Working from home

Mrs Seabiscuit · 31 Jan 2018 at 13:10

Hi guys. Bit of advice. I'm really looking to work from home my preferred field is recruitment and compliance service as what I do now.

How do any of you that work from home find home based types of jobs?
Hope this makes sense.

GinG · 31 Jan 2018 at 14:35

I am in a sales role and as such work from home, I would guess just check out what jobs are out there and see what they say about working arrangements. Alternatively you could ask about the option of working from home when you apply.

As someone who works from home...I hate it! Can't wait to join the Police and get back into a bit more of a community feel.

Martynt74 · 31 Jan 2018 at 15:15

GinG said:
I am in a sales role and as such work from home, I would guess just check out what jobs are out there and see what they say about working arrangements. Alternatively you could ask about the option of working from home when you apply.

Whilst a little bit off topic. As someone thats home based, are there any tax deductions you can make or is it expected that your employer would cover the costs incurred through salary/expenses?

dowie · 31 Jan 2018 at 15:22

Why not ask you current employer if you can work from home?

So long as you can isolate yourself away from other members of the household in a spare room or home office and use messenger apps, skype or equivalent for video calls, phone calls etc.. then most of your work probably can be done from home at the moment. You'll probably still need to come in from time to time for pre-arranged meetings etc..

GhostWKD · 31 Jan 2018 at 15:25

dowie said:
Why not ask you current employer if you can work from home?

So long as you can isolate yourself away from other members of the household in a spare room or home office and use messenger apps, skype or equivalent for video calls, phone calls etc.. then most of your work probably can be done from home at the moment. You'll probably still need to come in from time to time for pre-arranged meetings etc..

I'd say it depends on your position as well, if you manage a team that can be much harder to do from home...

GinG · 31 Jan 2018 at 15:34

Marvt74 said:
Whilst a little bit off topic. As someone thats home based, are there any tax deductions you can make or is it expected that your employer would cover the costs incurred through salary/expenses?

To be honest I don't really bother claiming anything for tax deductions as such, I think in theory I could claim £3 or £4 per week tax free however as my employer is overseas I can get away with much bigger claims to not bother contacting HMRC for the sake of £4 a week.

With my job role I get company phone, laptop etc so no costs associated that way.

I think for anyone working from home the biggest saving is the commute costs.

However I really do hate working from home to the point it drives me slightly insane and makes my anxiety much worse as it can get very lonely. I am the only worker in the UK so don't have any colleagues, the only people you see now and then are customers so you can't really vent to them and is difficult trying to speak with your wife about the work issues from that day when she has no idea on my type of work! (She is a nurse).

Don't get me wrong, was awesome to begin with but soon got very tedious!

Martynt74 · 31 Jan 2018 at 15:36

Yeah i can imagine it being a lonely place. I've gone from an office with hundreds of people to one with about 10 and it feels quiet all the time!

Mainly asking my wife recently started working from home. Her company pays her £35 a month expenses to cover home costs but once you amortise laptops/phone/insurance premiums etc then i wondered if she could make any additional savings.

dowie · 31 Jan 2018 at 15:40

GhostWKD said:
I'd say it depends on your position as well, if you manage a team that can be much harder to do from home...

it can be but then again if you manage a team these days some members of your team might work from home and other members might be in an office in a different country...

I think at my last place, aside from obvious stuff like the IT Helpdesk people and receptionists etc.. most people could probably have worked from home for at least part of the week if not most of the time. I guess other exceptions might be senior management - heads of streams, CEO, CTO etc.. but even then they would work out of different offices around the globe for significant periods of time anyway and had access to a private jet + better hotels than us plebs.

Semple · 31 Jan 2018 at 15:49

I work from home a few days each week. Does mean i get away from the isolation a little bit.

As long as you can motivate yourself in a home environment you should be fine.

I don't claim for any expenses either, WFH is more of a privilege to me (due to distance between home and office) so i guess i just accept electricity costs etc. Laptop/Screens/Keyboards etc are all provided though.

panthro · 31 Jan 2018 at 16:14

I currently work from home one day a week and don't particularly like it, but accept that it is a privilege. Even when I lock myself away there's too many distractions. Unless I am piled with work and deadlines to meet. Aside from there, everyone is connected now with various apps, secure connections, mobile phones etc that it is very easy to set yourself up from home.

Ayahuasca · 31 Jan 2018 at 16:29

I’m home based but recently started travelling and more visits to head office, it’s been quite positive so far as working from home for all of your hours gets pretty lonely and you start getting disconnected from it being work.

Mrs Seabiscuit · 31 Jan 2018 at 20:41

Hi Guys,
Thank you so much for all your answers. My current role will not allow me to work from home I am also not a manager. I understand everyone saying that it can be lonely however I quite being alone. I will look out for things that offer this and as people suggest maybe ask during the recruitment process.

GinG · 2 Feb 2018 at 11:42

Mrs Seabiscuit said:
Hi Guys,
Thank you so much for all your answers. My current role will not allow me to work from home I am also not a manager. I understand everyone saying that it can be lonely however I quite being alone. I will look out for things that offer this and as people suggest maybe ask during the recruitment process.

Have you actually gone down the official route of using your statutory right and ask about flexible working? You are entitled to ask them about this and they need to take it as a serious question.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/flexible-working/flexible-working-what-is-it/

Mrs Seabiscuit · 2 Feb 2018 at 22:06

GinG said:
Have you actually gone down the official route of using your statutory right and ask about flexible working? You are entitled to ask them about this and they need to take it as a serious question.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/flexible-working/flexible-working-what-is-it/

Well no I havent but I also know my manager`s stance and she would simply not agree to it.
But thanks for that link