Telecommuting - does it work for you?

[Louie Jones]

I'd love to hear from HR people who's organisation allow staff to telecommute (work from home via the internet).

Is it working for your organisation ?

Have you come across any issues or pitfalls to watch out for ?

Thanks,
Louie

[Scott White]

Louie,

We're a specialist recruitment firm (environment, water & sustainability) and many of our employees are women who have returned to the workforce after starting a family. They work part time and we give them a notebook computer so they can work from home if they wish. We have a VPN so they can access the server in the office which is acceptable.

I believe our employees really appreciate having that flexibility to stay at home on days when their child is sick and cannot go to child care or kinder. We have also extended this to a full time staff member who lives on the other side of town and doesn't necessarily need to come in to the office every day of the week.

We find it works well for us, but we are quite a small company with a bunch of mature and conscientious staff.

There are some IT considerations, mostly security related and it does cost more to give people notebooks instead of desktop computers.

Scott.

[mserica]

As Scott mentioned, the inital cost of notebooks etc is higher, however the retention rate of employees, the level of productivity and the morale of the employees in my experience is higher.

It works, though you need to remember, it only works with the right people and it will continue to work, as long as the system is not abused.

[peterj]

The others who have posted are correct. Our business has a number of office-based workers who could telecommute if they need to. We're lucky that the organisation has a really good commitment to technology so the VPN links etc. are really effective. We're just about to start trialing Webex so we can do video-conferencing with people at home.

Most of those who have needed to work from home have been returning from parental leave but we've also had a couple with elder-care issues.

Other than in casual instances, in implementing it all we've elected to just do it for agreed periods (generally 3 to 12 months at a time) which can be extended if both sudes agree. We've also tried to make it so that there is some obligation to come-in - albeit 1 or 2 days a fortnight - to minimise the social isolation.

Finally, we do undertake OH&S inspections of where the people propose to work from. This is crucial as the home office (or whatever) does become a place of work. We have had some modest expenses (e.g. for new chairs and first aid kits) to ensure they are as safe as possible.

[Louie Jones]

Peter,

It sounds like your organisation has gone in for this in a big way and some of your people work from home almost full time, which looks like it comes with some other overheads such as OH&S.

What are the OH&S requirements if you simply provide the means for people to work from home on an ad-hoc basis if it suits them, rather than a situation where people work from home almost full time ?

Like Scott's situation where a staff member works from home when he or she has a sick child at home for a day or two. Is it really necessary to visit their home to make sure their work environment is safe?

[peterj]

I guess the decision on whether or not to review OH&S is really based on what the level of use (duration & frequency) is likely to be. The threshhold is if we know that someone is going to be working from home for 10 full days or more. In most cases these days people have a pretty good setup at home for doing office work.

Realistically, we've had no incidents or claims from anyone working in these situations. They appreciate the flexibility and we appreciate the commitment. I suspect that this will always be the case.

That said, our business is quite risk-averse and we are genuinely concerned about the absolute legal liability that can fall on executives and directors in NSW under the OH&S Act so we don't want to be seen as taking-on too many risks that we haven't assessed.

[HRSense]

I think telecommuting is going to be more in demand given Melbourne's 2030 Plan is catering for 1,000,000 extra people and the resultant traffic delays until we decentralise away from the CBD! We all need to address it.

I also think that OHS can be used as a bit of a red herring by some resistant managers who would prefer everyone to be within their line of sight (i.e. visible means working). Where I used to work a manager was very resistant to a staff member living in the outer fringe wishing to commence at 7am and leave at 3pm to beat the traffic.

I would advance that OHS issues are the same for someone telecomuting as they are at work (good set-up, rest breaks, etc).

But to really make telecomuting work an organisation should have clear guidelines, and a good performance management system defining expectations (KPIs) etc. I have had good arrangements that have turned sour when the employee's manager has changed. Maturity from both sides is expected, but it is difficult to put that into policy except for clear communication of expectations.[/font]

[peterj]

Originally Posted by HRSense

I think telecommuting is going to be more in demand given Melbourne's 2030 Plan is catering for 1,000,000 extra people and the resultant traffic delays until we decentralise away from the CBD! We all need to address it.

I also think that OHS can be used as a bit of a red herring by some resistant managers who would prefer everyone to be within their line of sight (i.e. visible means working). Where I used to work a manager was very resistant to a staff member living in the outer fringe wishing to commence at 7am and leave at 3pm to beat the traffic.

I would advance that OHS issues are the same for someone telecomuting as they are at work (good set-up, rest breaks, etc).

But to really make telecomuting work an organisation should have clear guidelines, and a good performance management system defining expectations (KPIs) etc. I have had good arrangements that have turned sour when the employee's manager has changed. Maturity from both sides is expected, but it is difficult to put that into policy except for clear communication of expectations.

Please don't get me wrong, the OHS issues are the same and they haven't yet stopped us on any occassion. The issue is that the personal legal exposure of directors and executives (including me) in NSW is very real so we take the responsibility very seriously.

You are correct that a matureand systematic approach is required. It's been satisfying to see managers (who may have had some initial misgivings) experience prolonged working-from-home arrangements and then come around to the idea and appreciate the continuing productivity and the retention of the individuals.

[HRSense]

PeterJ,

I agree that personal director's liability always needs to be taken into account and would be interested if any have actually been found to be liable in these circumstances.

From discussions with Union Organisers on work from home arrangements they are often balancing the needs of members who want to do this, against managers who they are suspicious of seeking a cost overhead saving. Organisers can gain an inate suspiscion of either cottage industries replacing organisations, or budget pressures.

One thing that is apparent and it definitely considered in any telecomuting proposal I have been involved with is that it can NOT be used as a child minding arrangement! I had detailed discussions with a union organiser who finally admitted this was why the staff member was pushing so hard, believing that they could work full time fron home and look after two children. Now there is a H&S mindfield!

[djt]

I have also experienced someone wishing to work from home as a child minding substitute - in this case it was a manager in my organisation.

Other activities that took place while 'working from home' were lunches with friends – on the one (and only) occasion when they did answer their mobile they could not hear me because of the noise in the background. No surprises that the concept/arrangement lost support from senior executives.

This person had managed to have the telecommuting arrangement written into their contract of employment (no surprises that they had a law background and HR was not involved in the negotiation).

So some learnings (similar to some of the points above):
- Write a comprehensive policy / agreement including OHS and the ability to go to their home to do a risk / OHS assessment
- Ensure your policy is signed by the individual as well as the manager
- Keep the telecommuting to a defined period
- Assess each request on its merits
- Identify upfront that it does not suit everyone / every role
- Ensure there is accountability for productivity
- Expressly communicate that it is not a substitute for personal responsibilities such as child and/or elder care
- Ensure that the telecommuting is seamless for customers (eg when I work from home my extension is forwarded to my mobile – my customers / clients rarely realise I am not in the office)

And finally, in my experience it’s only the minority who will abuse the organisations flexibility – the majority truly appreciate it and in fact can be much more productive at home.

[Scott White]

Originally Posted by HRSense

PeterJ,

One thing that is apparent and it definitely considered in any telecomuting proposal I have been involved with is that it can NOT be used as a child minding arrangement!

While we do not allow staff to work from so that they can look after their child on a regular basis, it is preferable for both the company and the employee (in our case at least) that the option to do some work from home is there if needed, even if it is because a child is sick.

At the very least it means that critical tasks can be completed or more often time critical communications can be made even though someone is not able to be in the office.

[Neesii]

Louie,

We are a AV Company and although have nothing written as a formal policy on telecommuting a number of our employees work part or whole days at their home office. The only request is when in meetings, working from home, conferences etc we use the office assistant (out of office) so they know where we are. On our first day we are issued with a notebook computer and blackberry phone and can request a VPN Setup if and when required.
Personally I work from home when I either have to research information or just need the quiet space to complete my tasks. Another staff member who has telecommuted for the past 2 years is currently pregnant with her second child and works on average 3 days per week at home. This works extremely well and she manages easily to meet and exceed deadlines. The organisation consists of a number of companies and this particular division seems to flourish with the given flexibility. Our staff retention levels are very good and have not found productivity being affected by whether staff are in the office or working from home. As for OH&S most of our employees have offices set up and our induction program covers correct office ergonomics, office safety and manual handling techniques. So I guess on a whole it depends on the culture of your businesses and the work ethics of the employees.
As for abusing the telecommuting privilege that will be something that will be dealt with should it happen.

[Alli]

Not too sure whether this will be helpful but last year DCITA and DEWR issued a joint report on Teleworking in Australia. This report has a few case studies in it.
Go to http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplac...rkLifeBalance/

You will find fact sheets and publications.

[kevinh]

That's a really useful link Alli.

If anyone has any OH&S policies or guidelines they are willing to share on this topic, we can upload them to the Documents repository. You can submit documents using submit form on this page