In the past, if you needed to run errands,
take care of a sick child, or wait at home for a plumber when a
pipe burst, you would have to take a vacation or a personal day.
Today, a growing number of employees are asking to work at home
so they can save their days off for leisure activities.
This isn’t the same as telecommuting (people
working regularly at home, communicating with the office via phone,
fax, or modem). The people we’re talking about need a day at home
to deal with special circumstances. At first blush, the idea makes
perfect sense; the company doesn’t lose a day’s work and the staffer
doesn’t lose a vacation day. But how much work will the person really
get done at home?
There are issues to consider before you
decide what to do. You should ask a few key questions:
How realistic is the staff member’s promise
to work while at home? Working at home takes a great deal of
discipline. When someone is surrounded with such distractions as
a kitchen, a garden, or a television (with VCR), it’s easy to put
off the work until all of a sudden it’s tomorrow. Likewise, a staff
member who has to take care of a small child isn’t really spending
a “ day at work.” Two-year olds don’t care about work deadlines,
nor do the family dogs or cats.
Will the employee be reachable? What
happens when you need to ask the worker a critical question? (Surprisingly,
many managers who might find nothing wrong with calling a vacationing
staff member in the event of a crisis will feel funny about calling
someone who is working at home. What if a client wants to talk to
your staff worker? Do you forward the call? Or do you suggest the
client talk to another or call back the next day? Do you give the
client your employee’s home telephone number or is that an invasion
of his or her privacy?
How will other employees feel if you
let some people work at home and reject others’ requests? Some
jobs just don’t lend themselves to work at home. But that doesn’t
mean the jobholders won’t be resentful when they see others getting
this “ perk.”
How do you make sure the staff member
is working? Do you ask for an update on work done while offsite?
Like a school student, do you ask to see the employee’s “ homework” ?
If you are facing a deadline, it may be awkward to ask to review
the work done, but it makes business sense.
If you think some of your staff can handle
working at home in an emergency, here are some guidelines to follow:
Make sure the employee knows you are
serious about the words “ working at home.” Don’t be uncomfortable
about discussing the day before the nature of the work to be done
and expectations when the employee returns to work. If the employee
promises to complete the work but doesn’t — for whatever reason
— the time should be docked as a vacation or a personal day.
Be consistent. Don’t make rules for
one employee and bend them for another. If you set a policy of a
maximum of one day per month per employee, stick to that. Otherwise,
you’ll have some staffers who are never in the office and others
who feel betrayed.
Make it clear that this is a privilege,
not a right. Employees should never be allowed to believe that
they could take time off whenever they want so long as they agree
to work at home.
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