It is often said that working from home can help us keep our work-life balance in equilibrium, and support our mental health. While this is true, it can have its downsides, potentially introducing new sources of stress as it reduces or removes others. This is especially the case if home working arrangements are poorly designed and implemented.
Whether you work from home or on site, your employer has the same obligations to ensure that, as far as possible, you aren’t Prospect members‘ guide – Home and remote working 33 exposed to issues arising from work that will cause stress and mental health problems.
Health and safety law only considers risks caused by or arising out of work. Pressure can come from a range of sources, including our personal lives. Some of the pressures we experience when working at home will arise from the conflict between our work commitments and our home commitments. If you have become a home worker in response to pandemic, your home life will have changed too. All this will mean that individuals’ overall ability or capacity to cope with additional work pressures is reduced.
Some of the factors that can cause stress for a home worker are well known, such as the support you receive from colleagues and your employer, but there are others that may not be so obvious.
For more information on this, members can download our full guide to homeworking.
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