Requiring staff to have equipment to WFH

[EmotionalSupportPotato]

My work place offers hybrid working. 3 days in the office 2 days at home. Can they require us to have a second monitor at home? I have a proper set up, monitor, laptop, keyboard, mouse and a desk but I know lots of the more junior staff are just using their laptops at their kitchen table or sofas even. What are the rules around this sort of thing- would work have to buy them the equipment? Can they just say "fine come in 5 days a week then" if they can't prove they have the equipment.

DS chooses to go into the office as he uses 3 screens and finds it difficult to work on just a laptop at his flat as there is no room for a load of office stuff, he lives locally to work though and walks.

So do I, and a chair. I just had to buy a cheap table from Amazon desk. Luckily I have room for this set up in a spare bedroom.

My hybrid contract states that I need to have the right equipment if I want to work from home. Including sufficient WiFi and an adjustable chair. If I don’t have these things then I would be required in the office.

They do provide keyboards, mice, additional cameras and headsets to help with work and communications.

can your juniors attach their computer to their tv monitors as an experiment on if error rates will be reduced if you have a bigger screen.

It will depend on your laptop capabilities. For my work laptop I run 3 monitors and don't use the laptop screen. To do that I have a USBc hub which has two hdmi ports and I plug the third hdmi cable directly into my laptop. I then configure the screens in display settings. It's a permanent set up because I'm contracted as a remote worker. My personal laptop is about 10 years old though and can only support 2 monitors.

If people have multiple monitors for productivity reasons

If they have adjustable chairs for health and safety reasons

Then of course the employer can insist that people who work from home have these things

My employer provides equipment but I can quite see that an employer might not want the cost of providing the set up twice

I have a docking station. I used to use my laptop as one of the screens back in 2020 and I raised my laptop on a stand and used a separate keyboard. One colleague works from her sofa just using the laptop. I can’t get my head around it. She has a decent dining table and also a desk in her spare room.

Yes that is probably the cheapest way to do it if people are paying for their own kit (and a hub or KDX are usually smaller than a dock).

I have three large screens permanently set up with a hub system but really you need the dedicated space for that. It wouldn't be very practical to use the dining table and dismantle every night!

Our policy is that people may use their own computer/laptop at home but won’t get IT support with it. It has to be able to use specific Windows and security.

Work will provide a laptop for hybrid working and IT support. If we work hybrid and use laptop provided by work then the set up when in the office is a docking station. People who work exclusively in office or use personal laptop for hybrid working don’t get switched to a docking station when at work