Homeworkers left to fund their own technology by stingy bosses

Last week we learnt that for some employers, homeworking is only to be encouraged when it’s out of hours. Now new research from Regus suggests that only around a third of people encouraged by their employers to work from home (35 percent) receive any contributions from their firm to fund the fit-out. The survey of over 4,000 senior business people found that the majority (82 percent) of employers refuse to cover all the costs incurred for creating and maintaining a work space for homeworkers.  This proves costly for staff, as a quarter (25 percent) of respondents said that it would take a whole monthly salary for them to fit-out their home, while the average cost of running a home office in the UK is almost £2,000 a year. Nearly half (43 percent) of workers think that most companies encouraging their employees to work from home are simply trying to transfer the workspace cost onto the employee.

Richard Morris, UK CEO, Regus comments: “The cost of furnishing a home office is substantial so if this expense is passed onto employees, companies could find themselves flouting health and safety laws as well as lacking the necessary insurance cover. Nevertheless, the financial benefits of remote working for both staff and employer are clear. By cutting commuting times and working more flexibly staff become more productive and more likely to remain loyal.”

Not surprisingly, since this is a Regus survey, he advises that: “A far better solution is for companies to offer workers the chance to use a fully equipped, professional, flexible workspace close to home. Not only will they be safe in the knowledge that they are complying with health and safety rules, but they will know staff have access to the right equipment and technology for a predictable monthly cost.”