Work from home day - Friday 15th May
Wednesday 13 May 2009 10:39:15 by Andrew Ferguson

For those of us who do regularly work from home, the cost savings from not spending money on lunch and commuting will be well known, but the publication of a survey revealing some numbers to back this may help bosses to reassess company policy where home working is not allowed.

The BT survey has been timed to coincide with the National Work From Home Day, which given that UK workers spend as much as 47 days a year travelling to and from work will probably be popular. One would almost have thought that many people would have wanted to make sure their face was seen in the office during a recession, but some 55% of employees are working from home more often since the recession started. Given the cost of travel in the UK, saving £10 to £20 per day is significant and can go some way to offset the pay cuts the recession is causing.

For those considering home working, either employee or employer the WorkWise website has a series of case studies and links to useful material. Years ago home working was perhaps seen as just a day at home proof reading a report, but with broadband and remote access applications you can have access to the full network resources of an office.

[ Topic: Broadband | 20 comments | link to this item ]

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Posted by AndrueC 10 months ago
That's a nice idea but picking a Friday makes it sound more like a Jolly. It's hard enough for most of us to work hard on a Friday when we're in the office, lol.

Posted by Dixinormous 10 months ago
Haha fair point. It's actually the start of my working week and given that I WFH 2 days out of my 4 a week and Friday isn't one of them I'll be in the office as per :)

Posted by andrew ( staff member) 10 months ago
Well today is work from a coffee shop day :-)

There are a series of events across the week, go read the links.

Posted by AndrueC 10 months ago
I do like the whole idea. I think I'd be an ideal candidate. I'm part of a trans-Atlantic development team so I know I don't need face-to-face contact to do my job and with time zones am often working solo.

Unfortunately corporate paranoia means that there's very little chance of this happening. The VPN access is 'on demand' and requires authorisation.

So every day I drive a 25 mile commute to reach an office with a 4Mb connection. My home connection is 13Mb.

Posted by cyberdoyle 10 months ago
Folks round here would love to work from home but there are 30 properties with no internet access (very rural lancashire)and so they can't. Lots of the farmers who do work from home would also like broadband. Mobile is very patchy, satellite too expensive or not good enough because of south facing hills. Will be fun seeing how the 2 meg uso is ever gonna work round here.

Posted by chrysalis 10 months ago
thanks i didn tknow of workwise. One social benefit of increasing work from home jobs is it will help disabled and those who are nearly disabled get work, so many people are on incapacity benefits simply because they cant travel to a workplace even tho they could work from home, but there is a severe lack of homeworking jobs.

Posted by Moto 10 months ago
I'm looking forward to a 'national NO working from home day'. I'm sick of dragging my carcase home from work and then continuing for the rest of the evening. 'Working from home means you don't need to go into work' isn't a concept that my employer is familiar with.

Posted by _sjr_ 10 months ago
For the thousands of people who go into London every day on trains 1 day a week from home is no financial saving. 3 daily tickets cost more than a weekly ticket so if you're in for 3 days a weekly makes sense. Two daily tickets cost slightly less than a weekly so for a significant saving you'd need to do only 1 day a week in the office. Ain't gonna happen :(

Posted by CARPETBURN 10 months ago
I probably do most of my work from home and I actually employ a person with a disability who does nothing but work from home (and i may add produces top quality work). Like anything it can be a good or bad thing, some people will just take the proverbial (ive seen it) and produce minimal work, while others produce work in a larger number and in general are more productive.
@SJR investigate monthly tickets, there are also on some rail networks now flexible tickets which are valid for a specific amount of days rather than actual dates. They can save you money.

Posted by Somerset 10 months ago
'flexible tickets which are valid for a specific amount of days' - at last something sensible from the rail networks.

Posted by ilopata1 10 months ago
If you work from home you might want to check out a new site that launched today for National Work from Home Day. It is the National Pyjama Club http://www.nationalpyjamaclub.co.uk. The site is new today but is a fun way to promote your business.

Posted by TGVrecord 10 months ago
I would like to know what rail companys issue flexible tickets. I am not aware that South Eastern issue them. However I am very lucky with my work location which is only 5 miles from home. I normally buy a weekly season but when there are public holidays preventing me using the ticket for 5 working days I catch a later train on which I can purchase a cheap day return.

Posted by CARPETBURN 10 months ago
quote"I would like to know what rail companys issue flexible tickets. I am not aware that South Eastern issue them."
Im not aware of what all networks offer but South Eastern do atleast one which i think is called a Kent Rover i believe it is valid for a period of 3 days with unlimited use in those 3 days (with the exception of peak time travel). CONT.....

Posted by CARPETBURN 10 months ago
Im sure they also offer other types (though they slip my mind for the moment) :) No idea on price, or how it would compare to 3 days worth of normal return tickets.
The cheapest tickets to buy if you travel daily are often yearly seasons which in most cases you basically (and im not talking exacts) pay for around 10 months travel but get 12 months. The kent rover i would say is especially ideal if you are say visiting relatives for a few days and want to get about and back home (though obviously depends on where you plan travelling to and from).

Posted by TGVrecord 10 months ago
I have in the past bought the Kent Rover (for leisure) but as it cannot be used into London would be of little use to commuters. I am toying with the idea of an annual season but it does represent a large outlay of cash. As I have been doing temp work up to recently it would not have been worth it as my job locations varied.

Posted by CARPETBURN 10 months ago
quote"I have in the past bought the Kent Rover (for leisure) but as it cannot be used into London would be of little use to commuters."

Like i said i dont know where or what its valid on, but considering south east trains operate services into London i dont see why it wouldnt be valid... Maybe its not valid into stations like Victoria, but as an example it could in theory allow travel to say Bromley, from there you would just buy a single, believe it or not even though you would be buying 2 tickets it is possible (THOUGH I DONT KNOW) it could be cheaper.

Posted by CARPETBURN 10 months ago
quote"I am toying with the idea of an annual season but it does represent a large outlay of cash. As I have been doing temp work up to recently it would not have been worth it as my job locations varied."

You can cash in (so to speak) your yearly season at any time and either get a refund for the amount of time left to run on it or have that value put on a new weekly, monthly or yearly ticket to a new destination.

Options are out there you just have to research, many ticket office staff are as useful as a blunt knife.

Posted by AndrueC 10 months ago
At least you have multiple options. Out here in the sticks there is only one service that will get from Brackley to Bicester (basically to the major town next door). It gets you into the town centre at 7:30am (which would be okay for me) and you leave at 18:30 (which isn't so helpful for me).

If you miss it you have to visit the taxi rank.

At least my journey is largely free of traffic jams (doing 7:45 to 16:15 helps) means I average 50mpg but it's still 25 miles round trip.

Posted by AndrueC 10 months ago
Hmmm. Looks like my information is out of date. It appears that there are several journeys that cover it. Unfortunately the two I mention are the only ones suitable for commuters and 1815 is the last bus back.

Hey ho. It's a lovely place to live..if you own a car :)

Posted by CARPETBURN 10 months ago
I feel your pain AndrueC, there is no doubt public transport in some areas is rubbish, in other areas with regards to costs and operation its not as bad as some make out though, you just have to investigate your options. Your options though i imagine are limited.