November 10^th, 2004

Employment Articles

Work Wires

Telecommuting Can Be A Workable Option

by Keltie Creed

Times are changing. Some of us are lucky enough to be able to commute to work with a modem, instead of using a motorway or public transit.

A growing number of people with disabilities are thinking about telecommuting as an accommodation. In other words, they work at home, using telephone, fax or the Internet to communicate with the rest of their company or their customers.

There have been enough of us doing it for the last two decades that it is becoming easier to arrange. (After all, Canada has over a million teleworkers.) However, like all accommodations, what works for others may not always suit you.

There are a number of factors that you need to take into consideration before asking to telecommute.

1. Could you perform your major job tasks from home?

Is there a lot of "face-to-face" contact required in your job? It might be hard to be a virtual waiter/waitress, but there are a lot of customer service professionals working from home. Some of the more common positions held by telecommuters include information processing, accounting/bookkeeping, administrative support, customer service, graphic design, web design, photography, computer programming, engineering, project management, writing and web content, editing and proofreading, sales, advertising and marketing, game development, translation services, research and more.

2. Would you want to work from home?

Advantages to working from home:
- save time and effort of commuting daily;
- save on transportation costs;
- save on duplication of adaptive equipment;
- save on clothing costs and meals;
- more scheduling flexibility;
- increased personal safety (if living or working in high-crime areas, if less time is spent in vehicles, exposure to pollution, etc.);
- reduced stress;
- reduced number of sick days (if you otherwise would take a whole day off when unable to come in for part of a day); and
- increased access to family or pets.

Disadvantages to working from home:
- isolation;
- lack of access to equipment or resources;
- lack of information via networking or informal lines of communication;
- less access to mentors;
- lack of visibility, leading to career stagnation;
- difficulty separating home life from work life;
- interruptions from family, pets or neighbours;
- need for business space in your home; and
- possible need to allow co-workers or customers into your home.

One disadvantage that you need to look at carefully is the issue of isolation. Working from home may seem fine at first, but isolation is the most common reason for an employee to terminate a telecommuting agreement. Where does most of your social interaction come from now? Is your home or your workplace closer to your recreational or social activities? Would you still make the effort to get out to those activities if you were working from your home?

3. Does it suit your temperament?

Can you work with minimal supervision? Are you self-motivated?

How is your time management? Will you be able to get started each day? Will you be able to STOP each day? Will you take necessary breaks? Do you consistently meet deadlines?

How much interaction do you need with other people during the work day?

Do you enjoy independent problem solving or do you prefer brainstorming?

4. Do you know your job well enough?

It may be harder to learn through observation of others or for others to know when you need the benefit of their experience. Most companies prefer an employee to have at least six months’ experience before they telecommute.

If this becomes an issue, suggest that a mentor be sought for you. This person could also be set up for telecommuting, either from his or her own home or perhaps in reverse, if he or she preferred staying at the main work site. You may be doing them a favour in the long run.

5. Do you have the space in your home?

You may not need a full office, but you will need a place where you can work without interruptions. You probably need a computer with a modem and an extra phone line. You may need a fax, a printer/copier, filing cabinets, software or special equipment for your industry. This would be in addition to any accommodations you normally require. In some situations, you may also want a microphone and/or camera for voice or video conferencing. Sometimes a simple laptop and cell phone solves everything. In other cases, space is a consideration.

Security and insurance may also be issues that you have to discuss with your employer.

6. Do you need to telecommute full time, or only a few days a week?

The majority of telecommuters like some interaction with their colleagues, so arrange to split their week between telecommuting and working at the primary work site. Some alternate weekly or only telecommute when weather or stamina is a factor.

Take a good look at which tasks can be done well at home, and which ones are best done at the business site. This will help you to determine the most appropriate schedule.

Whether you are already employed and intend to request telecommuting, or are looking for work you can do from home, it may be to your advantage to know that there are a number of business arguments in favour of remote work stations.

The majority of teleworkers have proven to be 20 to 30 per cent more productive while at home. If telecommuting exclusively, the average cost saving in office space and related costs is $2,000 annually. It also usually reduces absenteeism by one to two days per year. For more information on the business advantages of telecommuting, contact the Canadian Telework Association or view their website at http://www.ivc.ca.

You will need to spend some time thinking about solutions to any possible objections from your co-workers, supervisor or employers. For example, if they are concerned about how to communicate with you electronically, there are a number of options including telephone, fax, pager, Internet pager, e-mail and chat technology.

Even Fortune 500 companies like Merrill Lynch are now using business chat as a form of internal and external communication. It may be to your advantage to try it out by using the Chat Ink section at http://www.workink.com. You can use chat to hold a virtual meeting with colleagues, or discuss details of a project with a client. This is especially useful if one or more of the participants is Deaf or has a hearing loss, as it eliminates the need for a telephone relay operator or TTY. It provides real-time text to each person and can even be used for transcripts.

If one or more participants uses speech access, there are other chat software packages that are accessible.

If you are looking for telecommuting work, you are not restricted by your geographical location. You may be able to work for a company in another city or even another country. So, how do you find these jobs?

In most cases, telecommuting is something that is discussed after the job offer, the same as any other accommodation, so you have to use the same job techniques. However, the employer will expect that you are already computer and Internet literate. It will help if you know the Internet resources commonly used in your industry, and have prepared an electronic resume.

If you need any assistance with a wired worksearch, you can start with the WORKink Virtual Employment Resource Centre. The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) developed this resource for people with disabilities who needed to learn more about how to use the Internet in their job search. We are expanding to include more regional information, and partnering with CAMO to provide parallel services in French. Check it out at http://www.workink.com.

There are a few companies that are already familiar with telecommuting and recruit people to work from their homes, although most firms make that decision on the basis of the job and the individual. We suggest that you start with the Canadian Telework Job Board, found at http://www.ivc.ca/part19.html#Telework Job Board. Although they list mostly U.S. jobs, you could also try the sites listed at http://telecommuting.miningco.com/msub3.htm or the jobs listed at http://www.tjobs.com/jobopps.htm. For a list of employers that already hire telecommuters (again, mostly in the U.S.A., but many have Canadian branches), see
http://telecommuting.miningco.com/library/weekly/bljoblist.htm. For more URLs and information, contact WORKink at http://www.workink.com. We will try to help you on your way to working at home.

(Keltie Creed is the Online Employment Counsellor with WorkINK.)

The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work has moved!
Now we’re at:

THE CANADIAN COUNCIL ON REHABILITATION AND WORK
500 UNIVERSITY AVENUE, SUITE 302
TORONTO, ON M5G 1V7
TEL.: (416) 974-5575
FAX: (416) 974-5577
TTY: (416) 974-2636
E-MAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: a target="_blank"href="http://www.ccrw.org">http://www.ccrw.org