Working from home: separating the practice from the promise

As the UK Government introduces new laws permitting flexible working, WORKTECH Academy Academy director Jeremy Myerson reflects on research that shows that working from home is not automatically good for your health. The home office needs careful design.?

Corporate employers have been competing with the couch since the end of the global pandemic, as employees have shown a marked reluctance to abandon the comforts of home to return to the office.

Now the rise of flexible work has been given a further boost by the UK Government, which has just introduced new employment laws in April 2024 allowing employees to request flexible working from their boss twice per year (a change from the previous once-a-year policy) as well as permitting them to make this request from day one in their jobs. Employers will also have to explain the reasons for denying any request to work more flexibly, while employees are no longer required to explain the impact of their request.?More of us will be working from home in the future.

This new legislation on flexible working not only reflects the current picture on the ground as hybrid patterns become more permanent but also mirrors a worldview that has gone largely unchallenged. This is because the rise of flexible working has basically been good news for the wellbeing of workers. After all, it reduces the rising costs and damaging effects of commuting; it also makes it easier for people to administer care to themselves and others while holding down a job.

Living up to the prospectus

But what is the reality of home working, and does it really live up to the glossy prospectus as a godsend for all of us? Experiences will vary not just according to age and gender but also to different personal circumstances and income levels. Just as a one-size-fits-all approach to office work has long been acknowledged as not fit for purpose, so the same must surely be true for people working from home.

A new academic study by the UK Health Security Agency with King’s College London, published in the Journal of Occupational Health, confirms that the relationship between working from home and our wellbeing is indeed more complex and nuanced than might have previously been assumed.

A research team led by academic Charlotte Hall (2024) reviewed a total of 1,930 pieces of academic literature on the experience of homeworking, concluding that ‘essentially, a one-size-fits-all approach to working from home is impractical as individual circumstances limit application’.

A mixed picture on health

The general picture to emerge from this meta-analysis* of published research in the field is mixed. The good news is that working from home reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and enables people to eat healthier food and have more creative ideas. The bad news is that home workers of all ages are more likely to snack, to put on weight, to smoke and drink more, and fear being overlooked for promotion. As for having an easier time of it at home, evidence suggests that home workers toil for longer hours, including evenings and weekends, and take less sick leave.???

Age isn’t the defining factor in healthier home working, it’s income. Higher earners tend to enjoy working from home more. They also tend to have more space, better home working set-ups, more control over what they do and fewer responsibilities such as childcare, administration or housework.

Employers are advised in the study to start considering home working with the same seriousness as they do office working, from providing the right training and equipment for staff to work safely and comfortably at home to encouraging home workers to take regular breaks, avoid a sedentary workstyle and go on sick leave when sick. But many companies are reluctant to specify what a home working set-up should look like, and individual home workers are often uncertain as to how to optimise their domestic surroundings for work.

Home workers who are aging

In a further sign that homeworking is not plain sailing for older workers, researchers from three UK universities have collaborated to set out some key design principles for working well from home. The Out of Office project is a guide which brings together the Design Age Institute at the Royal College of Art (in which the Oxford Institute or Population Ageing is a partner) with researchers from Northumbria University and Loughborough University.

Based on workshops with users, physiotherapists, and occupational health professionals, its focus is specifically on the challenges faced by home workers as they age. Too frequently, this workforce is left to set up home workstations with little guidance or understanding on how to work healthily, especially in the context of managing different health conditions.

The guide tackles these issues head-on and has 20 top tips for adapting your own home office to support better health. Alongside advice on minimising disruptions, supporting a better posture, and taking regular exercise, there are also recommendations on making work at home more pleasurable with plants, objects, pictures, and views of nature.?

Clearly, while working from home is becoming a permanent fixture in the new world of work, it isn’t a given that this will automatically improve our wellbeing without careful design consideration. The UK Government has given a stimulus to flexible working through its new legislation, but homeworkers should beware that too much of a good thing might wreck their health.? ?

To keep your organisation up to date with the latest knowledge, trends, and research on the future of work, find out more about becoming a WORKTECH Academy Corporate Member here.

*Charlotte E. Hall, Samantha K. Brooks, Freya Mills, Neil Greenberg, Dale Weston, ‘Experiences of working from home: umbrella review’,nbsp; Journal of Occupational Health, Volume 66, Issue 1, January-December 2024

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