To work from home

Working from home is becoming increasingly attractive for many employers and employees. Companies have recognised that the productivity of their staff increases when they are offered the opportunity to work from home. Employees, on the other hand, benefit if, for example, they have children and both parents work.

What does ''to work from home'' actually mean?

Erroneously, working from home is often compared with the so-called homework or outwork, which many years ago was preferably done by women who did knitting or sewing jobs. Nowadays, homework is understood to be more of a small part-time or mini-job nature that can be done from home without any previous skills and experience.

On the other hand, working from home is freelancers and self-employed professionals from the service industry or people with classic office jobs are given preference. Just a few decades ago, it would have been rather unfeasible to take your work home with you. Today, this type of 'New Work' is becoming increasingly popular; it simply means that an employee carries out his or her work either fully or partially in his or her private environment. A specific office room in the household is no prerequisite for this type of work.

However, there are a few things to consider before you can get to work in your “pajamas”.

Pros

  • The costs for the employer can be reduced.
  • Both sides benefit from increased productivity.
  • As an employee, you benefit from work from home especially if you have a family or children.
  • The compatibility of job and family is better ensured and time for the journey to and from work is saved - time that can benefit the family.

Cons

  • At the same time, the organisational effort is higher until the work processes have been smoothed and balanced out.
  • Negative side effects might also creep in if an employee's increased absenteeism at work weakens the team spirit.

As an entrepreneur, you have to trust that the working hours are adhered to as agreed, because you can only control this to a limited extent. In order to avoid any such controls in the first place, it is advisable to record all agreements in writing. After all, if you are working from home you have not to be available 24/7. Rather, hours of availability should be agreed upon.

This is because everyone has the right to free time, including employees who work from home.

This also calls for cultivating a culture of trust. Employees in work from home should automatically enjoy this trust, as no control is feasible. This is initially an advantage, also for the company, but might be a drawback on the employer side that contracts should be drawn up first. However, this is an effort that could be worth it if the company wants to offer more time in working from home in the future.

A survey has shown that the productivity of employees who are working from home is 13% higher than in the company’s premises. 9% of this alone is due to people working longer at home than they really should. This is because they are less distracted, for example by colleagues, or by noise in the environment, allowing them to be more productive and concentrate better, which automatically increases productivity.

Working from home makes you happy...

On top of that, workers from home take fewer breaks and fall ill less often. Most respondents indicated that they are more satisfied and enjoy working if they can do their job from home. Consequently, anyone who is happier not only prefers to work harder but is also more motivated and loyal to his employer in the long term.

A small drawback for the employees: Although they perform better when they're working from home and thus contribute to increased performance, employers rarely notice this properly. Just as they cannot control the work that is done from home, they do not always recognise excellent performance.

Rights, working hours and insurance

In principle, there is no legal entitlement to work from home - this is a provision of labour law. From the point of view of labour legislation, the same regulations must be observed as apply in the company office.

Working hours Rest and break times
> 6 hours At least 30 minutes
> 9 hours At least 45 minutes

There must be at least eleven hours between the time you finish work and the next start of work; this also applies to employees which are working from home. Anyone who has to stay available until late in the evening to answer a phone call or an e-mail may start later the next day - just like in the company itself.

It is wrong to believe that you must always be contactable, when you're working from home. After all, this again is where labour law applies, just like any other regulation. Exceptions must be duly recorded in the employment contract. Overtime can, of course, occur, but may not exceed ten hours and must be compensated within six months.

Working from home in the SMARTments business

Needless to say, you can work from the SMARTments business, since there is enough space and free high-speed Wi-Fi. Some of our properties also have a lobby, where you can work comfortably or receive customers and colleagues. Those who stay in Berlin Karlshorst, for example, benefit from the in-house CO.ME.IN Food & Coffee, where you can get hot and cold food and drinks and your physical well-being is taken care of. Another advantage is that all SMARTments business houses are centrally located, so that restaurants and cafés are always close by. The lunch break can also be used to stretch your legs in the nearby green areas and to clear your head in the fresh air.

The best thing about working at SMARTment business is that you don't necessarily have to work from your home; the flexibility gained can be used to change not only the workplace but the city as well!

Are you interested in working from home?

We also rent our studios as individual offices.

More information about our working from home concept can you finde here.