Also called remote working and mobile working, telework can be found in many countries including England.
There are jobs and resources that can be found through a few associations and groups. The Telework Association is just one of them. They are Europe's largest organization dedicated to the promotion of all forms of teleworking and over 7,000 people and organizations have joined them since they started in 1993.
They believe that these new ways of working can benefit people by increasing the quality of life and improving access to work, as well as delivering significant business benefits to the organizations that implement them.
Check out their web site for more information on a handbook and membership.
Telework isn't a term just used in Europe. Here in America it is used in place of telecommuting too. The Office of Personnel Management, whose purpose is to ensure the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce, has partnered with the U.S. General Services Administration to establish a joint web site on Telework located at www.telework.gov.
On this web site you will find information for employees who think they might like to telecommute (or are already doing so), for managers and supervisors who supervise teleworkers, and for agency telework coordinators.
A selection of telework courses include such topics as Basic Concepts and Telework Scenarios but the one I found most interesting was Lesson 5 - Pandemic Influenza and Telework. Now if that isn't a perk to alert your boss about! The courses are free and there is a set for employees and a set for employers.
This web site is for Federal employees and employers but can be very helpful to non-governement workers and employers as well. Another interesting fact I didn't know about and maybe neither did you is that, "All Federal agencies are required to identify the positions that are appropriate for teleworking, and to offer the opportunity to telework to the people in these positions."
They also recognize the benefits of teleworking:
- Improves the quality of work and increases productivity. Employees concentrate on the "project" itself with less distraction from the office environment;
- Improves morale and reduces stress by giving employees more options to balance work and family demands;
- Saving hours of commuting time allows the employee to spend more time on projects, completing them with a higher quality of work in a timelier manner.
Hopefully more employers and more departments within the governement will see the benefits of allowing employees to work from home if it is at all a possible.
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