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HCI Help At Hand
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Trade and Industry Secretary and E-Cabinet Minister Patricia Hewitt has unveiled new guidelines for employers on Home Computing Initiatives (HCI).
The guidelines contain more information about why HCI schemes may offer benefits to organisations and their employees. It includes advice on how to get started, a set of technical implementation guidelines approved by the Inland Revenue and others, and case studies from a range of organisations that have successfully implemented HCI schemes.
The guidelines, produced by the Department for trade and Industry, in association with the Department for Education & Skills and the Cabinet Office, aim to help British businesses and public sector organisations take advantage of the ?500 annual tax exemption on loaned computers, introduced by the Chancellor in 1999. The exemption enables organisations to loan computers to their employees as a tax-free benefit. By loaning computers to employees, organisations can offer them a valuable benefit, which at the same time helps to maximise organisational performance through improved ICT skills.
"The guidelines will give employers the clarity they need to go ahead and implement an HCI scheme," says Patricia Hewitt. "Our work with the HCI Alliance and others will promote these guidelines and the real benefits that HCI schemes can bring.
"For employers, HCI schemes are about maximising potential in the workplace. Basic computer and technology skills are now regarded as essential for the majority of jobs. With home computer access, IT confident employees have greater capacity to contribute to an organisation?s overall performance and adapt more easily to new roles and opportunities. HCI schemes can also generate employer National Insurance savings.
"For individuals, as well as cost savings, HCI schemes can help realise personal and professional potential. Through improved ICT access and use, they provide the tools and resources that further individual learning, enhance workplace skills and increase employment opportunities."
The Government is working closely with industry to promote HCI schemes. The HCI Alliance, comprising BT, Intel and Microsoft, has pledged funds and resources to help the Government promote the guidelines and HCI schemes more broadly. The Government and the HCI Alliance have been advised by the HCI Advisory Group with representatives drawn from Government, industry and the voluntary sector.
Patricia Hewitt was joined at the launch of the guidelines by Andrew Pinder, the e-Envoy, members of the HCI Alliance, together with Brendan Barber of the TUC and John Sunderland of the CBI.
Welcoming the publication of the guidelines, Brendan Barber said: "There is a real thirst in the workforce for better computer skills. Our surveys show this is the top choice in almost every work place. People know that computers are more and more crucial to the way we live and work, and they want hands-on experience at work and at home. Every employer now has the chance to offer this great deal to their staff ? a cost-free benefit for staff and a real boost to skills. Home Computing schemes win for employees, win for employers and win for the long-term prosperity of us all."
In the UK, the 1999 Finance Act introduced a ?500 annual exemption from the taxable benefit of loaned computers. This, when combined with a salary sacrifice arrangement between employer and employees, provides a framework which closely mirrors that found in Sweden.
People who have a computer at home say it makes them more productive at the office according to a new survey for the Office of the e-Envoy. And three-quarters say it helps them to achieve greater work-life balance.
According to people polled in the survey, who were asked how having a computer at home may have helped their employer, 61% have improved their IT skills, 65% are more familiar with the Internet and 51% have learned skills at home which help them at work. In total, eight of 10 employees said their employer had seen a benefit from them having a computer at home.
A further 77% believe having a computer at home helps them to better manage the balance between home and work. When asked, three out of 10 people believe that having a computer at home means they are more in control and suffer less from stress as a direct result.
Improvements to work-life balance arise because 60% use computers to deal with personal issues out of work time, 55% get things done more easily including bill paying and shopping and 60% save time researching holidays and purchases on the Internet. A further 32% enjoy the flexibility that having a computer at home gives them when it comes to working outside office hours so that they can leave work early.
Those surveyed also point to softer benefits that arise. Some 35% use the Internet less at work on personal issues, 33% have been able to work from home when necessary, 24% report that they can work from home lessening the impact of disruptive events, and 21% are more responsive in busy periods because they can work from home.
"The message is clear," says E-Envoy Andrew Pinder. He calls for employers to: "be doing everything that they can to encourage their employees to have a PC at home. It?s good for business and it?s good for peoples? home lives as well. For too long benefits have tended to reward just the person receiving it, often at a significant cost to either the individual or the company, HCI rewards entire families and, more importantly, is an easy and cost effective benefit to the whole family.
"Getting the balance right between work and home life is a critical issue for employers. This research suggests that those people who have computers at home are enjoying real benefits over their colleagues that don?t."
The Office of the e-Envoy is part of the Prime Minister's Delivery and Reform team, based in the Cabinet Office. The primary focus of the Office of the e-Envoy is to improve the delivery of public services and achieve long term cost savings by joining-up online government services around the needs of customers. The e-Envoy is responsible for ensuring that all government services are available electronically by 2005 with key services achieving high levels of use.
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