This document discusses policies and strategies for telecommuting or working from home. It provides an overview of laws in Britain that allow flexible work hours for employees with children or disabilities. While there is no official policy in Australia, arrangements can be made by agreement. The document outlines considerations for occupational health and safety as well as maintaining interaction between employees and management. It provides suggestions for implementing successful work-from-home policies and procedures.

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TELECOMMUTING
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I In Britain, all employees with children
under six, or under 18 with disabilities,
have a legal right to work flexible hours.
Employers who do not agree must set
out in writing the reasons for the
refusal.
I There is no official work-from-home
policy in Australia, but arrangements
can be made by mutual agreement
based on particular circumstances.
Policies have, however, been established
to enable employees to work from home
to benefit a few select areas such as
child care or carer.
I If you are going to work from home,
occupational health and safety issues
need to be considered as the employer
maintains workplace responsibility.
I Maintaining regular interaction
between management and employee is
crucial. As increasing numbers of
organisations start to offer flexible
working practices, more focus will need
to be directed towards ensuring a
motivated workforce, in and out of the
office. This needs HR, facilities manage-
ment and IT departments working
together to build a strategy around
flexible working that can be used across
an organisation.
Some suggestions for work-from-home
success include:
I Consult with workers and establish
which employees wish to work flexibly
and determine needs.
I Determine the IT infrastructure
required to support the company’s
work-from-home plan.
I Introduce remote working policies and
procedures.
I Arrange regular face-to-face meetings
and appraisals to keep employees
updated and motivated — particularly
on key decisions — and include them in
general decisions. .
I Set up a day that makes it easier for
the office employees to know when and
how to contact home employees.
I Establish ways to ensure work
colleagues maintain social contact.
I Check employment contracts that may
need updating.
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PICTURE:AFP
H
AVING employees work from
home may be one of the
solutions businesses can adopt
to save money in place of staff cuts,
while improving profits.
As road travel and public
transport in Australia become more
difficult, unreliable and expensive,
there will be pressure on businesses
to change their work practices.
Work mixed with family and
caring responsibilities also is
becoming increasingly difficult and
consequently workers are seeking
more flexibility in traditional work
hours.
HR coach David Smith, director
of Threshold HR, says for employers,
working remotely offers a range of
advantages from cheaper operating
costs, with a decreased need for
office space, to less time wasted
commuting.
‘‘Motoring organisations
recognise that current trends are
unsustainable. There is also an
opportunity to improve customer
service by making personnel
accessible outside the normal office
hours and the ability to make use of
specialist staff, normally unavailable
for work,’’ Mr Smith says.
Until recently, working from
home has been the preserve of
senior managers, but now almost all
information workers (those who
work mostly with data, usually
electronic) can benefit.
But while working from home
can improve productivity and
enhance work-life quality, it does not
suit everyone.
David Gregory, head of workplace
relations for the Victorian Employers’
Chamber of Commerce and Industry
says: ‘‘Suitable roles where this can
be made practically possible include
areas such as administration and
project work.
‘‘All you need is a PC, mobile
phone and suitable space in which to
work,’’ he says. ‘‘A distributed
workforce operating from home can
even undertake call-centre
operations.’’
According to Mr Smith, about
80 per cent of the workforce in
Britain are information workers.
He says working from home is a
generational thing. Generation X and
Y are comfortable with the concept
as they are better with technology
and comfortable working
individually.
‘‘It just depends on how open-
minded direct-line managers are,’’ he
says. ‘‘Often they are veterans who
have been brought up in the world
where going to work means going to
an office. These managers are
reluctant to let their staff work from
home as they never had that same
opportunity. It comes down to
empowerment, trust and the ability
to prove production effectiveness in a
remote setting.’’
Mr Smith cites one situation
when performance dipped, so remote
working was banned. It was
perceived that those who exercised
this flexibility were probably just
watching cricket and drinking pina
coladas.
Effectively, this was about
exercising power and control in the
workplace.
‘‘Working from home is also a
way to keep good people,’’ says
Mr Gregory. ‘‘A combination of
working two days in the office and
three from home may well be a
suitable option that keeps individuals
in touch with essential in-house
needs, and all those social
networking aspects.’’
Warren Frehse, career transition
consultant, and author of: Manage
Your Own Career: Reinvent Your Job;
Reinvent Yourself, says employers still
have the mindset of a ‘‘visible
employee being a productive
employee’’.
‘‘Human nature plays an
important part here,’’ he says. ‘‘Some
bosses are reluctant to let go of their
assigned power and, as such, like to
have their employees within view.
‘‘If employers were to set clear
goals and agree on results-based
outcomes, being visible or not
wouldn’t make any difference.’’
Mr Frehse says this is particularly
the case in knowledge-based jobs that
rely more on outcomes and results
than how they were achieved.
‘‘Many employers are still
operating under 19th century
workplace rules where rewards are
based on time spent at the desk,’’
he says.
‘‘This means political agendas
and ‘playing the game’ often take
precedence over results achieved.’’
He highlights the value
of ‘‘team’’, by reminding
employers that
everybody needs to be
treated fairly in a
collaborative
working
environment — so
if one gets to do it,
the entire team
should have that
privilege.
But he warns,
‘‘not being visible
in a workplace may
mean promotions are
harder to come by
because less time is
spent mixing with
managers and decision
makers’’.
He also predicts
there will continue
to be more employees
working from home as technology
redefines ‘‘work’’ to mean more
about the activity rather than
location.
‘‘Already, it is common to see
people working in cafes, coffee
shops and outdoors, as wireless
technology continues to advance,’’
says Mr Frehse.
LINKS
I www.mobileoffice.about.com/od/
getmobilized/a/remotepolicy.htm
I www.mobileoffice.about.com/od/
getmobilized/a/obstacles.htm
Saturday, February 7, 2009 THEAGE mycareer.com.au 5
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