Employees who find it hard to turn down requests or people who are disorganized or easily distracted may not find telecommuting as satisfying as working in the office, found a study by the University of Connecticut.

The study found these three types of workers are less-than-ideal candidates for telecommuting benefits:

1. Employees who rely on feedback from their managers. According to the study, people who need a lot of direction to do their job can become unsettled and anxious if they don’t have face time with their manager.
2. Workers with several family members at home during work hours. Most people assume that working from home improves an employee’s work-life balance. But that’s not always the case. The study found that while telecommuters’ work interfered less with family demands, family demands interfered more heavily with work. Example: Family members who’d ordinarily be reluctant to interrupt someone at work had no problem interrupting that person working at home. And for telecommuters with larger households, family demands seriously conflicted with their work demands.
3. People who can’t say “no.” When trying to decide if an employee is a good candidate for telecommuting, ask: “If the person was working from home and a friend or family member asked to be driven somewhere, would the person feel comfortable saying ‘no’?” If the person can’t say “no,” then odds are they’ll be pulled away from work duties regularly.

1. Sleeping in – Employees should treat a day of working from home the same as a day of working in the office. That means getting plenty of rest and getting up ready to work.
2. Unstructured breaks – When telecommuting, it’s much easier to step away from the desk at any time. But workers should stick to their normal break routine when they’re home.
3. Entertainment – Let telecommuters know: Just because they’re working near a TV doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to work with the TV on.
4. Family – This can be the toughest distraction to avoid, but telecommuters need to politely tell family and friends that they’re “at work” even when they’re home.
5. Chores – Seeing a pile of unfolded laundry can make it tempting to stop working, but employees need to learn to save household tasks for after business hours.

In 2007, Georgia began offering employers tax credits of up to $20,000 to cover the “planning, training, and/or raw labor costs associated with starting or expanding a telework program.”

Oregon followed with the Business Energy Tax Credit, which helps fund a number of environmentally friendly business initiatives, including telecommuting programs.

On the federal side, the Telework Tax Incentive Act has been introduced in Congress. The credit, which would give individuals who work from home up to $1,000 a year, is designed to make telecommuting a more attractive benefit to offer current and potential employees.

Tip: When discussing these programs with senior management, focus on the issues that concern C-level execs the most — then tell employees what’ll help them make their own case.

Maintaining productivity

When meeting with top management, suggest candidates meet three eligibility criteria:

• high performance — candidates should have an established track record of meeting goals and delivering results
• unwavering dependability — people who routinely show up for work on time and do high-quality work carry the same work habits over to flex-time arrangements, and
• suitable workspace — if employees want to telecommute, they must have a workspace at home that’s conducive to high productivity.

Note: In most cases, management won’t spring for new home office furniture and equipment. Employees must be willing and able to provide these things for themselves.

Helping their own cause

If employees are serious about flex-time or telecommuting, ask them to submit written proposals to support their candidacy.

The submissions should address how they meet each of the criteria:

• performance — candidates should list specific goals they’ve met and results they’ve delivered
• reliability — include things like strong attendance and work that is praised consistently, and
• workspace — does the person have all the necessary equipment.

People who drive 50 or more miles a day — and or an hour-plus — to and from work have a higher risk of health problems than those with shorter commutes, a recent study found. That means higher costs for your health plan.

1. Higher rates of obesity

Left to their own devices, people with long daily commutes tend to exercise less — often they have less free time and want to spend it with loved ones, not working out.

They are also more likely to fall into bad dietary habits — think drive-through breakfasts and coffee shop fare.

2. The ravages of stress

For many of these folks, the most stressful part of their day isn’t what happens at work — it’s hurrying to beat rush-hour traffic to get to work on time and pick up their kids from after-school activities.

Also, according to the study, the average rush hour commuter’s blood pressure and heart rate are higher than that of a fighter pilot heading into combat.

3. ‘Commuter’s amnesia’

People’s brains develop a coping mechanism for handling the stress — the scientific term for it is “commuter’s amnesia.”

Ever driven somewhere and, upon arrival, had no recollection of the drive? You’ve experienced it.

And when someone’s mind regularly goes into shut-down mode like that, its can affect things like workday productivity and safety. That’s especially true for those with poor sleeping habits.

Proven solutions

Far and away, companies with widely used wellness programs are the best equipped to minimize the toll long commutes have on employees’ health.

Telecommuting programs and flex-time are other proven ways to cut the risk.

Cisco Systems, Inc., recently surveyed its employees about their working-from-home habits. The results assuaged some bosses’ concerns that the arrangement would kill productivity and hurt employee communication.

For example, of employees who telecommute:

• 83% said their ability to communicate with others was the same, or better, than when they worked in the office
• 69% reported higher productivity, and
• 67% said the quality of their work improved.

As for concerns that employees can’t budget their time properly when they’re away from the boss, it looks like they actually spend more time working when they’re home. On average, employees used 60% of the time they saved by skipping the commute for work purposes. (The rest was spent on personal use.)

Legal pitfalls

There is one area for HR to watch out for: nonexempt employees working unauthorized overtime. To avoid that, some experts recommend only letting exempt employees work from home, or installing time-keeping software on nonexempts’ computers to make tracking easier.

But when telecommuting’s done right, there’s still plenty of upside, according to the survey. Perhaps most importantly for HR: It can give a huge bump to job satisfaction. Of the Cisco employees surveyed, 91% considered telecommuting an important benefit.

No one wants to work around people who are sick, especial during flu season. But how many of your company’s employees would stay home if they weren’t feeling well?

In a recent survey by Mansfield Communications, 91% of employees (not surprisingly) said flu-ridden co-workers should stay home.

But most of them aren’t listening. According to the survey of more than 2,000 Americans:

• 84% said the recession creates more pressure to show up to work, even if they’re sick, and
• 47% said they’d still engage in public activities like riding the bus and going to the grocery store, even if they had swine flu.

With the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommending those with the swine flu stay home for at least seven days, some managers might be reluctant to tell workers to take time off, especially in departments that are already understaffed. That could be one reason 69% of employees haven’t heard anything about their companies’ policies regarding H1N1.

How should firms prepare? The most important step experts recommend: Get sick employees to stay home. Luckily, many jobs can still get done from an employee’s home. But companies to prepare now so the telecommuting infrastructure is in place before everyone gets sick.

Also, many businesses have started cross-training employees so that essential jobs will still get done even with several absences.

Companies can check out these online resources for flu preparedness help:

1. CDC’s Communication Toolkit — Includes facts you can share with employees, health tips and sample policies.
2. Flu.gov — Offers a guide for businesses and information on vaccines.
3. FluTracker — Find out how big the threat is in your area.

How is your company preparing for a swine flu outbreak? Let us know in the comments below.

Let ’em have the option to work from home one or two days per week.

One in five (21%) of employees say they’d accept a 5% pay cut to work from home one to two days per week, according to a recent survey by Citrix Online.

Another idea: When you can’t budge on pay, telecommuting options can be an effective negotiation tool with new hires who’re looking for incentives.

Click here view a brief summary of the Citrix Online survey.

Approx. 81% of employers are maintaining their current flex options, according to a recent report by the Families and Work Institute.

In addition, 13% of employers are actually increasing flex-time options.

And only 6% of companies are reporting that they are reducing flexibility options.

Another way companies have tried to stave off layoffs in the past year: by offering reduced workweeks to employees. Nearly 26% of companies have turned to this strategy.

One tactic many companies remain leery of, however — telecommuting. Why? The amount companies spend to maintain a mobile workforce is comparable to what some employers pay per employee for healthcare coverage, revealed a recent Runzheimer International study.

Here’s a list of things companies should have ready before letting employees work from home:

• Communication tools – Instant Messaging (IM), either through the corporate network or a commercial client like Google Talk, can help remote workers stay connected. Some companies also use the video cameras built into many computers for teleconferencing.
• Basic training – Before sending anyone home to work, managers need to make sure IT’s given the employees all the training they need to work away from the help desk. Otherwise, technical difficulties could get in the way of productivity.
• Hardware and software – Some companies shell out for everything employees are going to use. Others take a less expensive approach and require workers to use at least some of their own equipment. To do that, survey employees to find out what they have and what IT will need to provide.
• Electronic forms – If employees work from home full time, you’ll need a way to distribute corporate forms electronically. Programs like Microsoft InfoPath and Adobe Acrobat let users edit PDF documents. Also, you’ll need a way for employees to sign forms electronically.