Companies have been saddled with an increasing number of directives from successive Governments in recent times. While there are some topics which have become quite infamous, such as health and safety legislation and financial issues, each and every business function has been implicated to some degree. Recruiting and retaining people has always been one of the most volatile sectors in this regard. Indeed, an extract from a 2009 CBI report on the UK’s Enterprise Policy proclaimed their views on the matter – “The area of employment regulation is especially burdensome.”

One feature which has become the subject of a great deal of debate in recent times is flexible working. Allowing workers to Work From Home if their job content is suitable was seen as a way for thebusiness to keep hold of their abilities should their personal circumstances change. In the past changes such as parenthood, injury or the need to attend to dependents regularly meant that workers had to resign from their jobs. While flexible working could be very beneficial to both parties, there are some things which must be business before workers are given the option to Work From Home.

One of the prime considerations ought to be the costs to be incurred. The recent credit crunch has caused lots of firms to witness reductions in their profit margins and the cost to permit workers to opt for flexible working should be carefully looked at. Facilities such as computers, office equipment and the necessary communication technology, all of which exist at the business’ offices, will need to be duplicated at the worker’s home. Extra training may be required in the technology needed to work independently of the office. In addition, the workspace at home could need to be adapted, or in a number of cases, created. If the worker is only going to Work From Home from time to time, then the return on these costs will be less than normal. It must be noted that only three per cent of existing flexible workers do so permanently and it is more likely that these people will be working for a newly-created Internet Business which will have a lot of workers doing Online Jobs.

The firm will need to be certainthat the work can be carried out just as effectively at home as it would be in the office. Any function which requires constant interaction with colleagues or needs to be closely controlled by management will not be appropriate. Similarly, any work of a delicate nature should stay within the office to preclude any potential security problems with confidential information. As well as that of the job function, the suitability of the staff themselves is an important factor to consider. While the daily activity of a busy office environment can be a distraction to some, the temperament to Work From Home is not present in everyone. People would need to be made aware of, and comfortable with, the isolation involved in working at home. This is probably the main reason why working from home permanently is only undertaken by three per cent of the UK’s workforce. A mixture of office and home working will probably be more beneficial.

So, the decision is not a simple one if you are not an Internet Business with a lot of Online Jobs. While it may be seen as a luxury, not a necessity, to provide flexible working to workers, there are flexible working regulations which compel firms to “seriously consider” any request for it from those employees with children under 16, disabled children under 18 or certain types of adult dependents.

Share This

Tags: business, career, jobs, jobs online, online jobs

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 at 7:20 am and is filed under Bodywork Courses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.