Remote work contracts: what should they cover?
Put the location, office days and costs in writing. We explain what the law requires, what to agree and what changes if you move or your employer wants you back.
Your homeworking arrangement is only as secure as the terms you can prove. Today, save your contract, rota and any messages promising home days. Then ask for the workplace, attendance rules, equipment and expenses in writing. If you are requesting a change, use the steps below and mark the deadline in your calendar.
- Day one
- Principal written statement due in Great Britain
- £6/week
- Employer homeworking allowance guideline, subject to exemption conditions
- 2 months
- GB flexible-working decision deadline, unless you agree an extension
- 1 month
- Deadline to notify changes to written particulars
What must be in writing on day one
In Great Britain, employees and other workers have been entitled to their principal written statement of employment particulars from the first day of work since 6 April 2020. It records your main terms, including pay, hours, holiday and place of work. Some further particulars can follow within two months, as GOV.UK’s written-statement guidance explains. The statement is evidence of your terms, not necessarily the whole contract. Northern Ireland has different rules, explained below.
Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires the statement to specify your place of work. If you work at various places, it must say so and give the employer’s address. A home-based role, an office-based role with agreed home days and a job across several locations can all be recorded accurately. Spell out the arrangement rather than relying on the word “remote”.
If you are required to work outside the UK for more than one month, your statement must also cover the period abroad, pay currency, additional remuneration or benefits, and return terms. Give these particulars before departure. The employer must notify changes to the written particulars, including your workplace, within one month of the change under section 4. Updating the statement does not, by itself, give the employer permission to change your contract.
If the statement is missing or does not match your agreed terms, ask the employer in writing to provide or correct it. Keep the offer, emails and side letters that show what was agreed. Acas in Great Britain, or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland, can explain your options if the employer will not resolve it.
| Clause | What to agree | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Place of work | Your home, office or permitted locations; required office days and notice for extra attendance | Determines what attendance you have agreed to, but does not settle travel tax treatment |
| Working pattern | Days, hours, availability, overtime approval, rest breaks and holiday booking | Homeworking does not remove working-time protections |
| Equipment | Who supplies, owns, repairs and replaces kit; support during outages; return on leaving | Prevents disputes over costs and time lost to broken equipment |
| Expenses | Allowance or reimbursement for eligible costs; broadband, calls, consumables and office trips; claim process | Employees cannot deduct unreimbursed additional household expenses from 6 April 2026 |
| Monitoring and privacy | Reference to a privacy notice explaining monitoring, purposes, access and retention | A contract clause does not make intrusive monitoring lawful |
| Confidentiality and security | Approved devices and storage, screen locking, private calls, printing and breach reporting | Protects work information in a shared home |
| Health and safety | Risk and workstation assessments, eye tests, breaks and reporting hazards | Employer safety duties still apply at home |
| Insurance and permissions | Employer cover; checks with your home insurer, landlord or mortgage lender where required | Homeworking must fit the relevant policy and property terms |
| Changes and moves | Trial terms, reviews, contractual flexibility, notice and approval for a new home or country | A remote role is not permission to work anywhere |
| Cross-border work | Approved country and duration, governing law and responsibility for payroll and work-permission checks | Choosing UK law does not remove mandatory host-country rules |
Check the rest of your agreement against what must be in an employment contract. Notice, sick pay and grievance procedures still matter. The remote-work clauses supplement those terms.
A care worker should check the base and travel between visits; a hotel housekeeper or retail worker should check uniform and kit costs; a warehouse worker should check who supplies and replaces scanners or safety equipment. Write down the real arrangement, not a generic promise of flexibility.
Place of work and office attendance
Read the workplace clause alongside any homeworking agreement, side letter and contractual policy. Naming the office does not automatically make an agreed homeworking pattern revocable. Naming home does not rule out office visits you have already agreed to. The question is what your contract actually requires.
Example: a new manager wants three office days
Your contract names the Leeds office and promises homeworking on Mondays and Fridays. A new manager wants everyone in on Fridays. That changes the agreed pattern, even though Leeds remains your office base. Check for a clause permitting that particular change. Without one, the employer should seek your agreement rather than treat Friday attendance as an existing obligation.
A workplace label does not settle tax treatment. HMRC’s home-to-work travel guidance says that treating home as a workplace is not enough to make travel to another permanent workplace deductible. Where you live is usually a personal choice. Regular travel to your office will normally be ordinary commuting; trips to a temporary workplace may qualify under different rules. Agree reimbursement separately and ask payroll to check its tax treatment.
Your employment status, not your work address, decides your statutory rights. Employees and other eligible workers retain minimum-wage and working-time protections at home. The usual adult working-time rules include a 48-hour average week unless you choose a valid opt-out, a 20-minute break when you work more than six hours, and daily and weekly rest. Statutory paid holiday is normally 5.6 weeks a year, capped at 28 days. Bank holidays can count towards it.
From 1 April 2026 the minimum wage for people aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour. From 6 April 2026 eligible employees receive Statutory Sick Pay from the first qualifying day, at £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks. With average earnings of £100 a week, 80% is £80, so the weekly SSP rate is £80 rather than £123.25. Some agency and other payroll workers qualify too. A contractor is not entitled to SSP simply because their contract calls them a “worker”. See how employment status is decided.
Home-based contract
- Record any required office visits and their notice
- Check whether a flexibility clause permits extra attendance
- Do not assume office trips are tax-free business travel
Office-based hybrid contract
- Record the agreed home days as well as the office address
- Say whether the pattern is contractual or discretionary
- Do not assume home days can be withdrawn on notice
Equipment, expenses and the 2026 tax change
Agree a kit list, ownership and repair arrangements. If your laptop fails during work, the agreement should tell you whom to contact, what alternative work is expected and who pays for a replacement. Separate routine expenses from equipment purchases and from anything the employer must provide for safety.
An employer cannot charge you for anything done or provided to meet a specific health-and-safety requirement. That rule comes from section 9 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. If a workstation assessment identifies equipment needed to meet the employer’s legal duties, the employer must arrange a suitable solution without passing the cost to you.
Required spending on work equipment can also reduce your pay for minimum-wage purposes. A 21-year-old paid weekly for 37.5 hours needs at least £476.63 of minimum-wage pay, calculated as 37.5 × £12.71. If a required £50 equipment payment counts against that week’s pay, gross pay of £476.63 is insufficient. The employer would need at least £526.63, assuming there are no other adjustments. Check costs against the relevant pay reference period, not an annual salary alone.
If a required equipment cost pulls your pay below the minimum wage, that is wage theft. The employer benefits from making workers fund the kit needed to do the job.
What employees can no longer claim
From 6 April 2026 employees cannot deduct unreimbursed additional household expenses incurred while working from home. HMRC confirms that section 360B of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 removes both the former flat-rate route and actual-cost deductions for those household expenses. This does not abolish every employment-expense deduction or the separate travel-expense rules.
What employers can still pay tax-free
The employer-paid homeworking exemption remains. Under agreed arrangements for regular homeworking, an employer can pay towards qualifying additional household costs. The guideline is £6 a week or £26 a month without evidence of the amount spent. Higher payments need supporting evidence or an agreed scale rate. The exemption does not require your employer to pay an allowance, and it does not cover every cost of running your home.
Employer-provided work equipment can also be exempt if it meets the relevant conditions, including insignificant private use. Keep the laptop, furniture and broadband arrangements separate from a cash allowance. Reimbursing an existing private broadband subscription is generally taxable; a new connection supplied for work may qualify for exemption. Ask payroll to confirm before agreeing that a payment is “tax-free”.
Example: Maya’s household costs
Maya’s employer agrees regular homeworking and pays the guideline £6 a week for a full 52 weeks. She receives £312 without income tax or National Insurance on the payment. Before 6 April 2026, an eligible basic-rate taxpayer claiming relief on £312 of unreimbursed costs would have saved £62.40, not received £312 back. For household expenses incurred from 6 April 2026, that employee deduction is no longer available.
Sole traders use different tax rules. Simplified use-of-home deductions are £10 a month for 25 to 50 hours of business use, £18 for 51 to 100 hours and £26 for 101 hours or more. The flat rate excludes telephone and internet costs, for which the business proportion can be claimed separately. Employee allowances and freelancer deductions are not interchangeable. See tax on employee benefits.
Office returns, house moves and working abroad
When your employer wants you back
An employer needs your agreement or an applicable contractual power to change your workplace or agreed pattern. A flexibility clause must be used reasonably. Acas guidance on changing contracts explains the need to consult. An imposed change can breach the contract and, in a serious case, lead to a constructive-dismissal claim. Get advice before resigning or simply refusing attendance. Whether a claim succeeds depends on the terms, conduct and your eligibility.
The government’s timetable schedules stronger fire-and-rehire protections for March 2027. Do not read that as a blanket ban on dismissals over office returns. Section 28 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 distinguishes restricted changes, such as pay reductions and changes to required hours, from other changes. Workplace location alone is not listed as a restricted variation in the Act as enacted. The final regulations and the particular changes matter.
When you want to move house
A remote contract is not permission to change its named home address without checking. Tell your employer before moving and agree any necessary variation. A move to Cornwall does not remove an obligation to attend Leeds on Tuesdays. Confirm the new address, office attendance, expenses and safety arrangements in writing. The employer must notify any change to written particulars within one month.
When you want to work abroad
Seek approval before booking an overseas working stay. Tax residence, payroll, social security, immigration permission, insurance and host-country employment rules may matter even for a short visit. There is no general one-month grace period for those checks. In Great Britain, being required to work abroad for more than one month separately triggers the extra written particulars described above.
The agreement should name the approved country, dates and return arrangements. A UK governing-law clause does not settle overseas payroll or override mandatory local rights. See working abroad for a UK employer and whether a visa permits remote work in the UK.
How to request remote or hybrid working
In Great Britain, employees have had a day-one right to request flexible working, including a change of workplace, since 6 April 2024. The statutory scheme excludes agency workers and does not give other workers or the self-employed the same right. You can still ask informally. Approval is not automatic, and a disability-adjustment request is a separate route with different legal duties.
- Put the proposal in writing. Date it, say it is a statutory flexible-working request, describe the change and give your proposed start date. State whether you have made previous statutory requests and when. For example, ask for homeworking on Mondays and Fridays while keeping your existing hours.
- Check the request limits. In Great Britain you can make two requests in any 12 months, with only one live at a time. Northern Ireland generally requires 26 weeks’ service and permits one request in 12 months.
- Discuss how the arrangement would work. In Great Britain the employer must consult before refusing. Explain how you would cover meetings, respond to colleagues and measure work. A trial may help resolve a specific concern.
- Track the deadline. The Great Britain decision period is two months, including any appeal, unless you agree an extension. It is not two months plus extra time for an appeal. Northern Ireland has a different procedure, generally lasting up to 14 weeks.
- Check any refusal. The eight Great Britain statutory grounds are additional costs, harm to customer demand, inability to reorganise work among existing staff, inability to recruit, harm to quality, harm to performance, insufficient work during your proposed times, and planned structural changes. A refusal must rely on a permitted ground and follow the process.
- Record an accepted change. It is normally permanent unless you agree otherwise. Confirm the start date, pattern and any trial or review terms. Changes to your written particulars must be notified within one month of taking effect.
The Acas flexible-working Code sets out the process. A Great Britain tribunal can order reconsideration and award up to eight weeks’ pay for a qualifying failure under the statutory scheme. With a week’s pay capped at £751 from 6 April 2026, the maximum is £6,008. That is not a cap on separate discrimination compensation, nor a guarantee that a tribunal will order homeworking.
Contact Acas early for conciliation. Citizens Advice or a law centre can help; join your sector union, including Unite, UNISON or GMB. From 1 October 2026, some Great Britain tribunal limits increased from three to six months, but claim-specific rules and early conciliation affect the calculation. Do not assume six months is safe for every claim.
See our flexible-working guide for the full rules. If office attendance disadvantages you because of disability, ask about reasonable adjustments as well. Childcare-related requirements can raise indirect sex-discrimination issues, but having caring responsibilities does not itself guarantee homeworking.
Monitoring, privacy and out-of-hours contact
Your employer must have a lawful basis for monitoring under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Monitoring must be necessary and proportionate, and workers should normally be told what is collected, why, who can see it and how long it is kept. Assess the privacy risks before introducing a scheme. Under UK GDPR Article 35, a data protection impact assessment is required where processing is likely to create a high risk to people’s rights and freedoms.
Home monitoring can capture family members and private activity as well as work. Always-on webcams, screen capture and keystroke logging need much more justification than a manager’s wish to see who is busy. Covert monitoring is exceptional, not a substitute for managing performance. The ICO’s monitoring guidance explains the employer’s obligations.
Cross-refer to an accessible privacy notice and security policy. Do not assume signing the contract makes any monitoring lawful, or that calling a policy “non-contractual” allows the employer to change your agreed rights. Specify approved devices, storage, private calls and breach reporting. See monitoring at work and employee data rights.
There is no general statutory right to disconnect in the UK, and the Employment Rights Act 2025 did not create one. Agree availability and response times, including who can contact you outside normal hours and what counts as an emergency. Deal separately with on-call duties and pay. An individual opt-out from the 48-hour average week does not waive all rest rights. See switching off after work.
Health, safety and equal treatment at home
In Great Britain, the employer’s Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 duties extend to homeworking. Northern Ireland has its own health-and-safety legislation. Include homeworking in risk assessments and act on hazards such as unsuitable equipment, electrical risks, stress and isolation. HSE does not expect routine home inspections. An agreed self-assessment and a way to report problems may be appropriate.
For regular display-screen users, the employer must assess the workstation, arrange breaks or changes of activity, provide training, and arrange an eye test on request. Agree how you obtain equipment identified by the assessment. More detail is in our home and hybrid safety guide.
In Great Britain, Equality Act 2010 adjustment duties can require changes to equipment, hours or location for a disabled person. Northern Ireland uses separate discrimination legislation. Homeworking does not excuse inaccessible online meetings or discriminatory decisions about promotion. You should have a way to request training, support and adjustments without being treated as less committed because you work remotely.
Report minimum-wage underpayment through HMRC’s pay and work rights form. For serious abuse or exploitation, report to the Fair Work Agency, which replaced the GLAA on 7 April 2026. For unresolved home-workstation risks, use HSE’s guide to the correct enforcing authority. For discrimination advice, EHRC points to its independent Equality Advisory and Support Service. Reporting does not stop a tribunal deadline.
Signing and changing a remote agreement
Keep an agreed copy of the contract, any homeworking side letter and the policies it incorporates. Whether you sign on paper or use an electronic signing service, check that the final version records the pattern you agreed. A verbal promise can become a contractual term, but proving its wording and scope is harder.
A trial should state its length, the assessment criteria, the review date and what happens afterwards. For example, agree a three-month trial of two home days each week, reviewed against customer cover and completed work. Do not leave “subject to review” unexplained if you expect a permanent arrangement.
If your employer proposes a pay change with an office return or relocation, treat that as another contractual question. Moving home does not itself authorise a salary cut. See remote-work pay changes and when an employer can change pay. Keep statutory notice entitlements separate from notice for changing your working pattern.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland
Scotland follows the Great Britain employment rules described here. Scottish income-tax rates differ for relevant income, so a move can affect take-home pay even if gross salary stays the same. The employer’s office address does not determine Scottish taxpayer status. The government’s timetable records the move to six-month tribunal claim limits in Great Britain from 1 October 2026, with Scottish breach-of-employment-contract claims following on 9 November 2026. Claim-specific rules and early conciliation still matter. Seek advice promptly rather than treating six months as a safe deadline for every dispute.
Northern Ireland
Do not apply the Great Britain day-one statement rule here. Nidirect says an employee employed for longer than one month must receive written particulars within two months of starting. The statement includes the workplace, but the entitlement and deadline differ from Great Britain.
The Northern Ireland flexible-working scheme generally requires 26 weeks’ continuous service, permits one request in 12 months and follows a procedure lasting up to 14 weeks. The request must explain its likely effect on the employer and how that could be addressed. The 2025 Act’s Great Britain reasonableness reform does not extend here.
The April 2026 SSP reforms do apply in Northern Ireland. Do not, however, assume that Great Britain tribunal caps, unfair-dismissal qualifying periods or future reform dates apply. Use the Labour Relations Agency for local employment guidance and see what differs in Northern Ireland.
What has changed and what is scheduled
This guide states the position as at 22 October 2026. The tax change comes from separate finance legislation. The following employment-law dates follow the government’s implementation timetable updated on 22 October 2026. Future dates remain subject to parliamentary processes.
- In force: sick-pay changes
The earnings threshold and waiting period were removed. Eligible employees receive the lower of £123.25 a week and 80% of average weekly earnings from the first qualifying day. The changes apply in Northern Ireland too.
- In force: household-expense deduction removed
Employees cannot deduct unreimbursed additional household expenses. Qualifying employer-paid homeworking allowances remain exempt.
- In force: Fair Work Agency established
The new body brings together employment-rights enforcement. Its creation does not change your agreed workplace or home days.
- In force: tribunal time-limit reform
The timetable records an increase from three to six months in Great Britain. Scottish breach-of-contract claims follow on 9 November. Check the deadline and transitional rules for your particular claim.
- Scheduled: stronger harassment duties
Great Britain employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. A separate duty concerns harassment by third parties. Online meetings and remote contact are not outside workplace protections.
- Scheduled: dismissal reforms
The Great Britain ordinary unfair-dismissal qualifying period is due to fall to six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027, with compensatory awards uncapped. Fire-and-rehire protections are scheduled for March 2027, and do not automatically prohibit every workplace change.
Stronger flexible-working refusal rules are scheduled for October 2027. They are not yet the law in force. Follow our Employment Rights Act 2025 guide for the wider reform timetable.
Questions people ask
Can my employer force me back to the office?
Check your contract and any agreed homeworking terms. Existing attendance obligations can be enforced, but changing the agreed pattern needs your agreement or an applicable contractual power used reasonably. A home address alone does not answer the question. Get advice before refusing attendance or resigning.
Can I move house or work abroad and keep my remote job?
Check any named address, attendance requirements and approval rules before moving. Overseas work needs separate tax, payroll, social-security and immigration checks even for short stays. The Great Britain requirement for extra particulars after more than one month abroad is not a grace period for those other obligations.
Who pays for my laptop, chair and broadband?
Record who supplies and maintains work kit. The employer cannot charge for measures required by health-and-safety law, and required work spending must not take minimum-wage pay below the legal floor. Other reimbursement depends on your terms. A qualifying £6-a-week employer allowance remains tax-free, but employees cannot deduct unreimbursed additional household expenses from 6 April 2026.
Can my employer watch me through my webcam?
Signing a monitoring clause does not authorise unlimited surveillance. Monitoring needs a lawful basis and must be necessary and proportionate. You should normally receive clear information in advance. High-risk processing requires a data protection impact assessment, and covert monitoring is exceptional.
Is a verbal promise of homeworking binding?
It can be, but the evidence matters. Ask for the agreed days, location and any trial or review terms in writing. Acceptance of a statutory flexible-working request normally changes the contract permanently unless you agree otherwise.
Sources
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 1, written particulars, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 4, changes to particulars, legislation.gov.uk
- Written statement of employment particulars in Northern Ireland, nidirect
- Changing an employment contract, Acas
- EIM32370, travel to and from home where it is a place of work, HMRC
- EIM32759, homeworking expenses from 6 April 2026, HMRC
- EIM01476, employer homeworking payments, HMRC
- Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, section 316A, legislation.gov.uk
- Simplified expenses for working from home, GOV.UK
- Minimum wage rates for 2026, GOV.UK
- NMWM11100, deductions and payments for expenditure connected with employment, HMRC
- Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, GOV.UK
- Holiday entitlement, GOV.UK
- Making a statutory flexible-working request, Acas
- Code of Practice on flexible-working requests, Acas
- Flexible working in Northern Ireland, nidirect
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 80I, flexible-working remedies, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026, legislation.gov.uk
- Homeworking risk assessment, HSE
- Display screen equipment at home, HSE
- Monitoring workers guidance, ICO
- UK GDPR, Article 35, data protection impact assessments, legislation.gov.uk
- Paying employees working abroad, GOV.UK
- Employment Rights Act 2025, section 9, flexible working, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025, section 28, dismissal over contract variations, legislation.gov.uk
- Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act implementation timetable, GOV.UK
- Characteristics of homeworkers, Great Britain: September 2022 to January 2023, Office for National Statistics
- Revealed: thousands of rogue bosses have failed to pay tribunal awards, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and BBC News