It is one of the most common SECR questions from finance teams, usually a few weeks before the annual report goes to the printers. Half the office works from home two days a week. Do those emissions go in the directors' report?
Short answer: no, not as a requirement. Reporting home working is a voluntary choice. If you make it, make it carefully.
What SECR actually requires
The reporting duty sits in Schedule 7 of the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, as amended in 2018. For the companies in scope (see who has to report under SECR), the directors' report must include:
- UK energy use, in kWh, from electricity, gas and transport fuel.
- The associated greenhouse gas emissions: Scope 1 and Scope 2.
- Emissions from fuel used in transport, which includes business travel in vehicles the company does not own, the so-called grey fleet.
- At least one intensity ratio.
- The methodology used.
- A description of energy efficiency actions taken in the year.
Nothing in that list covers the electricity, gas or heating an employee uses in their own home. The employer does not buy that energy, so it is not a Scope 1 or 2 source for the company. For the full picture of the regime, read what SECR is.
Why it is Scope 3, and why that matters
Under the GHG Protocol, emissions the company causes but does not own or control are Scope 3. Home working is a recognised optional item. DESNZ, which publishes the UK government conversion factors, treats it that way too: the 2026 factors include home working figures for Scope 3 reporting, expressed per full-time-equivalent hour worked.
The DESNZ methodology builds those figures from assumptions about office equipment use and home heating during working hours. Because they are averages, they are suitable for an organisation-level estimate. They are not a measurement of any one person's home.
That is the honest framing for a disclosure: an estimate, from published factors, for a category the regulations do not require.
When it is worth reporting
Leaving it out is lawful on the face of the schedule. Reporting it can still make sense when:
- A client or tender asks for a wider Scope 3 inventory. Many large buyers do.
- You have moved from office to hybrid working and your Scope 2 has fallen. Without the home working line, the drop can look like a pure efficiency gain when some of the energy simply moved into employees' homes.
- You report under a framework that asks for it, such as a voluntary net zero commitment covering all material Scope 3 categories.
If none of these apply, the effort is probably better spent on the Scope 3 categories that are usually larger for your sector.
How to disclose it properly
If you do include home working, treat it like any other estimate.
- Get the hours from real data. Use rota, payroll or attendance records for hours worked at home. A flat assumption, such as "everyone works from home two days a week", is weaker and should be labelled as an assumption.
- Use the published factor for the year. Pick the DESNZ set for the reporting year, apply the per-hour factor to full-time-equivalent hours, and record the factor year.
- Keep it out of Scope 1 and 2. Show it as Scope 3, and show it separately from the mandatory SECR figures so the required disclosure stays clean.
- State that it is voluntary. One sentence in the methodology is enough.
- Do not double count with commuting. Use the same attendance data to count commuting days and home-working hours, so a day is one or the other. Our guide to Scope 1, 2 and 3 for contractors explains where commuting sits.
- Keep the same method next year. A voluntary line that changes method every year is hard to trust.
What not to do
- Do not add home working to the energy total that SECR requires. The required kWh figure is UK energy the company is responsible for.
- Do not claim the figure is exact. It is an estimate from averages.
- Do not describe the report as compliant because it includes voluntary items. Compliance depends on the required items.
- Do not drop an item you reported last year without saying why.
Where MetricOra fits
MetricOra holds commuting and other Scope 3 records alongside Scope 1 and 2, with the factor and method visible on each calculation, so a voluntary line can be separated from the required ones. See the product's reporting and the methodology. The Scope 3 categories that carry the most weight for contractors are usually purchased goods, waste and transport, which is where most of the effort should go.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to report home working emissions under SECR? No. Schedule 7 does not list it.
Is it Scope 3? Yes, for the employer.
Can I report it voluntarily? Yes. Disclose the method, the hours, the factor year and that it is voluntary.
Which factors? The DESNZ home working factors per full-time-equivalent hour, for the year you report.
Will leaving it out cause a problem? Not on the text of the schedule. Ask your accountant or auditor to confirm for your company.