UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Richard Brown, Louisa Chambers, Adam Wyman and Michael Ross, Travers Smith LLP
Nevertheless, customers are increasingly conscious that offshoring to certain jurisdictions may pose an increased risk of data breaches. Another common concern is that, although savings can be made on labour costs through offshoring, this may prove to be a false economy if the quality of service provision is below the requisite standard because staff lack the necessary skill levels. These considerations are often brought to the fore when outsourcing services involve customer relationship management (such as call cen - tres) and can result in businesses deciding to opt for onshoring or nearshoring instead. Another driver for nearshoring in the UK market is an increase in the number of service providers based in Eastern Europe. This region is obviously geographi - cally closer to the UK than many jurisdictions often used for offshoring (such as India or the Philippines). 5.4 Remote Working The TUPE regulations cover employees working remotely if they are wholly or mainly assigned to the services being outsourced. Such remote workers would transfer to the new supplier along with any oth - er employees who are wholly or mainly assigned to the services. However, for the TUPE regulations to apply,
there must be an organised grouping of employees in Great Britain at the time of the outsourcing (or insourc - ing or change in service provider). If some or all of the employees are working remotely abroad, the TUPE regulations may not apply, as there may not be an organised grouping of employees in Great Britain. In general, there is very little regulation on remote working in the UK; this is largely a matter for agree - ment between an employer and its employees. Many employers will have a policy on remote working, even though there is no legal requirement to do so. Employers must, however, ensure they comply with their existing legal obligations in relation to remote workers – including duties relating to health and safety and duties under the Data Protection Laws. The primary business considerations raised by cus - tomers when considering whether, and how, to per - mit remote working are around service delivery – ie, whether remote working will impact the delivery of the services being outsourced. This depends on the nature of the services, the type of work performed, the level of supervision and administrative support required, and whether technology supports the remote delivery of services.
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