Working from home (also known as teleworking or telecommuting) involves staff working away from the office.

This may occur on a part-time, full-time, temporary or permanent basis. For example, your employee could work off-site permanently or come to the office at agreed times.

Many organisations allow staff to work at home for some of the time, depending on the nature of the work. While this type of home-based work is relatively new to Australia, there is evidence that it is gaining increasing acceptance.

In a recent Sensis survey into teleworking, discussed on Workplace , 34 per cent of companies reported that they had employees who teleworked. These companies reported an increase in business confidence, sales and profitability compared with those that had not embraced teleworking.

Read more:Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses  

• Benefits to employers
• Benefits to employees
• Tips for implementing and managing teleworking
• Sample clause – working from home

Benefits to employers

Increased productivity - recent studies both in Australia and overseas indicate that workers have better concentration with less noise and fewer interruptions, less travelling time, lower stress levels, reduced absenteeism and higher job satisfaction.

• Staff are able to focus on agreed outcomes and deliverables without the distractions of the office.
• Savings on office space, recruitment and training.
• Better retention of valued staff who may otherwise leave the organisation.
• Extra appeal as an 'preferred employer'.

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Benefits to employees

• Saving on travel costs and commuting time.
• Potential to vary work hours (and earnings) to match other commitments.
• Increased productivity and job satisfaction resulting from greater autonomy.

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Tips for implementing and managing teleworking

When implementing teleworking, make sure that tasks are appropriate for each individual employee, as well as negotiating the following points to meet your mutual needs.

• Will the teleworker still need to be available at the normal working hours, or will they be able to complete work at a time convenient to them?
• Are the work standards expected by the organisation clearly understood?
• How will tasks be allocated and progress monitored (for example, by timeframe or delivery of products)
• Who owns what? This can include intellectual property rights, IT hardware, stationery and so on.
• How will equipment and services be maintained?
• What technical support will the organisation offer?
• Can the duties be performed safely at the site where they will take place?

How will you keep teleworkers motivated and maintain their sense of belonging? This can be achieved by ensuring continuous communication between them and the rest of the workforce through a regular staff meetings, with the teleworker on video or speaker phone.

For some teleworkers, performing a physical action (like dressing for work or leaving via the front and re-entering by the back door) helps them feel they are at work.

For further information on working from home, please go to Work and Family.

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Read more: Occupational health and safety

Read more: Sample clause for managing teleworking