Telecommute justification

Clarifications

The two justifications I've used in the past to successfully lobby for WFH privileges were that it would allow the team to adequately devote time to project work that was starting to slip, as well as serve as an employee satisfier (i.e. people won't start looking for jobs closer to home).

The project work explanation is easy to quantify. You have 'x' amount of hours in the office per day. The more you're interrupted with other tasks, the less you can spend on the project. HOWEVER, if you are telecommuting, you can add more time (I've found I actually work longer hours when telecommuting...by virtue of doing work during the time it would take me to drive into/from the office)to your day, and focus on the critical tasks.

In terms of the employee satisfier, it was easy for me to sell this, as the company I worked at did quarterly employee satisfaction surveys as well as exit interviews. A big knock was always the commute, and that there wasn't any other option to get to the office asides from driving (too far away from commuter trains to make them viable). Additionally, family matters was also a big area of concern. Being able to telecommute helped reduce daycare costs for employees, and helped reduce the use of sick days company wide (pay someone to work from home or pay someone to take an unproductive day off...easy choice for a company). It also helped reduce strain and costs related to the infrastructure (bandwidth that was tight suddenly was a little more freed, electricity and telephone costs went down).

I've said this numerous times; if the US was serious about cutting back on oil, and giving a little boost to the economy, they'd offer tax credits to companies that allowed US workers to telecommute. The more telecommuting hours, the greater the tax break.

the feeling the loss of control. Some management feel they loose control if they cannot see the employee when they want to.

Also remember that not all persons can telecommute. If you agree to work from home, your employer expects you to do the same as job as at work, they pay you for your time. If someone thinks they can telecommute and take care of several children or repair their car, etc., it will not work. Telecommuting requires the same dedication, focus and time you do at work.

That said, it is also true that there are many different telecommuting jobs. I was thinking, mostly, of the IT world.

Generally, my arthritis dictates when I can come into the office. If it's too painful for me to put my socks on, no way am I going to try and drive into work :(

But you're right, I'm very much more productive when I can work from home.
Telecommuting will reduce power requirements for the office as you'll be "plugged in" at home. You could work out the power requirements of your kit and then supply management with a $ saving.
You will be able to spend those extra hours you would commuting by actually doing work and not travelling.
You will be more productive as there will be less distractions.
Reducing your CO2 emissions as you won't be travelling to work every day. This could be a good one as it would be measurable, if your office as a whole reduces weekly travel by X miles, then the company will be reducing their CO2 output by Y kgs.

Obviously the whole thing would have to be rostered to allow for vacation, sickness etc, maybe with some contingency whereby if the office gets hit by some epidemic then one of the telecommuters has to return to the office.

I've found a couple of links that hopefully will give you some references for your proposal.
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/oracle/guide/archives/telecommuting-questions-5390
http://www.allearnatives.com/telecommuting/persuading.asp

Present a formal proposal and be wiling to sign a contract. "Teleworking is a mutually beneficial work arrangement designed to attract and retain employees, reduce costs and (IF the following applies) support the company?s 'greening' initiatives to benefit the community and environment." Then list some benefits, such as: 1) Conserves energy, 2) Helps preserve our environment, 3) Improves productivity, 4) Reduces commuting costs, 5) Improves balance of work/family life, 6) Increases employee morale, 7) Reduces walk up distractions, 8) Reduces traffic congestion, 9) Enhances recruitment and retention of employees.