COVID-19 (coronavirus) advice for the UQ community - STAFF - Working from home
I’m a supervisor and I want to make sure my staff are able to work from home effectively. What should I do?
- Unless work is deemed necessary to be performed on campus, all staff should be working from home. Your team members should record any working from home (WFH) arrangement in MyAurion (instructions here).
- Ensure that you’ve discussed home workspaces with your staff, have identified what technology and support they will need, and organised to have regular contact via email, Zoom or other methods to keep staff updated. A resource on IT setup can be found here.
A full guide to working at home is available here. Hints on how to look after your health while working from home are available here.
I’m a staff member who needs to work from home. What do I need to know?
If you are working from home, your supervisor will be in regular contact to ensure staff are kept informed; workloads and outputs are reviewed and support is provided as required.
Your employment terms and conditions, University policies, and relevant workplace legislation still apply when working from home.
If you are working from home, you are still covered by worker's compensation while performing University work.
A full guide to working at home is available here. Hints on how to look after your health while working from home are available here.
Can I claim mobile phone, internet and home phone expenses while working from home?
If you use your own phones or internet for work purposes, you may be able to claim a deduction if you:
- Paid for these costs and
- Have records to support your claims.
If you use your phone for internet for both work and private use, you will need to work out the percentage that reasonably relates to your work use.
Further details can be found on the ATO website.
Can I request to change my working hours, days, or work pattern?
Continuing and fixed-term professional staff can request a change to work hours, days or work pattern through my.UQ. You must discuss your request with your supervisor. Your supervisor will need to consider your request and the impact on the organisational unit's operations.
Many professional staff at UQ must work within a standard spread of hours. If you initiate a change to your work hours or days beyond the spread of hours applicable to your role under The University of Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2018-2021, your new arrangement will be considered ordinary time and paid at ordinary rates (penalty rates are not applicable).
Changing your work hours, days or work pattern may impact your leave entitlements. For more information:
- talk to your HR Client Services team
- read the Hours of Work and Flexible Work Arrangements Policies [5.55].
Instructions to complete your request can be found here. Please ensure that if you are working from home due to COVID-19, you have registered the details in MyAurion.
Can my team members work different hours or on weekends as a result of COVID-19?
Example: My staff member wants to work early mornings or weekends from home to accommodate caring responsibilities while schools are closed/pupil free as a result of COVID-19. Can they do so?
Many professional staff at UQ must work within a standard spread of hours. That means, in order to work outside these hours, they will need to request a change to work hours, days or work pattern through my.UQ. If a staff member initiates a change to their hours or days beyond the spread of hours applicable to their role under The University of Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2018-2021, the new arrangement will be considered ordinary time and paid at ordinary rates, penalty rates are not applicable.
Academic staff and professional staff at or above HEW Level 8 have no standard spread of hours, therefore supervisors may approve these arrangements on a case by case basis.
For more information:
- talk to your local HR Client Services team
- read the Hours of Work and Flexible Work Arrangements Policies [5.55].
Remember to ensure if you and your team are working from home due to COVID-19, details need to be registered and maintained in MyAurion.
How can I support my team members when they are working from home?
Flexible work options
If you have team members trying to balance caring responsibilities and existing workloads, or they are adapting to working from home, you may choose to discuss flexible work options with them. Remember that changing work hours, days or work pattern may impact an individual’s salary and leave entitlements.
Leading a remote team
Guidance for leading a remote team is included in the COVID-19 Support Toolkit for Managers, available here.
For supervisors, it is recommended that you have at least daily short check-ins on phone or video with your direct reports and establish regular (eg daily or weekly) reporting frameworks on work in progress and completed. Supervisors need to maintain a sense of virtual presence and the best way to achieve this is to use video conferencing with video enabled or other ‘media rich’ communications.
Make the best use of technology
UQ ITS have developed a Working Remotely pack to support supervisors with an overview of IT requirements and information for working off campus.
Remember to ensure if you and your team are working from home due to COVID-19, details need to be registered and maintained in MyAurion.
I am working from home and I believe I have suffered a work related injury. Do I have to report this?
Yes – all injuries that occur during the course of work must be reported through UQSafe Incident. If you are working from home this is deemed a workplace under the Work Health and Safety Act 2001 and there is a requirement that all injuries/illnesses are reported if they are work-related. You should advise your supervisor as soon as practicable.
If you require medical treatment or cannot work, you are entitled to submit a Workers Compensation Claim. Each claim for compensation is assessed on a case by case basis, in accordance with the legislation.