Working from home, also known these days as “telecommuting” or doing "telework", can be ideal for anyone after a diagnosis.

Working from home can be part-time or full-time. It can be a means to get through a temporary period of not feeling well, or permanent.

If you are thinking of telecommuting,whether as an accommodation to help you do your work or for convenience, being informed is important to making it work. (If you are considering working at home either on a freelance basis or in your own business, click here.)

When asking whether you can telecommute:

• Keep in mind that even though telecommuting has become common, not all employers are familiar with telecommuting. If you work for a company  that doesn’t have a history of offering telecommuting, itis advisable to do your homework so you can provide examples in your industry or similar jobs where the people telecommuting are just as productive for the employer – or even more so.
• Present your employer with a thought out plan.

If your employer is not keen on the idea of allowing you to telecommute, consider asking for a trial arrangement or the ability to telecommute just one or two days per week instead of as a full time arrangement.

For more informaiton, see:

• What Is Telecommuting?  
• Who Can Telecommute?  
  
• Is Telecommuting For Me?   
  
• What Will I Need In Order To Telecommute? 
• Is An Employer Required to Let An Employee Telecommute?   
• Telecommuting As An Accomodation Under The Americans With Disabilities Act  
• Does Your Employer Have A Policy About Telecommuting?   
• How To Create A Well Thought Out Plan To Present To Your Employer   
  
• How To Be At The Office Even When You Are At Home  
  
• Where Can I Find A Telecommuting Job?  
• Legal Rights When Working At Home   
• Tax Breaks Relating To Working At Home

If you are considering asking your employer to allow you to telecommute as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar laws, please read our article about requesting an accommodation before you proceed. (For more information, see Accommodation.)

As its name implies, telecommuting is “commuting” to work by means of instant communication rather than physically going to the employer’s office. Telecommuting utilizes modern technology such as the telephone, computer, internet, video, e-mail, fax machine, and related products and services. Together they enable the set-up at home of a fully functioning satellite office which can be linked to an employer, suppliers and customers.

Telecommuting can be done from home or other locations. For example, some companies have established telecommuting hubs close to employees’ homes that allow employees to work closer to home, avoiding a long commute.

Some individuals telecommute while traveling full time – essentially relocating their “office” on a regular basis, as they go from place to place.

In essence, anyone whose job does not require to physically be present at a specific “on-site” location can telecommute.

If you are considering telecommuting, be realistic. If you do physical work that has to be done on location, such as assembly line work or operating a jackhammer, you’re not going to be able to telecommute. If, however, you work in an office in a so-called white collar job, chances are you may be able to telecommute. If your position requires you to meet on a regular basis with other people such as vendors, a telecommuting arrangement will involve some creativity on your part.

Telecommuting either part time or full time may be useful to you:

• As a job accommodation if you are able to perform the essential functions of your job but need some leeway because of your health condition. For instance, telecommuting may be ideal if you are experiencing temporary nausea as a result of medications. Likewise, if you suffer from diarrhea or fatigue as a result of your illness, telecommuting may help you manage your symptoms while remaining productive.
• To help you transition from disability back to work after a period of disability.
• Full-time to save the time and cost involved in commuting.
• Part-time to save time and money, yet allow you time in the office for meetings and other functions which can best be done in the office.

If you are considering telecommuting, realistically assess what your wish to accomplish, your personality, and your home setting.

What you wish to accomplish.

• If you are considering telecommuting one or two days per week because of adverse reactions from medication or treatments, be careful about indicating to your employer that you will be able to be more productive from home. If, in fact, you are experiencing such difficulty from treatment that you will be unlikely to work from home as well. This does not mean that you can't come to some type of arrangement with your employer, just that you should be honest about what you can and cannot do so the employer can have a reasonable idea of what to expect.
• If you are considering telecommuting in order to deal with other issues such as childcare or caring for a sick loved one, recognize that handling the task of caregiver in addition to getting your work done at home will be difficult. You will likely need to make arrangements for assistance in your caregiving activities in order to remain productive as an employee.
• If you think you will be able to do less work, think again. Not only will your employer expect you to be productive, but s/he may even expect that you will be more productive.

Your personality.

For example:

• Do you need interaction with other people or are you comfortable working on your own? There are people that thrive telecommuting and there are those that indicate it is a very isolating experience. If you are someone who needs to be around other people, you may consider if telecommuting would really be an ideal situation for you.
• Are you self-motivated, or do you need guidance from others? People that lack self-motivation or that do not tend to work well on their own are generally not good candidates for telecommuting.

Your Home Setting

Do you have a residence:

• Where's it's legal to work.
• Where you can work in the kind of atmosphere you need.
• To store your work equipment without fear it will be trashed -- or in the way.
• Which can support your needs. For example, if you live in a rural area, can you get high speed internet access if you need it?

In order to telecommute from home, you will need to set up a home office that permits you to do your job as well as if you worked at the employer's location.

• Telephone
  • A dedicated work line -- which could be a mobile phone if you get good, secure reception. A dedicated line is not only good for business, it also allows you to not answer when you need down time.
  • If you use a landline, an answering machine or a service in case you are not available.
  • Either a call waiting feature or understand that callers will get a busy signal when you are on the line.
• You will likely need a computer sufficient to run the programs used at the employer's office, high speed internet access, and a video cam for some meetings. 
  • Depending on your needs, this could be a desk top, a lap top or possibly even a tablet or other mobile computing device.
  • It may be a device required by your employer because of securuity concerns.
• You'll need an answering machine or a service in case you're not available.
• You will need office basics such as a desk, chair, and filing cabinet.
• You may also need the ability to scan and/or fax and/or copy. (Three in one machines are inexpensive)
• You will need a quiet place, free from intrusion, where you can set up a home office.
  • If you will use video cam for work, it is also advisable to have a place where you can use the camera in a controlled enviornment, away from daylight.
• Be sure to consider the effect that other people, such as children, loved ones, or roommate(s), may have on your ability to work from home.

Before you do anything else, we recommend that you first find out if your employer has a policy regarding telecommuting. If so, find out what it is. Also consider contacting other people in your company who telecommute to find out tips they may have for you.

If your employer doesn’t have a policy for allowing telecommuting, and you are unaware of anyone else in the company who telecommutes, do enough homework to address any fears and/or concerns that your employer may have about telecommuting. For example some supervisors still fear that if they can’t see their employee then they may not be working.

A well thought out plan should include:

An understanding of the essential functions of your job. Identify and review all of the duties and tasks which are fundamental to performing your job. It will help you figure out which can be done at home. If your request to work at home is as an accommodation because of your health condition:

• An employer does not have to remove any essential job duties to permit an employee to work at home.
• An employer may need to reassign some minor job duties or marginal functions which aren't essential to the successful performance of a job if they can't be performed outside the workplace and they are the only obstacle to permitting you to work at home.
• If a marginal function needs to be reassigned, an employer may substitute another minor task that you could perform at home in order to keep employee workloads evenly distributed.
• Consider whether your job requires face-to-face interaction and coordination of work with other employees, outside colleagues, clients or customers. Also whether your job requires you to have immediate access to documents or other information located only in the workplace that you cannot access via your computer.

Why you want to work at home. If it is about your health condition, be prepared to explain:

• Your health condition
• Your limitations from that condition, and
• How working at home will help.

Keep in mind that your employer may request information about your medical condition, including reasonable documentation. The employer may wish to discuss other types of accommodations that would allow you to remain full-time in the workplace.

How you will be productive, and a means of evaluating productivity

• Explain how you can be at least as productive at home -- and maybe even more so.
• Suggest and/or come to a mutual agreement about how to gauge productivity. Examples include submitting sales/contact reports or turning in assignments on a regular basis. Think about all of the responsibilities of your particular position and how you will be able to indicate to your employer that you are not only taking care of business, but that you are doing so without a decrease in productivity unrelated to your illness.

How many hours you will work at home, and when.

Telecommuting does not mean that you can come and go as you please. People with whom you work will need to know the hours they can expect you to be available, just as they would if you were still at your employer's office. Alternately, telecommuting does not and should not mean that you are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Setting a schedule and sticking to it can be helpful if suddenly your employer seems to think that you should work around the clock. Of course if your co-workers are on the clock 24/7….

How will you maintain contact with the main office?

This can be via phone, e-mail, fax, etc. Be careful not to agree to a contact arrangement that you have no intention of following! For example, if your supervisor suggests phone contact on an hourly basis, don't simply agree to it, thinking they will back off. Consider instead offering an alternative and indicating that you think hourly phone contact could be unduly disruptive to your work if that could arguable be the case.  (If you do not want to spend the money for a fax machine while seeing if you will be able to contnue to work at home, you can send and receive faxes through www.eFax.com

The equipment and supplies you will need to work at home --and who will pay for them.

In addition to the equipment you need (such as a telephone) and supplies (such as paper and ink cartridges), think about who will maintain them, and who will pay for the equipment, supplies and maintenance. For example, will you have access to the IT person who keeps the computers running at the office to help when necessary?

If you're gong to ask your employer to pay for these items, it may be helpful to be able to justify the cost, even if you are requesting a telecommuting arrangement as an accommodation. Let your employer know why you think you can be more productive by telecommuting.

The problems you may encounter, at least initially.

Consider that at least initially, you may run into some problems telecommuting. Address them in your proposal -- keeping quiet about them doesn't mean that your employer isn't focusing on them. Addressing the potential problems can help you and your employer look at any problems realistically and perhaps come up with a solution together.

No. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar laws do not require an employer to offer a telework program to all employees. However, if an employer does offer telework, it must allow employees with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in such a program.

In addition, the ADA's reasonable accommodation obligation, which includes modifying workplace policies, might require an employer to waive certain eligibility requirements or otherwise modify its telework program for someone with a disability who needs to work at home. For example, an employer may generally require that employees work at least one year before they are eligible to participate in a telework program. If a new employee needs to work at home because of a disability, and the job can be performed at home, then an employer may have to waive its one-year rule for this individual.

If you're considering looking for a new job which permits telecommuting, check:

• Web sites such as 
  • www.about.com 
    • list of work-at-home jobs by company. Click here .
    • bo fee work at home jobs. Click here. 
  • www.cragslist.com (search by keyword. Watch for scams)
  • www.flexjobs.com
  • www.linkup.com (search on "telecommute" or "telecommuting" as a key word)
  • www.nextjobathome.com
  • www.simplyhired.com
• Local, state, or federal governments. Governments are actually encouraging telecommuting as a way to reduce pollution and traffic congestion. They may also be a good source for telecommuting jobs.
• The sources listed at Seeking Employment.

Beware of work at home scams. Never send money to a company to get information about a job that may be available.

If you are employee and work either part time or full time at home, you are still protected by the same laws as if you worked at the employer's place of business. For instance, if you are injured while working on the job, you are entitled to workers compensation.  For information about legal protections at work, click here.

Talk with your employer about what procedures you should follow to keep your employer's proprietary information confidential.

NOTE: Your employer has a legal right to inspect your premises to be sure it is a safe enviornment. This is because your employer is subject to the same OSHA safety standards even if you work at home. For information about OSHA, see: www.osha.gov

Consider the following tips to help seem as present at the office as people who are there:

• Return calls and e mails as soon as possible
• Forward your officep hone to a dedicated home-office line.
• Send your supervisor a weekly update summarizing recent accomplishments
• Sometimes send e mails early in the morning or after work hours to show you are not just working 9 - 5.
• Keep relationships with co-workers going just as if you saw them in the office every day. Chats can also give you inside informatin about what is happening in the office.
• If you can, get to the office for important meetings. If you cannot attend in person, perhaps you can attend by video such as with Skype.