Telecommuting

System · June 2001

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-28-01 AT 08:21PM (CST)[/font][p]This week's HR Hero Line feature article is on telecommuting (see [url]http://www.hrhero.com/hrheroline/062901.shtml[/url] ), a topic that has always intrigued me. Balancing work and home life is a challenge (I can't fathom how people who have children cope), so the thought of cutting out driving time and having the flexibility to do laundry over lunch is very appealing. I tick off the hours in my mind and think, "Wow! I could gain 5 extra hours every week if I didn't have to drive into work every day ... and I'd certainly eat fewer fast-food burgers!"

But reality strikes back with a job that is full of interaction with others, including meetings, impromptu brainstorming sessions, frequent trouble-shooting, and customer phone calls and e-mails. That pretty much nixes telecommuting on a regular basis, although an occasional secluded day at home helps me play catchup on projects that go more smoothly without the usual interruptions. I always come back feeling a little more organized and centered.

So, I'm curious what you think about telecommuting. How has your company handled it? Have any of your employees requested telecommuting? Do you allow it only as a disability accommodation? How have the employees you've allowed to telecommute handled the responsibility?

Christy Reeder
Website Managing Editor
[url]www.HRhero.com[/url]

Mike Maslanka · June 2001

funny thing,a few years ago telecommuting was *the* coming thing(sort of like dr.koop.com),and now has faded...in fact,the key issue is not whether it's an option for employees,but whether it should be used as a reasonable accommodation for an employee who is covered by the ada...why is this? i think that we are social animals,and need people around us...example: i go to the same restaurant here in dallas all the time...once,i overheard a patron who had seen me several times tell the owner,gee i gues that man wants to be alone...and the owner replied,no he doesn't if he wanted to be alone he'd stay at home...same thing with telecommuting...regards from dallas,mike maslanka

System · June 2001

I agree with you, Mike, that telecommuting seems like a fad that didn't turn out to be the fantasy employees and employers thought it might be. I can think of lots of reasons it wouldn't work ... the needed social interaction you mention above, some employees just aren't that self-disciplined, the difficulty of blurring the lines between work and home even more by bringing your work into your home, not to mention all the employer worries with legal issues and monitoring employees' work. Then there is the whole morale issue of co-workers having to fill in for duties the employee typically would do if he or she were in the office.

Telecommuting is one of those things that on the surface seems to offer the ability to cut out some of the RUSH, RUSH, RUSH we get caught up in every day. And on some levels and in some cases, it probably does, but it sure takes some analyzing to make sure the employee that will be telecommuting is suited for it.

Looking forward to hearing from more employers who have tried it successfully or unsuccessfully!

Gillian · June 2001

An excellent web site about work/family issues is [url]www.workfamily.com[/url] Their site includes lots of information, including links. We will be embarking on a formal work/family project to evaluate HR policies soon and their information has been invaluable. We have had some telecommuting on an ad-hoc basis but the participants have been all exempt personnel to our knowledge. We are a university so it would be easy for some telecommuting to take place without our knowledge.

Lois · July 2001

I work for a state government agency. We have had a telecommuting policy for several years. Locally, we have utilized it 5-6 times, usually with good success. The greatest drawback has been for those who remain in the office and have to field calls and visitors for the telecommuter when s/he is out of the office. The benefit was protected, uninterrupted work time for the telecommuter. We also set them up on a time-limited basis and require that the employee be willing to adjust his or her telecommuting schedule to accommodate meetings or other activities that necessitate their on-site attendance.

Recently, Governor Gary Locke issued an executive order directing state agencies to implement telecommuting policies and encouraging offices to consider closing for one day a week to conserve energy.

Rockie · July 2001

I was at the SHRM conference in San Francisco recently and the Chronicle had an interesting article on telecommuting. Most of it was from the employee's standpoint as to why it wasn't successful. Again, like all of you have alluded to - we are social animals and we tend to miss the interaction with others. Also cited in the article were the many distractions at home and the difficulty in staying focused. Being a medical facility, we do have some employees who work strictly at home, namely medical transcriptionists who sit at a computer and transcribe doctors' notes all day. Their time is easy to track as they have to sign on and off the computer.

We have another employee who works at home and her supervisor is very resistant to this and always has been (this was an inheriited employee). The supervisor is very "hands on" and wants to try to account for every minute of this employee's time even though she is exempt. Telecommuting will not work when you have a supervisor with this attitude.

The best of both worlds is to just telecommute a few days a month when you have special projects to work on when you need to have a large block of uninterrupted time. (Working on budget, performance reviews, etc.). This allows managers, in particular, to get these very detailed, time oriented tasks completed without interruption.

Otherwise, most of our employees prefer to come into the office. More of our requests come in the form of flexibility in work hours than working at home.

Telecommuting

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