Two-thirds of UK companies do not have a remote working policy in place.
This is despite legislation on flexible working and the demonstrable maintain business continuity benefits of remote working during a disruption like snow, according to an online poll carried out by ISP Lumison.
This is despite 73 percent of office workers believing that they would be more productive if they worked from home, and 65 percent claiming to work longer hours when they do.
While 27 percent said that their technology was an obstacle to remote working, 41 percent cited company management and 32 percent cited the nature of their business as the most significant obstacles.
Half of respondents said their bosses were sceptical about whether people are really working if they aren’t in the office, and 27 percent said their managers valued being present over productivity.
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However, remote working technology still needs some improvement, as 26 percent of respondents said that email and internet access was worse at home than in the office. In addition, 41 percent said they struggled to access some applications necessary for their role and 21 percent said that being away from their desk phone could pose problems.
Meanwhile, the cultural opposition to remote working could be justified as 62 percent admitted to breaking up their working day with chores and 32 percent to turning on the TV. Moreover, five percent walk the dog during working hours and nine percent take an afternoon nap.
A total 1,036 people responded to Lumison’s online survey, which was carried out between January 13 and 15, 2010.
Lumison's research is supported by a recent survey by BT Global Services which found that just 22 percent of businesses in the UK have fully implemented a suitable flexible working policy.
Dominique Nunes | Published: 17:51 GMT, 20 January 2010
Agree that the majority is sceptical about flexible/remote working in general. My client www.oneDrum.com conducted research that found the SMB industry is making a more conscious and effective move towards incorporating flexible working as an accepted practice and way to work productively. While employees on the enterprise level do assume that people skip off when working remotely, the majority of SMB employees found they're more productive when working from home.