Work from anywhere, litigate nowhere? How to keep hybrid working harmonious…

This blog was co-authored with solicitor Shannon Willett - Burges Salmon.

Call me a cynical employment lawyer but when a new way of working comes calling, as it did in 2020 when working life as we knew it was turned on its head, it won’t take long for a new line in litigation to follow in its footsteps.  

It is clear that hybrid working isn’t going anywhere. Over the last five years, employers and employees alike have reaped the benefits. Indeed, the Office for National Statistics’ recent report on who has access to hybrid working showed that more than a quarter of workers now work to a hybrid working model. 

However, hybrid working is not without its issues and so it is no surprise that cases are starting to filter through the employment tribunal system and these are likely to rise. Greater flexibility and limited employer visibility have seen some workers take advantage by squeezing in a second job alongside the existing one and the opportunity to ‘work from anywhere’ can present problems not least in terms of confidentiality and data protection. And despite the free pizzas and doughnuts, hybrid working can also make it difficult for employers to get the employee back into the office when needed - an increasingly frustrating challenge for some. All of these areas (and more) can give rise to disciplinary issues and so lead to claims so to keep your risk to a minimum it is important, as an employer, that you remain in control of how any hybrid working model operates. 

Most employers will now have a hybrid working policy and/ or guidelines in place, but these may have been pulled together reasonably hastily and applied in a light-touch way. If, as an employer, you wish to embrace hybrid working on a permanent basis you may want to consider whether it is time to refresh your policies. In reviewing policies, it’s worth considering a few points:

• how often you need employees to attend the office, including when ad hoc attendance may be required as well as ‘anchor’ days;
• your stance on whether an employee is able to take up a second job and if they can how it may (or may not) interact with their role for you;
• whether and how you might monitor productivity and if tools are required to do this making sure data protection and privacy protections are adhered to; and
• what ‘work from anywhere’ means for your organisation and what restrictions, for example, in relation to time away or location might apply together with any internal authorisation required. 

It is important that policies and expectations are clear. A mismatch of expectations between employee and employee regarding attendance at a one-to-one mediation meeting was a particular point of contention in a recent tribunal case for constructive unfair dismissal where the employee had attended the meeting remotely so he could stay at home to supervise his garden contractors. The employment tribunal ultimately did not consider this blameworthy conduct and did not reduce the claimant’s award. It, therefore, serves as a cautionary tale for employers to ensure that expectations around office attendance and in particular what types of meetings should be attended in person are clear. 

To avoid finding yourself in a similar position:

1. have a clear policy in place to set expectations and the parameters of your organisation’s hybrid working model, taking into account the points above;
2. provide regular training for managers on your hybrid working policy and how to manage employees working under it; and
3. audit how your hybrid working policy is interpreted and applied across different areas of the business to ensure consistency of application across the business.

With its unorthodox entry into our way of working, it is easy to forget that hybrid working represents a major operational change for most employers. The time that might usually have been taken to prepare and introduce such a change wasn’t available at the outset and so employers, wanting to make hybrid working permanent, should take the time now to find the sweet spot and reach a balance that works for the organisation and its people.

We advise many of the UK’s best-known employers, as well as overseas businesses, on working arrangements and hybrid working practices. If you have any questions, please get in touch with our Employment team.

A hybrid-working model, which involves travelling to work part of the time and working at home part of the time, has become the "new normal" for more than one in four workers.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/whohasaccesstohybridworkingreatbritain/2025-06-11#hybrid-working-has-increased-since-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic