Home office
Mobile working, also known as teleworking, was already popular before the coronavirus pandemic. In 2018, around 40% of the Swiss workforce was able to work from home. Even after the pandemic, working from home is still favoured by many. Whether you want to set up an office at home, work in a café or even work from home abroad, it can be a huge benefit for everyone – but it also comes with risks.
Home office is not a right that employees can claim. However, if you decide to allow your team to work from home, the same provisions of labour law apply to home office as they do on site at your company. You are therefore obliged to ensure the physical and mental health protection of employees and to implement appropriate measures when employees set up a workplace at home.
Working safely from home
Some executives are critical of working from home, expecting, for example, a loss of control, a lack of team communication or lower productivity. When setting up home office options, the following tips will help you and your employees to minimise these risks and make home office a win-win situation for both sides:
- Setting up a home office workstation correctly: A healthy posture at your desk and PC prevents physical complaints such as neck or back pain, circulatory disorders or tension
- Avoid disturbances: Your home office should be quiet, childcare organised, and other family members must accept the workspace
- Working from home requires planning and organisation: When you work from home, you should also keep to fixed working hours and take breaks
- Healthy home office: Encourage your employees to eat healthily and to move around and exercise from time to time – this requires sufficient space
- Successful communication: There should also be room for private topics, as sharing ideas with others prevents social isolation and strengthens the sense of belonging to the company
- Leadership and clear structures: This is how you ensure that the boundaries between professional and private life are not blurred when working from home and that responsibilities and deadlines are clear
Advantages of home office
Working from home has increased significantly, from 0.54 days per week to an average of 1.47 in 2021 and 1.36 in 2022*. And: it can definitely pay off for your company if employees are allowed to work from home. The positive effects of home office include:
- Employees are happier and more motivated
- Working from home ensures a better life-domain balance, less stress and can prevent burnout
- Employees work more independently, productively and efficiently. Executives also rate the performance of their team higher when the proportion of home office days increases
- Employees save an average of 3.5 hours of commuting time per week
- The company saves costs such as room rental, travel expenses, etc.
- If the setup is right, undisturbed work is better in home office than in the office
- Companies with modern working conditions are more attractive; they have an easier time recruiting – because for 70% of employees, the ability to work from home is relevant when looking for a job
- If companies offer home office, employees think less about leaving the company – there are fewer resignations
* Longitudinal study conducted by Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz (Health Promotion Switzerland) together with the University of Bern and ZHAW in February 2020, immediately before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Employees were surveyed on stress, resources, well-being and productivity. In February 2021 and February 2022, a total of 926 participants from the same sample were surveyed again to investigate the impact of the pandemic on the Swiss workforce.