*As seen on Human Resource Executive Online

Home, Sweet Home (Office)

Telecommuting can save on real-estate costs, reduce pollution and give workers the flexibility many of them need. So why are so many organizations still against it?

The pluses associated with telecommuting (increasingly called “telework”) include a reduction in pollution as well as bottom line benefits such as reduced office real-estate costs. Employees continue to clamor for telework, making it an effective recruiting and retention tool. In fact, a recent survey by Irving, Tex.-based software provider Intranet DASHBOARD found that 36 per cent of employees would prefer the option to telecommute over a pay rise.

Many employers appear to have gotten the message. The Society for Human Resource Management’s 2007 benefits survey showed that 56 percent of the 590 companies surveyed are offering some form of telecommuting, up from 51 percent in 2006. A survey by the US General Services Administration of 1.7 million federal employees found that 140,694 people had telecommuted in 2004, compared with 72, 844 in 2001.

However, the Intranet DASHBOARD survey found that 70 percent of respondents were restricted from telecommuting.

The reason given by companies for limiting or not offering a telecommuting option? Trust. An unsupervised employee, managers seem to feel, may not do his or her job and remain productive in home environment.

Some research suggests just the opposite. A survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data released last year found that men who work from home are paid about 13 cents more per hour than men who work from the office. For women, the difference is about 9 cents.