Reply to: Contract -Ever Worked From Home?

[SueEllen]

Not sure I agree that most companies frown on it IMO.

With broadband access a lot of companies are happy for you to do it a lot or on occasion, and it's been that way for 10 years.

The main issues in order are:
1. Management
2. Secure access to their network.

Some management have found that either permies or contractors can't be trusted.

For example some permies do less work at home there as others do a lot more even if you phone them and hear one of their children screeching in the background.

With contractors some do other work and lie about doing the client's work.

[oscarose]

I'm the OP and am glad to hear that there are so many WFH. But I still think the majority of companies still frown upon the idea which is a shame.

I tend to agree.

I guess the difference would be in how you arrange the WFH.

1. "I will be working off-site for <<days in week>>, however will be reachable on all communication channel, and will be available for any meeting that needs to be scheduled."

2. "Dear Manager, Can you please allow me to work from home for <<days in week>>?"

Precisely why I approach this via option 1 and always ensure I’m contactable to build confidence of client, i.e. 1 day from home can lead to 2 days at home.

[amcdonald]

I avoid working from home, when I have done I just get pestered day or night to just make 'a small' change which clients seem to repeatedly change their mind about

This year had one phone up xmas eve evening over something the clients end client had messed up by asking mistakenly asking for something to be changed and then changing their mind

Then theres always the argument that they want to try and knock your rate down as well

I'd rather suffer commuting and have more control over when I work rather than have the expectation of being available 24/7

[northernladuk]

I'm the OP and am glad to hear that there are so many WFH. But I still think the majority of companies still frown upon the idea which is a shame.

Most of my contracts have required some sort of clearance and so it has not normally been an option for me. Though, some of the permies were allowed to!

Regarding IR35, if the permie worker is allowed to WFH but the contractor is not. Then surely that should be a pointer to being outside of IR35! :-)

Not sure I agree that most companies frown on it IMO.

I would say you not being able to when permies do being an indicator for IR35 as you are being dealt with differently, maybe a minor one but still.

[JamJarST]

I'm the OP and am glad to hear that there are so many WFH. But I still think the majority of companies still frown upon the idea which is a shame.

Most of my contracts have required some sort of clearance and so it has not normally been an option for me. Though, some of the permies were allowed to!

Regarding IR35, if the permie worker is allowed to WFH but the contractor is not. Then surely that should be a pointer to being outside of IR35! :-)

Not sure about the IR35 point, it could be argued that it is direction and control. I suppose if you could prove that you have to be on site because remote access is only allowed for employees.

[up4it]

I'm the OP and am glad to hear that there are so many WFH. But I still think the majority of companies still frown upon the idea which is a shame.

Most of my contracts have required some sort of clearance and so it has not normally been an option for me. Though, some of the permies were allowed to!

Regarding IR35, if the permie worker is allowed to WFH but the contractor is not. Then surely that should be a pointer to being outside of IR35! :-)

[psychocandy]

Have the flexibility and mechanism for working from home, and do so one or two days a month.

Depending on transport situation during the Olympics I suspect it will be a few more days over that period.

I prefer and work better in the office, too hard to motivate myself when I can have watch porn on the other monitor and crack one off when I feel like.

FTFY

Seems like a perfect reason to WFH though if you ask me!

[psychocandy]

I had one gig with a long commute, but when it came to discussing a renewal I mentioned working at home, not as a condition just causually, and they said "no problem at all". So I spent the next 12 months doing Tuesday and Thursdays at home, which was good. They even went out of their way to provide a company laptop.

As always, get your foot in the door, show that you're doing a good job, then that gives you a strong bargaining position. I wouldn't mention it at interview stage unless I wasn't bothered about not getting the gig. Obviously you can do most IT tasks remotely, but you have to overcome the culture of wanting to see your bum on a seat.

Thats the thing though. I often wonder if mentioning working at home at interview time puts clients off. Makes them think you're more concerned about your own personal situation than doing the work I reckon sometimes.

But then again, being able to WFH could be deciding factor on whether you could take the gig or not. Being expected in office M-F office hours 5 hours drive away from home could be a bit too much and much different than 3 days in the office, 2 days WFH.

I just think sometimes clients dont care about this.....

[rd409]

I am not so sure about this though nowadays. As you can see from the posters permies seem to have as much freedom as the contractors so doesn't really help differentiate. If you had more access to WFH than a permie and can demonstrate it then I would agree. If you work the same WFH rules as a permie I would doubt it. In that case you being banned from WFH would be different.

I guess the difference would be in how you arrange the WFH.

1. "I will be working off-site for <<days in week>>, however will be reachable on all communication channel, and will be available for any meeting that needs to be scheduled."

2. "Dear Manager, Can you please allow me to work from home for <<days in week>>?"

Can you spot the difference?

[doodab]

I work from home most of the time these days, I have 2 main clients (both consultancy firms of a sort, so I usually deliver to their end clients) who trust me and both prefer that. I actually find it a bit of a drag sometimes so I make a point of leaving the house first thing for a little walk and occasionally I get the train into the city and grab a desk in a mate's office for a day to remind me how good I have it.

I also use all my own hard & software except for the rare occasions I have to use an end client supplied machine to connect to a particular network. This has it's pros and cons, the main one being the cost.

[kaiser78]

I do 2-3 days a week at home and have total flexibility around this. As a PM my team is spread over the UK and offshore, so no real need to be in the office everyday. Obvious up and down sides, the biggest downside being whenever I do go in, so bleedin sod is sitting at what should be my desk !

[oscarose]

Yes, many times. Last one was 2 days home/3 days office split. Made sure I was proactive during office days gathering requirements and getting feedback, leaving 2 days from home to crack on without distractions. Always answered phone without fail when working from home and replied to emails asap even if taking a ‘break’.

[VirtualMonkey]

Current gig i do 2.5 days in the office then 1.5-2 days in the office on alternating weeks.
Previous two gigs I manaed to get 1 day a week form home.

I'm a solutions architect so it's really just the commitement to be in meetings that keeps me in the office. Most of the time we have conference calls but it's hard to see a whiteboard over the phone

The commute to this one is 3.5 hours each way so I keep all my meetings to the days I'm in and get my designs/documentation done when at home

[Scrag Meister]

Have the flexibility and mechanism for working from home, and do so one or two days a month.

Depending on transport situation during the Olympics I suspect it will be a few more days over that period.

I prefer and work better in the office, too hard to motivate myself when I can have a movie running on the other monitor.

[Sands of Time]

Sometimes WFH - although, I enjoy the office banter too much to do more than 50/50.



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