Office at home: what it means to work from home

Do you work in your pyjamas? Do you enjoy the comforts of your home? No annoying col­leagues around you? For many, setting up a home office is tempting – but do you actually know what it entails? As fantastic as the working con­di­tions sound: working from home doesn't just come with benefits. When you switch from your familiar office en­vir­on­ment to a workplace at home, there are a few rules you need to follow to make sure your work at home is as good as possible.

When we speak of an office at home, we speak of employees – or freel­an­cers – that move their workplace home. So, instead of sitting in an office with col­leagues, you set up your workplace at home but still do the same work. Working remotely, therefore, has parallels to co-working, but differs from it quite con­sid­er­ably. Even in a co-working space, you are not in a familiar office en­vir­on­ment, but you share the space with other workers – and you are not in your own home.

The office at home can be regarded as a special kind of mobile office or remote work due to the setting where you perform your work. If the technical con­di­tions are right, an employee can the­or­et­ic­ally get their work done from anywhere in the world, as long as a stable internet con­nec­tion is in place. This is why working remotely in the United Kingdom is also known as tele­com­mut­ing, because work is done via tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions, including the internet.

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Everyone is talking about working from home, but for a large part of the pop­u­la­tion this way of working is out of the question: Pro­fes­sion­als who work as craftsmen, in care, catering, or the hotel industry, for example, un­der­stand­ably have to be on site at their usual places of work despite the digital re­volu­tion. However, the majority of office work, i.e. activ­it­ies that are mainly done on a PC, can the­or­et­ic­ally be moved to the home.

But even in the fields of work that are actually pre­destined for working from home, it’s only true to a limited extent. Es­pe­cially with regard to clients, in-person com­mu­nic­a­tion is of utmost im­port­ance. Physical meetings between col­leagues also play a major role in many companies. Video con­fer­en­cing is an important tool in the home office, but the im­port­ance of personal contact between col­leagues and with customers should not be un­der­es­tim­ated. Therefore, in many cases an al­tern­at­ing system is main­tained: While some days are spent working from home, others are spent in the office or with clients.

Employees, employers, but also self-employed in­di­vidu­als have to pay attention to some aspects when setting up and running an office at home. Some of these aspects are oc­cu­pa­tion­al health and safety laws. How to set up insurance for home workers and how to deduct the taxes for working from home play a major role. On the other hand, one should also get used to certain be­ha­viours so that working from home has ad­vant­ages for all sides.

For many, the most important thing to know is that there is neither a general right to work remotely nor an ob­lig­a­tion to move one’s work home. It always depends on the agreement between employer and employee. Self-employed in­di­vidu­als are un­der­stand­ably re­spons­ible for where they carry out their work. However, once you’ve decided to work remotely from your office at home and all legal aspects have been con­sidered, further pre­cau­tions must be taken. When first setting up an office in your home, for example, technical con­di­tions must be clarified. Every employee must also be able to access the same ap­plic­a­tions, services, and data from home that are available in the normal office.

When setting up, you should make sure you’re setting up an ergonomic workspace, and that you’re getting enough movement at your workplace. Therefore, you should also consider various home office designs, so that you can focus on getting your work done. If you have children and work from home, you should make sure that you can juggle work and family.

As nice as the idea of working from home sounds – there are also negative aspects to this way of working. Both the ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages relate to pro­ductiv­ity and quality of work on the one hand, and to personal well-being and teamwork on the other. However, most of the dis­ad­vant­ages can often be turned into ad­vant­ages by in­tro­du­cing certain be­ha­viours and following rules.

One topic that’s relevant when working from home, for example, is work-life balance: The advantage is already apparent in the fact that you save the time spent on your daily commute. Ex­per­i­ence has shown, however, that home-based employees tend to work more rather than less. Here, all those involved should make sure to stick to the con­trac­tu­al working hours. In their own interest, employees must also dis­cip­line them­selves.

For example, many people who have set up an office at home also mention the peace and quiet they have there. In a large office, there are constant dis­trac­tions: col­leagues talking to you, tele­phones ringing, and even public traffic causes anxiety. These dis­turb­ing factors are elim­in­ated within your private home – although there may be other reasons for anxiety: children screaming, a package delivery, the washing machine beeping. At home, you yourself are re­spons­ible for ensuring a quiet working at­mo­sphere.

These and other factors should be con­sidered, when setting up your office at home.

Please note the legal dis­claim­er relating to this article.