There Are Many Benefits of Telecommuting

Many employers are turning to telecommuting as an option for their employees to help save costs for both parties. Especially with gas prices the way they are currently, employers are searching for new answers in order to keep their employees satisfied and happy. Telecommuting is also good for employee morale.

If there is a way for an employer to offer telecommuting, I think they should look into it. 

Benefits of Telecommuting
If a company’s position lends itself to telecommuting, employers can start out by conducting a survey of employees to assess interest and make sure that once the company puts a telecommuting policy in place, they’re going to have people that actually want to telecommute.

I personally have a cousin who has been telecommuting for years. She works for an insurance company and her job enables her to work whenever she wants. Since she has a family, she tends to get up for work at 3 a.m. Although this seems early, it is easier for her to get work done at this time. That’s one of the main benefits of telecommuting—a flexible work schedule. 

Keep in mind, however, that not all jobs are right for telecommuting. I think that employees are savvy enough to realize not all jobs lend themselves to this option, but for the jobs that do, employers should certainly offer it as an option. 

Offering Telecommuting to Your Employees
Here are some steps to follow if you’d like to offer telecommuting as an option for your employees: 

1. Research Jobs at Your Company—The first thing you’ll want to do is take a look at all the positions at your company to determine if these jobs—or at least some of them—lend themselves to telecommuting.
   
2. Assess Interest in Your Workplace—As I mentioned above, you should take a survey of employees to determine if there is an interest in telecommuting. You don’t want to spend time doing research and writing a telecommuting policy if none of your employees are going to take advantage of it once it’s in place.
   
3. Determine Costs—Like everything in business, telecommuting will have some initial costs. You should do some research to determine the costs that will be associated with your telecommuting program. You need think about equipment—what would an employee need to work from home? Do you want to foot the cost or do you want to make the cost of equipment the responsibility of the employees who want to telecommute? Can you afford to give them some of the equipment, such as a laptop and BlackBerry, and make the employees pay for other office equipment, such as printers, faxes, etc?
   
4. Consult an Attorney—You’ll want to consult an employment lawyer to help you draft your telecommuting policy, as well as come up with a telecommuting agreement that employees would sign that says they agree with the terms of the policy. Make sure this new policy is also placed in your employee handbook.

Many employers are turning to telecommuting as an option for their employees to help save costs for both parties.