Managers/HR types or indeed anyone what are your thoughts on requests to work from home ?

[rookiemater]

I manage a small team and for various reasons it is likely that I will be getting flexible working requests in to work from home.

Technically much of the work we do can be done from home, so that part isn't an issue. However some of the team have heavy family commitments and I would suspect, though I would find it hard to prove, that if they were to work from home they probably wouldn't be doing a full week. Don't flame me on this please, I have good reasons for having suspicions, which I don't want to go into here.

I also feel that as I work p/t I have made a financial sacrifice to achieve work/life balance and working from home is slightly cheating because getting more time, without taking a cut in salary.

The other side of me feels that people can work more productively when they are supported in their working arrangements and are more likely to go the extra mile when required.

What do others think ?

Agree with ilovemydog. Homeworking has all sort of implications for employers in terms of health and safety responsibilities particularly, but also technology provision and tax issues among other things.

And no, a disclaimer is not enough. Risk assessments just as necessary as in office environment, although someone can do a risk assessment on themselves, so that's not quite as horrendous as it sounds.

I work from home part-time and am more motivated than at any other time during my ten years at the company because I am so impressed that they value me enough to trust me to work alone at home. I have received excellent work reviews since working at home, and as a consequence my best pay rises for some time. I now feel utterly devoted to the company, having previously been a fairly reluctant wage slave. Bear this in mind! You will quickly be able to tell whether someone is slacking, and there will be disciplinary routes to deal with this. Bear in mind too that if you turn down these requests, or don't compromise in some way, you may lose valuable staff, or they may become a little disaffected while staying in their jobs (worst scenario).

I sometimes work from home and have also managed homeworkers/staff working remotely (i.e. in small offices some distance away).

If they're already productive, trusted employees I'd have no hesitation in approving a flexible working request to work from home.

You can do it on a trial basis so that it can be changed by either side at the end of the trial, or becomes a permanent change in contract.

However, if it's someone with whom you already have productivity concerns I'd either say no, and tell them why (assuming you'd already raised your concerns with them), or do it on a trial basis with some very fixed parameters - and ask them the relevant questions about quiet space/no distractions etc at home.

It's difficult enough to deal with performance issues in an office environment, and that's multiplied if they're at a distance.

My husband has a senior job with a large company which is very fond of home working. They have maybe ten-twenty thousand full-time home workers and many who work part time from home.

They have very clear policies, including health and safety.

It's great. Neither my DH nor his colleague shirk when at home so I'm not sure what they do about that.

When he first started working from home (before DCs) he was delighted with his improved productivity. I think six or seven years down the line they've all learned to gossip over the phone better but still get more done in a generally more peaceful environment than an office.

Writing as a manager here - not an HR specialist. I think for employees you trust home working's great; and for a one-off (to let the plumber in/ poorly timed hospital appointment) I invariably agree, not least to build up and maintain goodwill with the staff.

But then inevitably one experience colours your views. We employed a contractor to cover maternity leave, 3 days a week. She wanted to work one day from home, and her line manager agreed to this after a six week settling-in period. The contractor's work output in one key area was low, and poor quality. This was not spotted in time, and we really didn't get value for money out of the contract. Part, but not all, of the reason we failed to spot this was the home working.

It's very difficult to manage poor performers if they spend part of the time working from home - or indeed in a different office to the one you're in. I think my message to the OP would be to sort out the performance issues first, if you can, or at least get them out in the open, so that it is clear that the business case for home working has to encompass those issues.

FWIW, our firm's standard form to be completed for flexible working is really not very friendly at all!