Introducing Remote Workers

The Delegated Authorities team has revised the rules around homeworkers to reflect the fact that coverholders may want to allow employees to work away from an approved office (but linked to the office) from a location other than their home.

Such workers will be known as remote workers. Homeworkers will come under the umbrella of remote workers going forward as they pose the same risks and therefore require the same treatment.

An employee may be allowed to work away from an approved office and be given remote worker status subject to the following criteria:

• The unapproved address from which they work is not advertised as a business workplace and it does not feature on any business correspondence.
• The remote worker is and remains an employee of the approved coverholder.
• The IT systems being used by the remote worker are the same as and are linked to the approved office systems.
• All activities remain in compliance with the terms of the binding authority.
• Documents are not signed or issued from the unapproved remote address.

The remote worker declaration must also be completed and complied with and should be uploaded to Atlas under the relevant coverholder PIN.

It will be up to the Lloyd’s Managing Agent to conduct due diligence and assess whether a coverholder employee is suitable for approval as a remote worker. Any coverholder wanting to allow an employee to work remotely must ensure the arrangement is acceptable with the managing agent and that they understand their obligations under the remote worker declaration.

It is essential that remote workers are appropriately recorded and monitored by both coverholders and Lloyd’s Managing Agents because of the increased risks their activities incur. In particular attention must be paid to any licencing or tax issues where the remote worker operates in a state, province or country under a different regulatory regime to the approved office.

The recording of remote workers using the new definition and declaration will come into force when an updated version of the Delegated Underwriting Code of Practice is released later this year. The Code will include further details on the approval of remote workers and the declaration.