Working From Home Option

The pandemic showed us that working from home is no child’s play, because of children. They wanted to play all the time to enjoy the bonanza of having their parents seven days a week, for a change.

We didn’t like it but it’s something we cannot admit in public. We might be accused of not wanting to bond with the little darlings. There’s also the issue of the ‘better half’ we live with. We love them dearly, but being with them the whole day? That’s the part we didn’t like about the COVID-19 lockdown.

Some people find working from home attractive. Who initiates it? I think employees suggest it, run it by managers, who consult HR to see how it can pan out. Working from home can also come from the employer, if the work resides in a company’s computer employees can tap into, remotely.

Employers love this option because they can monitor workers. The system shows when you logged in, the time you spent talking to customers or suppliers, emails you sent and when you logged off. You can’t claim five hours when you worked two. It’s not only sales people that work from home.

Human Resources Managers too. Their job is answering questions about company policy, employee benefits, leave, that sort of thing. This can be done at home by e-mail, telephone or zoom meetings. Technology makes it possible for the employer to double check if this was done.

Employees take the work from home option for personal reasons. They might not like getting ready for work, taking a shower, shaving or putting on make-up. They might not like wearing suit and tie, being stuck in traffic in the morning and evening or they might not like co-workers. Period.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.