Remote Work Trends: Opportunities, Challenges and Best Practices
Hybrid as the default
Fully remote and five days in the office are the extremes. For small firms the mix is usually most workable: part of the week at home, part on the premises. That arrangement is called hybrid working.
Hybrid works when it is agreed in advance what happens where. Meetings, inducting new starters and fixing problems go better face to face. Focused work such as writing, analysis or bookkeeping gets done just as well at home. If you are setting up the model, start with the guide to navigating hybrid remote work in the UK.
What employment law expects of employers
There is no legal right to work from home in the UK, but there is a legal right to ask. Three obligations follow.
Flexible working requests
Since April 2024 every employee can make a statutory flexible working request from their first day, including a request to work from home. They can make two requests in any 12 months, and you must respond within two months. You can refuse only for one of eight business reasons, and you must consult the employee before refusing.
Working time and health and safety
The Working Time Regulations and your health and safety duties apply at home. Keep records showing working time limits are met, and carry out a basic risk assessment of the home workstation, usually a self-assessment checklist the employee completes.
Homeworking costs
You do not have to pay a homeworking allowance, but you can. HMRC lets employers pay up to £6 a week (£26 a month) tax-free towards extra household costs without receipts, under a homeworking arrangement.
From 6 April 2026 employees can no longer claim the £6-a-week homeworking tax relief themselves through HMRC. Only an employer payment stays tax-free. If you want staff to keep the benefit, add the £6 weekly allowance to payroll. Example: a part-time employee working from home three days a week still qualifies for the full £6.
Results instead of hours at the desk
When you cannot see people at their desks, there is no point watching whether the green dot in chat is on. Firms where remote working succeeds judge delivered work: deadlines met, quality and tasks completed.
In practice everyone knows what to deliver and by when. Status lives in one shared tool, whether Trello, Asana or a plain shared spreadsheet. Managing by results does not remove your working time duties. Both run side by side.
Fewer meetings, more written communication
The next trend is asynchronous communication. People need not be online at the same time, because tasks, decisions and procedures are written down where everyone can find them. A video call is reserved for what cannot be settled in writing.
The advantage shows most in a small team. Everyone works when they focus best, and a new starter can look up how things work instead of asking about everything.
Security outside the office
Home Wi-Fi, a personal laptop or café internet takes company data outside the company network. The basics are simple: two-factor authentication, a password manager, regular updates, disk encryption and backups. The essential cybersecurity tips for British small firms go into detail. Remember that UK GDPR applies in full at home.
Tip
AI as an everyday tool
AI tools now summarise meetings, draft emails, translate and research. For a team that does not share an office, that means less retyping and passing information around.
Before the team starts using them, write down simple rules: which tools are allowed and what must never go into them. Typically that means customers' personal data, contracts and internal figures.
A team without borders: employees and freelancers
Remote working opens the labour market beyond your town. You can hire someone in Leeds even if your business is in Bristol. Many small firms also combine employees with freelancers who invoice them, for marketing, design or web development.
Weighing up whether remote working suits your team? Read the pros and cons of remote work in the UK.
Do employees have a right to work from home?
No, but they have a statutory right to request flexible working from day one. You must consider the request properly and can refuse only for one of eight business reasons.
How quickly must I answer a flexible working request?
Within two months of receiving it, including any appeal, unless you agree a longer period with the employee.
Can I pay staff a tax-free homeworking allowance?
Yes. Up to £6 a week or £26 a month is tax-free without receipts, as long as there is a homeworking arrangement in place.
Can employees still claim homeworking tax relief themselves?
Not for 2026/27 onwards. The employee claim was abolished from 6 April 2026. Only employer payments remain tax-free.
Does health and safety law apply at home?
Yes. You remain responsible for your employees' health and safety and should carry out a proportionate risk assessment of their home workstation.
