So, what has been the response of employers to the directive? There is a long-held belief within the business community that any kind of law, rule, regulation or directive from the Government causes increased costs to employers. As the flexible working regulations were not compulsory it was up to individual employers to determine their own position and consider whether they could different kinds of flexible working without suffering any costs. Let us take a short look at the different types of flexible working, the cost implications of each and whether there are any benefits to be gained from offering them.

Many of the options involve varying the number and times of the hours to be worked. Part-time working is by far the most used option and has no extra costs connected to it. There are many operational benefits for employers using part-time workers and a cost benefit in only having to pay for the time worked. Installing “flexitime” will involve spending money on a computerised recording system to manageeach worker’s attendance. There will be some cost savings as any lateness and doctor or dentist appointments will be in the worker’s own time. Furthermore, the appeal of flexitime can help to retain experienced workers and reduce recruitment costs. Job-sharing is also an attractive proposition to thousands of members of staff and generates minimal additional costs to the firm. Again, there are operational benefits and experienced staff can be retained in the firm when they wish or need to work fewer hours. There are other variations which often occur in some industries with seasonal trading patterns or opening times. Annualised hours is self explanatory and will entail workers working extended hours at peak trading times of the year with longer holiday periods or shorter working weeks in the ‘off season’. An ideal example is term-time working which is widespread in the education sector.

Where there is often a cost implication for employers is when workers are allowed to Work From Home.
A newly formed Internet Business with the very latest communication technology will probably have planned to operate with Online Jobs from its launch as the cost of the technology can be balanced by a proportionate reduction in the need for office space when workers Work From Home. However, a firm that is firmly established would need to invest in the technology required to permit workers to Work From Home but could possibly take a first step towards becoming an Internet Business. The first task would be to identify any tasks within the firm that could be converted to Online Jobs and then estimate the costs involved. It is unlikely that savings could be made in reduced office space unless flexible working formed part of a company restructuring and subsequent relocation. However, if important workers were retained by permitting them to Work From Home then recruitment and training costs for new staff would be saved.

However, along with the positives of flexible working, the company has to accept some responsibilities for those staff who need to Work From Home. The usual health and safety provisions which are in place at the office premises need to be duplicated at the employee’s home. This will incorporate the workspace to be used, the equipment which the company will probably be providing anyway and other less tangible areas such as insurance, training and reporting. Risk assessments will have to be carried out to check for any hazards which could lead to slips, trips and falls. Additionally, any equipment being used at home will have to be tested and maintained in line with any current rules which apply at the firm’s own premises. Working away from the office will necessitate the use of some level of communication technology and, depending on its complexity, there could be a requirement for training in its use. In spite of the fact that the workspace is at the employee’s home, the company will need to satisfy itself as to the ergonomics of the surroundings by assessing features such as lighting levels, desk heights and the kind of chair to be used with the desk. For a recently-formed Internet Business this would not be a problem as it would have been taken into account when they decided to have their staff Work From Home doing Online Jobs utilising the latest state of the art communication technology. However, for an existing company this will be a completely new state of affairs and they will have to be totally aware of their responsibilities before deciding to offer staff the opportunity to Work From Home.

Having determined that they are happy that specific job roles can be performed at home, then some thought ought to be given to the staff who have expressed a desire to do their work at home. To some of the staff involved it can be a big shock to leave a noisy office and work in a quiet atmosphere at home, while others will thrive on the opportunity to get more work done without interruptions. The company needs to know that they are not going to undergo a loss of productivity so the performance levels of those who begin to Work From Home need to be monitored closely. Thinking back to the earlier example of the modern Internet Business where a lot of the staff are working full time from home in their Online Jobs, it is probable that they operate to deadlines which are set for every particular task and this type of performance management should be considered in the early stages for those making the change to this type of flexible working.

Companies, who have lots of dispersed Online Jobs, use VoIP as their number one method of communication as it considerably cuts their telephone bills. Voice calls over the internet, are priced differently from ordinary calls made over a landline or a mobile network. A ordinary telephone call is priced in minutes of line usage. If you Work From Home and are a member of an online project team, the costs for one to one calls will begin to accumulate. This is no issue if the company is picking up the tab, but not so astute if it’s your own Internet Business. For an international corporation, these costs could amount to millions of pounds per annum. On the other hand, voice over internet is charged by Megabytes for the quantity of data sent. Typically the amount of data in a voice call is tiny next to other files and data sent over the internet, so the cost is dramatically reduced.

Skype is an example of VoIP where users can use their pc or laptop to converse through instant messaging or voice chat. Voice chat allows pairs of registered Skype users to phone each other for free. In 2006, Skype launched video conferencing which links 5 Skype users simultaneously. For staff with Online Jobs, a more useful feature is the audio conference call facility for up to 25 users at a hotel or even paying a visit to a customer’s premises. As long as you can get an internet connection, you can link up with the Skype conference call and play a part in online meetings.

Mobile VoIP is now becoming more widespread as “Skype” Phones and other smart phones commence to offer internet calls over the wireless networks. This means that IP calls are no longer just a device of the corporate and Internet Business community. Anybody with a smart phone can employ VoIP to make free calls to family and friends. Even devices like Apple’s iPod touch have Skype capability. The big expectation from customers is that the World Wide Web is free, and it should remain that way. As long as it does, companies can add this communication cost saving to any others produced by Online Jobs moving out of the office.

Employee Engagement is involved with providing the best possible conditions that will permit workers to work as effectively as possible for the firm. Providing the proper equipment for workers to do their jobs has always been a standard requirement whether it is the latest communication technology for an Internet Business whose workers mainly Work From Home doing Online Jobs or the best wheelbarrow for a labourer on a building site. Employee engagement takes this a step further and encompasses every aspect of the worker’s contact with the business. Various surveys have pinpointed the areas which workers will appreciate when they assess their relationship with their employer and which will generate positive employee engagement. These include

• having the opportunity to propose ideas for improving the business and being assured that they will be considered seriously
• being made aware of events within the firm as a whole and not operating in isolation
• being involved in the decision-making process on topics which will affect them
• having the option to develop both their position and themselves within the company structure
• feeling that the firm is sincerely concerned for their safety and general well being
• knowing that their line manager and senior executives are committed to the firm.

In order to consider the possible application of employee engagement techniques within any firm then the existing attitude of workers needs to be established. A survey ought to be carried out which would encompass all elements of the employee’s work including pay, working hours, benefits, environment, management methods, opportunities for further training, promotion prospects and their overall work-life balance. While every individual company’s results will vary, some guidance can be taken from the Chartered Institute of Personnel And Development (CIPD) who commissioned a national survey which discovered that:

• over a third of workers feel engaged with their firm
• more women than men do so
• about 25 per cent of under-35s and two-fifths of over-35s feel engaged
• about half of managers feel engaged with their firm , but less than thirty three per cent of non-managers.

Once a business has confirmed its current position it will be aware of the size of the task it faces to achieve an engaged workforce and benefit from raised performance levels, lower staff turnover with welcome cost savings and a more harmonious working relationship. The concept is more involved with creating a psychological bond with the workers that goes beyond the more tangible issues such as pay and conditions, although these are also crucial. There will be many difficulties to be overcome in many businesses. For example, how does a firm engage those who Work From Home? It is possible, as the CIPD survey pointed out that workers on flexible working contracts are more likely to feel engaged, to speak positively about their employer and to feel more satisfied with their work than those on non-flexible contracts. They are also less likely to move on from their roles which saves the company recruitment and re-training costs and makes sure that it retains a motivated, experienced and skilled employee. Also, the large firms mentioned earlier will carry out a lot of Internet Business and those workers doing Online Jobs in those firms will have formed part of successful employee engagement programmes.

As greater numbers of firms trade over the worldwide web, they need to market themselves productively if they want to make their web sites visible to any prospective traders lead to greater rivals for new business so it is vital to give your web site the best opportunity for grabbing these customers. If customers do not know you exist, then they are not likely to come across you just by luck.

Google, Bing and Yahoo! are the firms who run some of the better known tools which people use to find anything they may be needing, although there are other companies to pick, and these tools are known as search engines. Much of the Internet Business is built around the results which these search engines give.

Naturally the companies who are going to get the most custom are those who show highest in the search results. Searchers are unlikely to look further than the first few pages of results to locate anything they are looking for. This is where search engine optimization comes into being. It is the way by which the search engine looks for sites who fit the searcher’s requirements and then prioritizes them in the results. Seo has, therefore, become one of the Careers In Demand, as more and more firms see the benefits of advertising themselves in this way.

Because of the style of the work involved in optimizing a web site, many folk who work in the field of search engine optimization Work From Home, meaning they do not have business premises fees and are therefore a relatively affordable way for firms to promote themselves. For small and medium sized businesses, who do not have large advertising budgets, this is a bonus. They can compete with larger and better known firms whereas on the high street this may not be the case, just by picking a search engine optimization company who can promote their business well.

To optimize an internet site well takes many hours, but the benefit to any Internet Business will be rapidly seen in terms of new business. It is important for anybody involved in optimizing web pages to know which searches will be the best ones for their clients’ businesses, as optimization needs to work in the favour of the searcher and the business. The searcher wants to see relevant web pages returned from their search request and the business wants folk to find them who are likely to become customers.

Search engine optimizers must be well trained as when they Work From Home they must be able to work alone, without supervision, and know that they are doing a good job for their clients, which will get them further business in the future. These are Careers In Demand and therefore if folk want to stay in the picture, they must ensure they have had adequate training and get a good grasp of what their role in this growing industry actually is.

As I run an Internet Business from my house, I did not need to go into the snow, but with a quick view of social networking this morning, I saw updates from many of my contacts. Many of this morning’s messages revolved around the snow. There were some moaning that they were unable to get to the office due to inaccessible roads and were therefore going to Work From Home. Others told that their kids were at home as the schools were shut, due to the fact that teachers could not make their way into school. Somebody else was not sure whether he would be able to get back to Britain as airports were closed, or working at reduced levels.

How many working days are to be lost due to severe weather? It would certainly make sense, if the snow is to continue for any length of time, for companies to have policies in place to allow employees to Work From Home when weather is bad. Going out onto unsafe roads, in order to endeavour to get to the office, could cause major headaches for employees, anxious not to let their employer down. Being on roads which are not properly gritted, or not gritted at all, can be the cause of accidents – especially as we are not accustomed to driving in such conditions in the United Kingdom. Motors can break down as they overheat, which means more work for the Green Flag, which means everybody has to wait longer for recovery.

The way many firms work today, staff are sat at their PC, working independently of one another, so it should be possible for them to do these Online Jobs at their home. With a secure VPN company-confidential information should not be compromised and the knowledge by workers, that they can merely Work From Home when the journey to work would be hazardous would be beneficial to all.

If any workers did manage to get to work through the dreadful weather, no doubt they would be spending the rest of the day with one eye at the window, checking that it was not getting worse and they would be unable to venture home again. They may make it to the office, only to let managers know that they have tried, then immediately leave and return home, as the weather deteriorates, perhaps collecting some work which they can do over the next few days from home if the weather does not get any better.

We undertake a lot of Internet Business these days, even if we are working in an office, and this can be done just as easily from the house as from an office. Getting companies to set up a list of Online Jobs which workers can comfortably and confidently carry out from home would be a major step forward. Perhaps they could set up a SMS service, whereby when the weather is bad employees are told early not to endeavour to venture to the office, but work on the Online Jobs which have been made available to them. This could lead to fewer major accidents, less stressed workers and a more productive workforce.

The invention of technologies such as the home computer and then the worldwide web have increased the amount of people attempting to make a living from businesses that allow them to Work From Home. The ease of use of both the home computer and the internet, along with the numerous “new” resources available for people to use are a contributing aspect in the increase in people working from home. This has changed the work market where, as predicted, computers are steadily taking over the jobs that were once done by hand.

How are people working from home? In lots of scenarios people are working from home using the Internet Business. The use of internet businesses has of late increased due to the accomplishments of sites like Friends Reunited (which in 2005 sold for £30,000,000) and Amazon (which was predicted to make in excess of $4.75 billion in 2008) along with to the increasing ease with which one can build a website. There are many websites dedicated to providing people with information on how to set up and run an Internet Business, from the very first stages (conception of an idea) to the very final stages (steady income and regular customers). This increasing ease with which internet and home businesses can be run has contributed to many things. Primarily it has increased a desire for freedom from the “nine to five” and the growth in resources available to people on a day to day basis. This is along with the increasing use of home computers and the internet with the general public.

I mentioned before that computers are slowly taking over jobs that historically would have been done by people. This is correct in many ways, but in modern society computers cannot run themselves and whilst a website could be run by one person many people decide to employ people to keep the electronic system operating smoothly. This is so that optimization of the website can occur. The more people you have looking after the website, the better performance the website will give and the less chance it has of crashing. This has lead to an increase in online jobs. What is an Online Jobs? An online job could be defined as many things but is chiefly used to describe someone who either owns and manages an internet business or someone who ensures the running of said business. With hardware becoming more and more user friendly – the use of computers in the home rising massively. Over the last five years online jobs have become a viable option as a career, often being favoured over sometimes boring and difficult jobs in an office. This is a natural progression in business, making more profit with considerably less human “output”, optimising the way within which firms work.