Telework is widely predicted to increase and to bring a range of social advantages - spatiotemporal flexibility and autonomy, and disadvantages - labour exploitation and isolation. Benefits are generally expected to be gained by professional, predominantly male workers, not female clerks. It is ofteni mpliedt hath ealthw ill improvet hrought he eliminationo f office-relateds tressorsa nd stressfuinl terpersonarel lationshipsM. ore vaguelyt he homei s presenteda s healthp romotinga nd illnessp reventingO. ccupationahl ealthr esearchh ase xploredt he effectso f computerw ork, and the psychologicailm plicationso f isolation.Y et there hasb eenl ittle investigationo f the health experienceosf teleworkersa s perceivedb y themselves. Forty-four teleworkers were interviewed in depth and most completed five questionnaires over a period of six months. Analysis of data was presented for participant validation. The research, therefore, offers an account of the lived experience of telework and teleworker's own explanations of health. The findings were as follows. Regardless of occupational status or time worked at home, teleworkers worked in marginalised space at home to cause minimal disruption to family life. Telework encouraged very long hours and the recalculation of time. The negotiation of absence and presence was central to the development of an acceptable work identity. Teleworkers balanced these costs against the privilege of home-based work. Participants were found to have a high level of chronic illness, and to frequently report instances of illness. Yet most believed they felt better, although not healthier, since working at home. The results were interpreted using Alonzo's (1979) model of containment, suggesting that reported reductions in sickness absence cannot necessarily be interpreted as improvements in health. The research showed that teleworkers reporting illness took fewer days free of work than those reporting to be well, and that telework changed health beliefs and behaviours in ways not fully appreciated in the literature to date.

This thesis discusses the findings of a 'virtual' ethnography of a 'virtual team' of teleworkers called 'FlexiTeam'. The concept of teleworking refers to workers who use Information and Communication Technologies to work flexibly in time and space. A 'virtual team' is a group of teleworkers organised into a 'team'. There are three substantive findings of this research. First, the discourses of virtual teamwork as 'effortless' and 'flexible' are subject to critique through a description of the forms of labour and (self-)discipline enacted on the part of FlexiTeam members in order to implement 'best practice'. Second, the analysis examines how team members' commitment to this 'best practice' can be understood in relation to their identity at work. This is explored using a theory of subjectivity as constructed through social relationships at work. The analysis focuses on FlexiTeam's social relationship with clients, their employing organisation and within the team. The client relationship is highlighted in particular because FlexiTeam are interesting in their role as 'teleworking consultants'. FlexiTeam not only practice but also sell the concepts of teleworking and virtual teams. Unlike existing studies of 'top-down' change imposed by management upon the workforce, FlexiTeam are active in the production of the very same discourse they also consume. It is argued that this production/consumption relationship constructs a reflexive dynamic for team members' subjectivity, as they strive to be 'experts', 'exemplars' and 'embodiments' of the 'best practice' discourse they sell. However, the third finding suggests that, for some team members, their relationship to the 'best practice' consultancy discourse is characterised less by 'internalisation' and more by ambiguity, ambivalence and instrumentality. This exposes the limits to the 'normalising' power of discourse, even in the case of a team who produce the discourse in question, thereby helping to develop a more sophisticated theory of the subjectivity/discourse relationship.

This study investigated whether the percentage of time that weekly employees spend in virtual workspaces is related to job satisfaction (JS), organizational commitment (OC), perceived supervisor support (PSS) and perceived coworker support (PCS). One hundred thirty-five virtual workers employed by 1 of 5 large, privately owned companies reported the percentage of their work time spent performing virtual work and completed 4 instruments to measure JS, OC, PSS, and PCS. Data were analyzed using multivariate linear regression, multivariate multiple regression, and multivariate analysis of variance. Results showed that virtual workers who spent 75% or more of their time engaged in virtual work had higher JS, OC, and PSS than virtual workers who spent 25% or less of their work time working virtually. No relationship was found between the percentage of time spent working virtually and PCS. Results were also examined to determine whether gender or age moderated any of the relationships found between the percentage of time working virtually and organizational outcomes. Neither gender nor age moderated the relationships observed. The study results showed that as employee time performing virtual work increases, employee and corporate benefits also increase in large, privately owned companies. The results of the study have several potential implications for positive social change for organizations, employees, and society as a whole by providing information to organizations considering increasing the percentage of time employees spend engaging in virtual work, helping society determine how performing virtual work affects an employee's well-being, potentially providing insight to employees regarding the pros and cons of virtual work.

This study targeted to assess the social and individual telework implications, besides theprobable permanent outcomes that could be produced. In line with this purpose, a survey wasperformed on a sample of 118 Romanian workers, on which a model was established,dependent on structural relational modeling. The model comprises 5 latent variables, aimingtelework aspects from one side and in contrast, its probable impacts on the society andindividuals. At the level of the individual, the study outcomes highlighted that telework couldcorrelate to a well work-life balance and could also aid teleworkers to advance definiteteleworking capabilities. At a level of the society, telework could produce supportableinfluences aiming at the long-term workforce’s management and delivering solutions toprobable raised issues at domestic community scales. The managerial consequences of thisresearch were focused on the requirement to execute a sequence of supportable HRmanagement tactics and effectual staff training and progress programs. Furthermore, firmsrequire being further proactive in supposing corporate social accountabilities.

Les télétravailleurs de plusieurs centres d'appels au Québec ont fourni des données des questionnaires sur leurs diverses demandes au travail (mesurées par les facteurs de stress organisationnels, la charge mentale et la charge émotionnelle), les ressources au travail (mesurées par l'indépendance au travail, la participation et les relations avec les superviseurs) ainsi que pour les mesures des résultats de la satisfaction au travail, de l'engagement organisationnel et de l’intention de quitter. Les hypothèses structurées par le modèle Job Demands-Resources ont été testées à l'aide de méthodes corrélationnelles. Comme prévu, les ressources au travail étaient liées de façon significative à la fois à la satisfaction au travail et à l'engagement organisationnel perçu par l'échantillon. Les demandes au travail prédisaient la satisfaction au travail, mais elles n'étaient pas liées à l'engagement organisationnel. Les implications théoriques et pratiques de ces résultats ont été discutées. / Teleworkers from multiple call centers in Québec provided questionnaire data about their various job demands (measured by organizational stressors, mental load, and emotional load), job resources (measured by independence in the work, participation, and relationship with supervisors) as well as for outcome measures of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Hypotheses structured by the JD-R model were tested using correlational methods. As predicted, job resources were significantly related to both job satisfaction and organizational commitment perceived by the sample. Job demands predicted job satisfaction, but they did not relate to organizational commitment. The theoretical and practical implications of these results were discussed.