article outlines some of the issues you should consider and how to address potential problems.

Legal Issues

Telecommuting arrangements may be governed by special regulations. For example, in Ontario the Employment Standards Act ("ESA") defines homeworkers as workers involved in the manufacture and production of material goods at home, which could include clerical work such as word processing. The ESA establishes the minimum wage for homeworkers, which is 110% of the regular minimum wage, to reflect costs borne by the homeworker such as heat, electricity, etc. Employers are also prohibited from paying homeworkers less than the rate paid to employees doing the same job on the employer's premises.

Constructive dismissal is also an area of concern with telecommuters. Constructive dismissal arises where the actions of an employer are such that they have, in effect, terminated an employee. This will occur where there is a significant change in the duties or remuneration of an employee. If you suddenly require an employee who had been working on site to work from home, the employee may be able to argue that he or she has been constructively dismissed.

Conversely, unless you expressly reserve the right to have the employee return to the regular workplace should the arrangement be unsuccessful, the right to work at home may become a term of the employment relationship. This means that an employee could claim constructive dismissal if you forced him or her to return to the regular work site.