Telecommuting and the Legal Aspects

This chapter discusses teleworking/telecommuting from a legal perspective, as applied to the management of teleworkers. The main issues covered are the definition of teleworking, employment relationships and employment contracts for telecommuting, health and safety implications of teleworking, and other legal-related considerations to be taken. Lastly, implications are discussed for both the management of organizations and the legal establishment. This chapter examines teleworking from a legal point of view. Although it was written from a European (in particular, British) perspective, we have tried to use material with relevance extending beyond the boundaries of one specific country, and the arguments are intended and expected to apply to a much wider audience and circumstances.

Safety and Health in the Virtual Office

One of last great impediments to wide-scale and rapid deployment of the information society is the “last mile” issue. This chapter outlines some of the issues and history of the last mile problem and proposes a research and development program leading to early deployment of extreme high speed Internet access to schools and libraries (GITS), which will then underpin an architectural framework for high speed Internet access to the home-Gigabit Internet to the Home (GITH). The proposed strategy calls for the deployment of a third residential network service operating in parallel with existing telephone and cable delivery mechanisms and thereby avoiding the regulatory and technical hurdles of integrating traditional telephone and cable services into one common delivery mechanism.

Case Study of the St. Paul Companies' Virtual Office for the Risk Control Division

The St. Paul Companies has successfully implemented a virtual office (VO) working environment for its construction risk control and commercial risk control employees over the past six years. The program goals of operating more cost-effectively, increasing contact of the risk control specialists with their customers, and reducing office space costs for The St. Paul Companies have been met. There are many good practices that have been developed over the six years of offering the program, and more refinements and changes planned. As the communications and computer technologies advance, facilitation of working from remote sites improves. While it is easier for employees to work from remote sites, maintaining the boundaries between work and personal lives is more challenging. Improving the VO employees’ and corporate employees’ understanding of the others’ working conditions is necessary to improve relationships and the acceptance of change. The concept of VO work is well established within the organization, and the demand for it is growing.

Telecommuter Selection

This chapter presents a conceptual framework for the telecommuter selection process. The framework uses a systems perspective to identify critical variables and relationships in selecting effective telecommuters. The purpose of the model is twofold: to assist managers and organizations in developing selection procedures and to identify opportunities for future research

Success in the International Virtual Office

The advent of technologies such as company e-mail systems and corporate intranets has expanded the office to include co-workers from various national and cultural backgrounds. This new development means that certain deep-seated cultural factors can affect interoffice communications in the new workplace. This essay presents some of the more prevalent cultural “problem” areas that can affect international and intercultural communication in the new virtual workplace. This essay also provides a series of tips or strategies that can facilitate effective intercultural communication in the new atmosphere of the virtual office area as well as overview certain resources that can facilitate communication in this international and multicultural environment.

Public Communications Infrastructure Support for Telecommuting

As the number of telecommuters grows, so does the data traffic on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and its adjunct infrastructures. This chapter analyzes the impact of increased telecommuter-networking traffic on the PSTN and the adjunct infrastructures such as the Internet. This analysis will give readers the tools to understand the public network infrastructures and to gain insight into the networking requirements of virtual offices/work groups. By understanding the interconnection issues, decision-makers will be better able to analyze business needs related to telecommuter remote offices. In addition to understanding telecommunications technology, corporate management also will gain insight into the language of the service provider. This will help management and key decision-makers evaluate benefits of a telecommuting workforce, and negotiate with service providers for the necessary technology to support of their telecommuters.

Making Remote Workers Effective

The use of telecommuting is lower than expected because of manager resistance. This chapter describes research conducted to identify two things: (1) the key issues of working and managing remotely, and (2) the activities that employees and managers should do to increase the effectiveness of remote employees. Three major categories of activities were identified. The first deals with the employee’s ability to carry out the right tasks and the manager’s ability to assess the employee’s effectiveness. The second category reflects the essential role information technology plays in enabling remote work. The third category deals with the employee’s need for advice and support. Suggestions are provided for how organizations can make the activities more common. If organizations do this, the potential of telecommuting and virtual office arrangements will be more fully reached as remote employees become more effective and resistance to these new forms of working decreases.

Managing the Virtual Team

Expectations for manager and employee workplace relationships are changing because of telecommunications technology. Telecommuting allows organizations to effectively combine and use the skills and knowledge of off- and on-site employees. The focus of this chapter is to describe the unique environment and problems presented by virtual teams and to outline the skills and knowledge employees and managers must have so they can achieve team and organizational goals.

Organizational Compatibility as a Predictor of Telecommuting

Innovation literature long has advocated that an innovation may be compatible or incompatible with an organization’s existing systems or resources. Compatibility of an innovation traditionally has meant that the innovation is compatible with the existing values, skills, and work practices of potential adopters. However, Tornatzky and Klein (1982) criticized this definition as too broad, noting that compatibility may refer to compatibility with the adopters’ values (value compatibility) or that it may represent congruence with the adopters’ existing practices (practical compatibility). Anecdotal evidence suggests both types influence telecommuting. Therefore, this study investigates compatibility and its relationship to IS personnel’s telecommuting. The organization’s ability to secure telecommuting (a dimension of practical compatibility) was found to be a major facilitator of the adoption and diffusion of telecommuting. Group values were found to be a major facilitator of diffusion and success, and practical compatibility was found to be a facilitator of success. Implications are discussed.

TelewerkForum Stimulates Telework in the Netherlands

Implementation of successful teleworking programs requires a cooperation among organizations, employees, governments and labor groups. This paper presents the model used in the Netherlands that can be adopted by any region, state or country to promote telecommuting for the good of society and the employees. The success of any telecommuting program relies on proactive communications, practical advice, and constant promotion of the concept to the public.