The House of Lords Committee on home-based working published its report Is Working from Home Working on 13 November 2025. This followed an inquiry into the effects and future development of remote and hybrid working in the UK.
The key recommendations made were that the Government should:
- Fund research into the physical and mental health implications of hybrid and remote working.
- Publicise the mental health benefits and risks of remote working through a campaign to promote equitable access to remote and hybrid working, emphasising, for example, its importance to people with disabilities.
- Publish updated guidance for employers on the different forms of home working and their implications for businesses.
- Publish guidance for employers on best practices for managing fully remote and hybrid workers and promoting management training around it.
The Employment Rights Bill introduces a right to request flexible working (including remote and hybrid working), which can only be refused where it is “reasonable” to do so. The Committee observed that this is likely to give rise to years of litigation absent a clear and workable definition of “reasonable”.
For workers with disability, a request for reasonable adjustments around remote or hybrid working is likely to be a simpler option in the short term, provided the employer behaves reasonably. Someone asking for a reasonable adjustment for disability must be able to demonstrate that there is a provision, criterion or practice (the requirement to be in the office?) that causes substantial disadvantage (what is the disadvantage that impacts the disabled worker in a way that it would not impact a non-disabled worker?) and be able to show that the adjustment requested can alleviate that disadvantage.
A right to switch off, enshrined in legislation, has been rejected. This may be implemented by a Code of Practice.
The Committee also made recommendations about increasing investment in broadband internet to cope with hybrid and remote working, and addressing the shifts in demand for transport created by hybrid working. Recommendations were also made about tackling the risks AI might pose to remote jobs.
This blog was written by Yavnik Ganguly, Senior Solicitor at didlaw.
