Telecommuting is a method of work which substitutes telecommunications and technology for the daily journey to, and home from work. Instead of travelling to a central workplace telecommuters work from home or a specially established centre close to their home. The incidence of telecommuting is increasing throughout the world. An extensive search for information on the telecommuting phenomenon reveals that most developed countries in the world have some level of participation in telecommuting. The United States of America certainly leads the way in terms of the numbers of participation and especially the information available. Information on the Australian situation has been difficult to find. It would appear that not many organizations have formal plans or policies regarding telecommuting. Much of the information available for the Australian situation is concerned with the Rural Telecentres programme that whilst not strictly developed for the purposes of telecommuting does provide facilities which can be used by organizations and telecommuters. Based on the reports available telecommuting is a popular choice for many workers. Telecommuters report benefits associated with lifestyle choices and increased work productivity due to lowered stress levels and choices about working hours. Telecommuting has also associated problems for telecommuters varying from being able to set aside a suitably equipped environment at home to concerns about isolation and missed career opportunities. For organizations the benefits also are many including increased productivity, cost savings and worker satisfaction. The problems facing organizations need careful planning to overcome. Organizations have to deal with managerial issues, potential problems associated with insurance and legal exposure, and security concerns. Organizations need to establish formal policy regarding telecommuting in order to address these concerns. Telecommuting has the potential to impact on travel and transport habits and infrastructures. It has the potential to impact positively on the environment by reducing vehicle emissions. Telecommuting, by making work location independent has the potential to affect suburban and rural communities. Issues associated with telecommuting need to be further researched in order to have the information to plan and manage this phenomenon effectively. There is difficulty obtaining information on the Australian experience, even though Australia would be ideally suited due to its geographical isolation to take advantage of the possible benefits.

Telecommuting is a method of work which substitutes telecommunications and technology for the daily journey to, and home from work. Instead of travelling to a central workplace telecommuters work from home or a specially established centre close to their home. The incidence of telecommuting is increasing throughout the world. An extensive search for information on the telecommuting phenomenon reveals that most developed countries in the world have some level of participation in telecommuting. The United States of America certainly leads the way in terms of the numbers of participation and especially the information available. Information on the Australian situation has been difficult to find. It would appear that not many organizations have formal plans or policies regarding telecommuting. Much of the information available for the Australian situation is concerned with the Rural Telecentres programme that whilst not strictly developed for the purposes of telecommuting does provide facilities which can be used by organizations and telecommuters. Based on the reports available telecommuting is a popular choice for many workers. Telecommuters report benefits associated with lifestyle choices and increased work productivity due to lowered stress levels and choices about working hours. Telecommuting has also associated problems for telecommuters varying from being able to set aside a suitably equipped environment at home to concerns about isolation and missed career opportunities. For organizations the benefits also are many including increased productivity, cost savings and worker satisfaction. The problems facing organizations need careful planning to overcome. Organizations have to deal with managerial issues, potential problems associated with insurance and legal exposure, and security concerns. Organizations need to establish formal policy regarding telecommuting in order to address these concerns. Telecommuting has the potential to impact on travel and transport habits and infrastructures. It has the potential to impact positively on the environment by reducing vehicle emissions. Telecommuting, by making work location independent has the potential to affect suburban and rural communities. Issues associated with telecommuting need to be further researched in order to have the information to plan and manage this phenomenon effectively. There is difficulty obtaining information on the Australian experience, even though Australia would be ideally suited due to its geographical isolation to take advantage of the possible benefits.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-154).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Telecommuting is a practice in which a person works at home with a computer terminal and communicates with their place of employment by telephone line or data link. Telecommuting is a relatively recent phenomenon, originating during the mid-1970's as a means for lowering energy consumption by reducing the need to commute between home and the workplace. Other factors promoting the adoption of telecommuting include rapid advances in computer and telecommunications technologies, and the shift in the economic structures of Western nations from being based primarily on extractive and manufacturing activities, to the provision of services, and knowledge-based activities in particular. There is considerable uncertainty about how many people telecommute. This is largely because of conflicting definitions of telecommuting, the lack of reliable or systematically collected data on the subject, and methodological difficulties in identifying telecommuters. Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence and empirical studies have identified two principal types of telecommuters: (1) managerial, technical, or professional employees who generally work at home on an intermittent or part-time basis, and (2) clerical employees who perform routine or clearly defined tasks, usually on a full-time basis. The effects of telecommuting tend to be unevely distributed, with professional or managerial workers generally receiving more benefits and being less vulnerable to exploitation than clerical workers. Benefits to employees may include lower commuting costs, more flexibility in lifestyle and work scheduling, and improvements in working conditions. Potential disadvantages to employees include isolation, career impairment, conflict between work and non-work roles, and exploitation by employers. Advantages for employers include increased productivity, less employee turnover, and lower costs. The primary disadvantage employers face is limitations in managerial style; this may be the primary impediment facing the increased adoption of telecommuting. Suggested benefits to society include lower commuting costs, less traffic congestion, less energy consumption, and less air pollution. Potential societal disadvantages include increased urban sprawl and distortions to land markets. Factors external to telecommuting that are influencing its adoption include cultural attitudes to the home as a workplace, the development of office automation technologies, reactions by organized labour, and the processes of innovational diffusion. The spatial impact of telecommuting is uncertain. Research on the impact of telecommunications on urbanization suggests an inherent tendency towards spatial decentralization, and there is considerable speculation in the literature that telecommuting may lead to increased residential dispersion. There is, however, little, if any, empirical evidence supporting the latter notion. Telecommuting may be useful as a public policy device to promote certain identified societal goals such as reductions in energy consumption and pollution. This would require a reassessment of current zoning practices which often restrict home-based employment for reasons of doubtful legitimacy. Any policy-based encouragement of telecommuting should be accompanied, however, by the development of employment statutes and enforcement mechanisms that protect telecommuters against potential abuses. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2008. / Title from file title page. Daniel Robey, committee chair; Karlene C. Cousins, Balasubramaniam Ramesh, Michael Gallivan, committee members. Description based on contents viewed July 1, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-105).

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Telecommuting has been defined in several ways. For the purpose of this paper, telecommuting (also known as teleworking) is defined as the concept of employees performing some portion of their regular work activities from a remote location, while receiving their regular salary and benefits. This remote work location is typically a satellite office, a neighbourhood office or the employee’s home. Most telecommuting occurs on a part-time basis, one to three days per week. Not every job nor every worker is suitable to telecommute. Although the actual number of telecommuters is unknown, it has been estimated that approximately 7.6 million Americans were telecommuters in 1993 -- 6.1% of the total American workforce. If even a slightly smaller proportion of telecommuters is applied to the Canadian workforce (i.e. 5.75%), there are at least 738,150 Canadian telecommuters. While being influenced by many factors, telecommuting has risen in prominence primarily due to transformations in telecommunications and information technology, the nature of work, the workers, the workplace, urban highway congestion and in some jurisdictions, environmental legislation. Encouraging the establishment of telework centres and home-based telecommuting can increase employment opportunities within the community. Reducing the number of daily trips to a central work place may reduce transportation infrastructure costs (construction and maintenance) and have a positive effect on the environment (improved air quality and energy conservation). With more people staying within their neighbourhood to work, a greater sense of community can result. Telecommuting deserves serious attention on the part of municipalities because it can deliver large benefits in economic, environmental and social terms. This paper is designed to inform, stimulate discussion, and aid in the review of out-dated municipal regulations and procedures as they pertain to telecommuting.

Telecommuting has been defined in several ways. For the purpose of this paper, telecommuting (also known as teleworking) is defined as the concept of employees performing some portion of their regular work activities from a remote location, while receiving their regular salary and benefits. This remote work location is typically a satellite office, a neighbourhood office or the employee’s home. Most telecommuting occurs on a part-time basis, one to three days per week. Not every job nor every worker is suitable to telecommute. Although the actual number of telecommuters is unknown, it has been estimated that approximately 7.6 million Americans were telecommuters in 1993 -- 6.1% of the total American workforce. If even a slightly smaller proportion of telecommuters is applied to the Canadian workforce (i.e. 5.75%), there are at least 738,150 Canadian telecommuters. While being influenced by many factors, telecommuting has risen in prominence primarily due to transformations in telecommunications and information technology, the nature of work, the workers, the workplace, urban highway congestion and in some jurisdictions, environmental legislation. Encouraging the establishment of telework centres and home-based telecommuting can increase employment opportunities within the community. Reducing the number of daily trips to a central work place may reduce transportation infrastructure costs (construction and maintenance) and have a positive effect on the environment (improved air quality and energy conservation). With more people staying within their neighbourhood to work, a greater sense of community can result. Telecommuting deserves serious attention on the part of municipalities because it can deliver large benefits in economic, environmental and social terms. This paper is designed to inform, stimulate discussion, and aid in the review of out-dated municipal regulations and procedures as they pertain to telecommuting. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Two important dimensions of work related choices are work location and working hours. Telecommuting (working from home or any convenient place instead of commuting to the conventional working place) can potentially have a substantial impact on traffic demand distribution on a particular day by means of its replacement and displacement effect. Consequently, it is of interest to analyze the effect and extent of telecommuting adoption across the labor force. This study proposes a copula based joint discrete multinomial-duration model of choice accommodating the two dimensions of work related choices: work arrangement and aggregated duration of telecommuting episodes on a particular day. In the econometric model telecommuting episodes are defined so as the duration is at least 30 minutes and only home-based telecommuting is considered and sample is drawn from the ATUS, 2007 data. The results from the estimated model show that gender, higher-education, responsibility for child-care, family ties act as driving forces for adopting telecommuting. The sign of the Gaussian copula parameter or dependency parameter implies that the unobserved factors act in opposite direction on the two dimensions: work arrangement choice and aggregated telecommuting episode duration. / text