Legalities

1. Health & Safety

Section 19 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires that employers and those who control workplaces to any extent must identify the hazards in the workplaces under their control and assess the risks to safety and health at work presented by these hazards.

Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires that an organisation produce a written programme to safeguard:

• the safety and health of  employees while they work
• the safety and health of  other people who might be at the workplace, including customers, visitors and members of the public

A Health & Safety Risk Assessment and Safety Statement in relation to an employee working from home should include at a minimum the following elements-

• Every place of work must have a safety statement
• Adequate space for workstation, office chairs and tables which need to be adjustable.
• Electrical Safety – overloading of sockets and safety of stowing cables.
• Fire Safety –  evacuation, provision of extinguishers
• Ergonomics assessment
• Manual handling /eye screening

2. eWorking and Tax Implications

According to the Revenue Commissionares, eWorking is defined as any method of working using information and communication technology in which the work that is carried out is not bound to any particular location. Ways of eWorking include:

• Working at home on a full time or part time basis
• Working some of the time at home and the remainder in the office
• Working while on the move, with infrequent or occasional visits to the office.

eWorking involves:

• Working for substantial periods outside the employer’s premises.
• Logging onto the employer’s computer remotely.
• Sending and receiving email, data or files remotely
• Developing ideas, products and services remotely.

Income Tax

Provision of Computers & other Additional Equipment
An individual’s employer may provide equipment, such as computers, printers, scanners, fax machines, etc. and software to enable him or her work from home. Where the provision of such items is primarily for business use, a benefit-in-kind charge will not be imposed on the employee in respect of incidental private use. The provision of a telephone line for business use will not give rise to a benefit in kind charge.

Provision of Other Equipment
Likewise, the provision of other equipment, such as office furniture, etc., by the employer to enable the employee work from home will not attract a benefit-in-kind charge where the equipment is provided primarily for business use.

Home Expenses
eWorkers will incur certain expenditure in the performance of their duties from home, such as additional heating and electricity costs. Revenue is prepared to allow an employer make payments up to €3.20 per day to employees without deducting PAYE and PRSI. This does not prevent an employee making a specific expenses claim where the actual expenditure is in excess of this amount.

Other Expenses
The tax treatment of motor expenses and subsistence payments which may be made by an employer without attracting a tax liability is set out in Income Tax leaflets IT51 - Employees' Motoring/Bicycle Expenses and IT54 - Employees’ Subsistence Expenses, respectively. In relation to eWorkers, the determination of the individuals base may cause an element of difficulty. In practice, if the employee works part time in the office and part time at home, the base is the office.

Note: These arrangements only apply to eWorking employees. They do not extend to employees who, in the normal course of employment, bring some work home in the evening, etc.

Capital Gains Tax

Where an eWorking employee uses any part of his or her home for eWork purposes, the capital gains tax exemption for Principal Private Residences will not be restricted.

Further Information

For further information, please contact your Regional Revenue Office or visit Revenue’s website at http://www.revenue.ie