Telecommute/Flextime

Devilry

I was curious about this topic for the most of you in IT.

How many of you telecommute or have flextime, how does it work? What sector are you in? Did you have to take a lesser salary to get this incentive?

Everyone

I telecommute 93% of the year. I started this job that way. I work from home in IL, the datacenters for the company I work for are in OH and KY. I fly out to Corporate HQ once per quarter, and spend a week there each time, all expenses paid.

I have a company issued laptop. I also got them to buy me a docking station, keyboard, mouse, and pair of 24" Monitors that go with it. I VPN in, and can do everything I need to do no differently than if I was actually in the office.

I set aside a space in my home as my office. The door is locked during the day while I'm working, and my family understands that they have to treat it as if I wasn't home during work hours. Although I do take breaks (lunch, etc.) and spend time with them then. That, plus the fact that I no longer have a commute, means I get to spend a lot more time with them than ever before.

I did not have to take a lesser salary for this. I actually got a nice salary increase over my old job. I just negotiated it during the interview process.

Devilry

Everyone wrote: »

I telecommute 93% of the year. I started this job that way. I work from home in IL, the datacenters for the company I work for are in OH and KY. I fly out to Corporate HQ once per quarter, and spend a week there each time, all expenses paid.

I have a company issued laptop. I also got them to buy me a docking station, keyboard, mouse, and pair of 24" Monitors that go with it. I VPN in, and can do everything I need to do no differently than if I was actually in the office.

I set aside a space in my home as my office. The door is locked during the day while I'm working, and my family understands that they have to treat it as if I wasn't home during work hours. Although I do take breaks (lunch, etc.) and spend time with them then. That, plus the fact that I no longer have a commute, means I get to spend a lot more time with them than ever before.

I did not have to take a lesser salary for this. I actually got a nice salary increase over my old job. I just negotiated it during the interview process.

That is absolutely awesome, it sounds like an ideal position. I would give anything to be home with my family more.

Everyone

Devilry wrote: »

That is absolutely awesome, it sounds like an ideal position. I would give anything to be home with my family more.

It is awesome, and I hope I can keep it this way for a while. My management is always trying to get me to move out to the Corporate HQ area. They really want me to work in the office. If I ever want to change positions within the company, or get a promotion, I will probably have to move out there.

Mrock4

I telecommuted at my last job for a while. The company policy was 3x a week. I hated it. The thing with telecommuting is, you need to be visible. You need to be available, not just hanging out in the living room. Because of this, all of us who did telecommute ended up working on average, 5-10 MORE hours than everyone else did. Not necessarily fair, but thats how it was for me.

On the bright side, I did save on gas. That was nice.

Essendon

I wish my company let us telecommute too but the client wants an onsite IT presence (I work for an MSP). Just about everything I do onsite can be done from home too. We are allowed some flextime as long as we dont abuse it, we can take hour long lunches, come in a bit late and leave a bit early, again as long as we dont abuse it.

Everyone

Mrock4 wrote: »

I telecommuted at my last job for a while. The company policy was 3x a week. I hated it. The thing with telecommuting is, you need to be visible. You need to be available, not just hanging out in the living room. Because of this, all of us who did telecommute ended up working on average, 5-10 MORE hours than everyone else did. Not necessarily fair, but thats how it was for me.

On the bright side, I did save on gas. That was nice.

Yeah hanging out is about the worst thing you can do.

I don't put in any more hours than anyone else. I am available via IM, e-mail, and phone, during the hours I'm supposed to be working.

Aside from being available when you should be, you need to make sure you're on time for all teleconferences. I have quite a few of those every week. I'm usually the 1st one on the call, waiting for the host to join and start the meeting.

Mrock4

Everyone wrote: »

Aside from being available when you should be, you need to make sure you're on time for all teleconferences. I have quite a few of those every week. I'm usually the 1st one on the call, waiting for the host to join and start the meeting.

Yeah, we had a ton of teleconferences. A lot of the "work long, work hard" mentality was from my old boss. He said "work should come before family. That's why we pay you"......notice I said he's my OLD boss!