Nothing’s worse than missing a day of work for a personal reason. Whether it’s due to illness, waiting for repair personnel, or a family member needing to be tended to, a day away from the office can be more stressful than actually going. At Red Dog Media, we understand that personal life can interfere with work and we like to offer a solution. Many employees at Red Dog Media have been given hardware to take home so they can accomplish tasks when coming to the office is not an option. Although having a home workstation is not an option for every profession, when it is permitted, it can be highly beneficial.
As the winter season begins, employees becoming sick is a problem at any company. As a small business, Red Dog Media takes this problem seriously. It’s common for a person whos sick to feel well enough to work but is technically still contagious. Coming into work can cause other employees to also fall ill, leaving a team with less manpower and more work to take care of. For smaller teams this can create stress for both sick employees and well employees. NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health conducted a study that found that only 16% of employees used all of their sick time off in the past year. Out of the 84% that didn’t use all of their time off, 28% said there was no one to cover their workload and 20% claimed that they had too much work to complete. Offering a workstation at home allows for employees to not fall behind on work when sick while also keeping other employees safe.
As well, sick days can be expensive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that productivity losses linked to absenteeism cost employers $225.8 billion annually in the United States. Offering home computers is a small investment that actually saves money in the long run.
Waiting for a repair person or delivery is never a quick task. Many companies will give time windows of up to 8 hours for personnel to show up. Most of the time, these situations are unavoidable and sudden, such as a pipe bursting or air conditioning that stops working. These events can be stressful as it is, so also worrying about your work that isn’t being done takes it to a new level. Even if you go to work after the repair or delivery is done, valuable time has still been lost. Some companies will make you use vacation time to make up for the lost day. Working from home makes it that an employee is able to keep their work uninterrupted while also saving their vacation days for something more important.
Being a parent is a full time job, so when a child falls ill, work usually has to get put on the back burner. The next 24 hours is usually spent worrying about your child and wishing you could magically take the discomfort away while simultaneously worrying about the items at work that aren’t being taken care of. This can apply to any family member that needs a little extra help, such as one that’s elderly or bedridden due to injury or illness. Leaving a sick family member with a babysitter or caretaker isn’t always a viable option and can be nerve wracking. Being able to work from home is ideal for these types of situations. Working from home gives employees the opportunity to get work done while also keeping an eye on their loved ones.
In our line of work, it’s also common that an employee may need to work for a few hours on the weekend every once in awhile. Being able to work from home for those few hours is a life saver. No time has to be wasted getting ready, commuting to the office, or worrying about food arrangements. What would usually seem like an large interruption on the weekend is now just a minor pitstop. It also gives employees the option to work from home after hours. Even if its only for a few minutes or an hour, this extra time can be invaluable on time sensitive matters.
Providing a workstation at home leads to a less stressed employee. This not only benefits the employee but also the employer as a less stressed employee leads to high quality, consistent work. With the addition of a home computer, productivity doesn’t have to be put aside on personal days anymore.
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