Low Car Insurance and Other Benefits of Telecommuting

With the amazing opportunities afforded by technological advances these days, there are more and more people working from home, either full-time or just a few days per week. So much of modern business can be conducted remotely via email and collaborative software that the modern workspace as we know it is definitely changing. There are a lot of great advantages to telecommuting, including the plenty of ways that it can save you money. 

More Flexible Schedule

One of the first benefits that springs to mind for most people when they imagine working from home is the ability to set their own schedule. There’s no expected time to start (or end) the workday, which means the focus is on meeting and completing specific project metrics rather than just being present from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., whether or not you’re being productive. 

This flexibility also means that employees save companies money by not needing to take personal days on company time in order to take care of business that can’t be conducted on the weekends. Trips to the bank, scheduling a visit to the dentist visit or staying with a sick kid who’s home from school can all be accomplished without taking time off the clock, or costing your precious paid personal leave or sick day accrual.

Increased Productivity

Some companies mistakenly believe that sending employees home to take care of work will make them much less productive. In reality, the reverse is true. Spending time at the office means that workers are getting paid for just being there, not only for the times that they’re actually working. Getting distracted by a chat with a coworker, trips to the bathroom and time waiting for computers to reboot are all paid for by the company. While the workday is supposed to last eight hours, there are very few employees that work for every minute of those eight hours on any given day.

When employees work from home instead, they’re clocking their minutes rather than getting paid just for showing up. This means payroll isn’t covering the tiny breaks throughout the day; instead, workers are only getting paid for the time they’re truly being productive. An eight-hour day working from home consists of eight actual hours spent working, unlike eight hours at the office, which can mean working about seven hours plus an hour of accumulated goof-off time throughout the day.

Saving Money

Employees and employers can save tons of money by having essential workers connect from home instead of coming to the office. Since the benefits are mutual, both parties are often in favor of increasing remote work carried out at home. One estimate suggests that companies can save around $11,000 a year per employee if workers telecommute even just half the time. These costs come from savings in employee retention, increased productivity and more.

As for the employees, there are plenty of ways that telecommuting can save money:

·         Since no dress code is required for at-home workers, employees can save huge on clothing costs, not only for avoiding expensive wardrobe updates, but also from no longer needing dry cleaning services. 

·         The costs of driving back and forth to a physical office can add up very quickly, including gas money and higher car insurance prices.

·         Staying from home cuts way back on fuel expenditures, and should help you find much lower online car insurance quote as well, since car insurance quotes are based largely on the annual mileage put on your vehicle.

More Time with Family

While work benefits are great, a healthy balance between work and home life is essential. For many of those working from home, telecommuting offers the perfect chance to do just that. Working remotely allows for the expected eight-hour day to be scheduled a lot more creatively. For example, parents may choose to work an hour early in the morning, then get up and feed the kids breakfast before driving them to school. They can come home and work for six more hours till the kids are done with classes, then spend time with their family until after bedtime. Once everyone is asleep, they can put in that final hour for a total of eight. For many, this type of scheduling makes working from home truly a win-win proposition.