A recent report by polling firm Island Global Research suggested that 84% of residents in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man would be happy to work remotely more often once the pandemic subsides.
Of those who responded to the survey, 21% said they would like to work at home all of the time, while 63% favoured doing their job remotely at least some of the time. Only 16% did not want to work at home at all.
Richard Plaster, a director at employment law specialists Law At Work, said that the recent success many firms had had with remote working would strengthen the case for employees wishing to work more flexibly.
‘We must remember that employees have a statutory right to request flexible working, which is not just about when work is undertaken but also where,’ he said.
‘We might therefore expect to see an increase in formal requests to work from home. The employer is obliged to seriously consider the request and can only reject in certain circumstances.
‘If home working has worked well during the lockdown, it will become more difficult for employers to use some of these reasons to summarily reject a valid request.’
He added: ‘I would expect the reality will be that increasing numbers of staff will work partly from their office and partly from home, seeking the best of both options.
‘The opportunity for the social contacts and team dynamics that a workplace brings and the chance to work without interruption at home, also benefitting from maybe flexible hours, no commuting and so on.’
Jersey Finance chief executive Joe Moynihan said that it was ‘not surprising’ that so many people indicated a preference for more home working and changes could be expected post-crisis.
‘While we cannot gauge the level of responses from Jersey’s finance industry to the survey, it does not come as a surprise that there is such a level of interest in home working, having seen how well our industry has adapted to this work environment due to the pandemic,’ he said.
‘By and large, the clear message is one of resilience, and that’s very positive.
‘The post-Covid-19 environment will bring about changes in both personal and professional lives, so each employer will be assessing the working-from-home experience from their perspective, looking at what has worked well and what changes they may wish to adopt for the future performance of their employees and their business. There may be a range of factors to consider, such as staff wellbeing, business continuity plans, technology infrastructures, security standards, human resource policies, cultural nuances and geographies, as well as client needs and practicalities.’
He added: ‘All of the above considerations would need to be explored according to the individual needs of each business to avoid any pitfalls or challenges. Setting out realistic expectations that work for employees and business strategies could lead to new opportunities for businesses, employees and clients as a result of this experience.’
Meanwhile, Andrew McLaughlin, chief executive of Natwest International in the Crown Dependencies, said that if greater home working was to be introduced the impact had to be carefully considered.
‘There is a whole gamut of emotions at the moment and it is too soon to take a definitive stance,’ he said.
‘This isn’t about whether we can practically enable home working – there are no show-stoppers from a technology or security standpoint – it’s about whether it’s the right thing to do for the colleague, customer, shareholder and community.
‘We will need more time to strike the right balance between each party for the future.’
Island Global Research’s survey was taken by 1,560 residents in the Crown Dependencies, of which 555 were in Jersey, 601 in Guernsey and 404 in the Isle of Man.
