Careful considerations

Consideration should be given to reasonable adjustments for staff where this is necessary due to disability or health conditions that potentially affect or are affected by work. Guidance can be sought from the University's Occupational Health adviser as well as the Human Resources Adviser for your department, in line with our Managing Ill Health and Sickness Absence procedure. Any new or highlighted health concerns and disabilities should be given the same due regard as any ongoing issues.

A review of previously agreed reasonable adjustments may be helpful in realigning the support required in view of changes to the way of working. Reasonable adjustments and new, flexible ways of working to support our workforce should be considered. The pandemic may have evidenced that what was previously viewed as not possible, may now be possible. Further manager guidance on how to encourage positive conversations around disability is available.

The provision of special equipment should be discussed and any existing arrangements for this reviewed. It may be that special equipment is provided for an individual's 'main' work base and the use of special equipment, on a bookable basis, is available on campus. In certain cases,consideration for the provision of particular items in both locations may be reasonable and this will be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Where necessary, advice can be sought from OH and Health and Safety colleagues. Please see the equipment section of this guidance for further information.

Further information and guidance for supporting new and existing disabled staff can be found on the Disability in employment: policy, procedure and guidance webpage.

The University encourages all staff to take appropriate time off when they are unwell. However, increased remote working capabilities may mean there are occasions that remote working offers an alternative to, what in the past would have been recorded as, sickness absence. Managers must be explicit in explaining to staff that they should not work when they are not well enough to do so.

Short and long term illness

For illnesses that can cause minor and short-lived issues such as a cough, cold, gastrointestinal problems, the assessment of being 'too unwell to work' is often a personal one. As such, when that personal assessment results in requests to work from home for short periods, as an alternative to sickness absence, this should be considered sympathetically. Consideration should be given to colleagues with whom the individual may come into contact with on campus, in light of the sensitivity around contagion.

Working arrangements which include periods of increased remote working may be considered as part of a phased return to the agreed work arrangements, this may be upon the advice of Occupational Health or a GP/ other medical professional, but also a management decision, depending on the circumstances. Advice can be sought from OH and HR colleagues and further guidance can be found in the Managing Ill Health and Sickness Absence procedure.

More information specifically associated with Covid-19 such as shielding, covid immunisations and staff who are deemed clinically vulnerable and clinically extremely vulnerable can be found on Occupational Health guidance for return to work assessments (Covid-19).

Exploring personal circumstances

• access to an appropriate workspace and appropriate equipment within the home/designated remote workspace
• whether suitable privacy is available
• any caring responsibilities eg childcare or care for a relative
• interruptions to their work that may be problematic
• any reservations about returning to campus
• health, safety and wellbeing concerns (as detailed in the above section of this guidance)

During working hours, all staff members need to be able to focus on work. It is acknowledged that whilst remote working means there are inevitable distractions within the working day these should be minimised as far as possible to ensure the required level of concentration and focus on work can be applied. Where unforeseen circumstances arise and a member of staff is called upon to care for a dependent during the working day consideration should be given to Leave in Special Circumstances policy or whether some short term flexibility is required to help a member of staff balance their responsibilities for caring with work.

Equipment needed

Staff should have access to the equipment they need in order to carry out their role safely. In most cases this will include a laptop, two screens, a keyboard, a mouse, a desk and chair and/or other standard computer equipment as required. The University will assist staff as far as practicable to achieve this or close to it in combination with home furniture, in order that staff can work safely both remotely and on campus. In most cases staff will be expected to transport portable devices to campus to work from, such as laptops. Read the IT advice and information about working off campus.

Managers should discuss any needs for more specialist equipment and seek advice from OH and H&S colleagues where required. Where managers are already aware of existing requirements of staff due to health issues, these should be met as far as reasonably practicable. Should staff require more specialist hardware or software to enable them to carry out their work duties, this should be discussed with IT Services at itsupport@york.ac.uk or on 01904 323838. If an employee requires other equipment eg. desk, chair or has space requirements please inform Liz Lloyd from the Estates department of those requirements at space-planning@york.ac.uk so that space/equipment can be planned and allocated.

Training needs

Successful remote working requires appropriate digital skills. While many staff will have already developed these skills while working from home, managers should discuss any particular training needs in the initial discussion and ongoing as part of the PDR process. Reasonable requests for training should be supported. The University is supporting staff to enhance their skills by using a Staff Digital Skills Framework. This provides one of the foundations for the wider digital strategy that is being developed by the University. In addition, upskilling guidance and tools are available to help make work and teaching more accessible on the digital accessibility webpages.