Following on from my post on working from home last week, I got a couple of comments and questions about the issue of tax and insurance.

If you are based in your company's premises and just taking work home occasionally then you do not need to be concerned.  If however you have clients visiting your home, or you are running a business from home you need to check with your insurance company to make sure you are not invalidating your insurance.

You should continue to use your office space as your home to avoid the risk of capital gains tax should you sell the property.  If you rent you should check with your landlord to see if there are any issues.

If anyone can think of other issues let me know and I'll look into it.

Some time ago I applied for a job that involved working from home, and they had a long list of requirements for my home working environment.  I didn't get the job, but I thought it might be interesting to pass on what those requirements were.

The first was pretty obvious.  A desk! It had to be separate from any kitchen/dining room table, and if possible in a quiet area where you could get away from the family and other distractions if necessary.  You should have a good office chair, at the right height for your computer (yes you need one of those too!).  If you are going to be spending a significant amount of time at home it is probably worth buying a good quality chair.  Some people buy those computer work stations that only have a small amount of room on either side.  I think I prefer a good sized desk to give you space to organise paperwork. 

You must be able to communicate on the phone at the same time as on the internet.  Broadband is one way of doing this, but you might also use a mobile (cell) phone.  If you will be making and receiving business calls, you must have an area free from background noise, like barking dogs and crying children.  Employers and clients will not view these noises as a quaint setting for the working woman, but often as an indication that the person is only working as a hobby.  You don't want to give that impression even if it is true!

How you manage your broadband connections depends a bit on what other use you want to make of it.  If you have a family who might want to access the internet from elsewhere in the house it is worth having a wi fi hub, which you can position near your phone line, but access the connection remotely.  That might prevent family members from accessing your work data, and perhaps deleting files you need, or installing something from the internet that wipes all your data!  Best to keep the work stuff clean and tidy, and away from prying eyes.

Think about whether you need a filing system/cabinet.  If you are based permanently at home you will need one of these.  If you home working is intermittent and you are based mainly in an office you probably don't.

Think about how you will cope with the distractions of children.  You might need to impose rules on when you can be interrupted.  Family and friends tend to assume that if you are home you are free to go out, or chat on the phone all day.  Set yourself some rules so that you can focus on work.  Once you establish a pattern you can allow outside distractions, within reason.

Health and safety issues are just as important at home as they are in the office.  Make sure your screen is adequate for you needs (e.g. large enough) and is at eye-level so you don't strain your neck and shoulders.  Make sure you can sit comfortably with your feet on the floor.  Use appropriate mouse and wrist support products.  Have regular breaks from the computer to rest your eyes. And (don't laugh) make sure you know how to get out of the house in the event of a fire.  Seriously, you should be aware of fire risks in your home, as much as you are (or should be) in the office.

I'm sure some people have said to themselves, it's all very well her talking about 'working from home' but my boss won't accept that!  In many cases that's probably true, especially for secretarial or admin staff.  The privilege of being able to work from home seems to be preserved for the professional or management staff.  Often administrators and secretaries are in supporting roles in the office, so working outside of the office environment might not be acceptable.  However, that's not to say you can't ask.  For a manager, although not ideal, allowing staff to work from home in the event of snow days or other crisis days provides a convenient way of resolving a difficult issue without upsetting staff or having to get unions involved.

It's worth working out a business case.

First of all, is there work that is more conveniently done at home?  One job I do at home is updating the corporate blog. I have internet access at home (actually better than the work connection) and it is easier to do it at home than at work.  Are there other internet related tasks that could just as easily be done at home?  If you are still contactable at home via email and phone, it will sway your case.

Do you have to do confidential work?  Maybe working at home is safer in this respect than working in an office surrounded by staff.  Of course you need to explain how your home environment is more secure.

Are there regular reports that you have to do that could be done on your own computer?  You could make the case that you will get through the work quicker if you are not constantly interrupted in the office.

If you know in advance that there is bad weather on the way, or you need to stay in for a delivery, or that there is some other issue about to prove disruptive, plan ahead so that you have all the resources at home to carry out work if necessary.

For some the home environment is not conducive to work, either you don't have adequate facilities, or you might have young children around who are distracting.  Are there other community venues that you could use.  How about your local library?  Many have computers in, and some have free wifi so you could take your laptop along.

I know that this option may not be suitable for everyone, but it may be a way out of a tricky situation.  I think in time that working from home might become more common.