Capitalism, The Best Solution to Poverty

[pErvinalia]

Well as I said, safety standards. There's also reduced social interaction, although that comes with a potential positive of not having to deal with dickheads at work.

Personally I fucking love working from home, but I'm a misanthrope. I imagine for more normal human beings reduced social interaction could have a negative effect on mental health.

[Brian Peacock]

Perhaps, but working from home doesn't stop you having a social life does it?

[pErvinalia]

No, but we spend most of our lives working (when not sleeping).

[JimC]

That's why a lot of people want a mix, 2 or 3 days per week at home, 2 or 3 days a week at the office, so you still get some social interaction...

[Brian Peacock]

When I was working a rarely counted my colleagues among my friends. But then again, I was an inveterate clock-watcher because I had a hinterland.

[Scot Dutchy]

It has the potential for exploitation, but all I know is that it worked brilliantly for our boys during lockdown, to the extent that they want to continue to have a mixture of at home/at the office work in future, and that this has been a very common response all over Oz.

Do they have separate rooms with outside views? Proper ventilation, heating and lighting (no fluorescent lighting)? Proper ergonomic furniture? A minimum of 8 sq.metres floor space around their desk. Sound levels not above 60dB? That are the minimum requirements in a Dutch office. My British colleagues were always amazed as they had nothing like it. They had American type cubicles with up to twenty working in an open plan office.
Working in a temporary situation is different to permanent one. There horrendous stories of the conditions some work in at home. There is also the psychological effects of not leaving the house to go to work. Not everyone has a happy home life and to go to work is a great relief for many.

[Sean Hayden]

I can't relate. I guess we could steal some of those posters nobody reads from the copy room, put them in a closet at home and call it safety management.

An office is a fairly safe place to begin with, your home should be even more so.

As for layout requirements, it's your home. Aside from those living in their car, or with in-laws, who leaves the office to go home and complain that it's not more comfortable like the office? If your home is uncomfortable, you generally fix that, barring issues which aren't likely to be addressed at a job.

[Scot Dutchy]

I can't relate. I guess we could steal some of those posters nobody reads from the copy room, put them in a closet at home and call it safety management.

An office is a fairly safe place to begin with, your home should be even more so.

As for layout requirements, it's your home. Aside from those living in their car, or with in-laws, who leaves the office to go home and complain that it's not more comfortable like the office? If your home is uncomfortable, you generally fix that, barring issues which aren't likely to be addressed at a job.

A home is not an office. Leaving and coming back to it is for many the most important daily action. Just moving from one room to the next is not sufficient. Even just going five minutes to a satellite office is enough. A home has a totally different function. Most modern houses or even older ones dont have the space to create an office. A desk in the attic is not sufficient. People have died in those situations.

[Sean Hayden]

More people have died eating crackers.

There's nothing wrong with preferring to work at an office. It's the desire to limit my ability to work from home based on some weak notions of what's good for me that's the issue.

[pErvinalia]

Freedum!

[Sean Hayden]

A beach isn't an office. How many people drowned in Australia last year, were attacked by sharks, stung by jellyfish, oh my!

[Scot Dutchy]

A beach isn't an office. How many people drowned in Australia last year, were attacked by sharks, stung by jellyfish, oh my!

Never mind the spiders.
Australian spiders are the best spiders.

[Brian Peacock]

Dangerous workplaces are dangerous, and unhealthy workplaces are unhealthy. If working from home is dangerous or unhealthy then the work environment needs to be looked at but how dangerous or unhealthy is the average home when it comes to working at a computer all day? Scot says it's unhealthy not to have enough space, but lone-working from home is not working in an office where an employer might be tempted to pack too many people in a small room. He also says it's unhealthy not to leave the house to go to work, but how healthy and potentially dangerous is it to commute to work through a busy city or drive in from the countryside etc? All I'm saying is that a change in the nature of work requires a re-evaluation of assumptions that applied in different circumstances.

[JimC]

David and Clare had plenty of space to spread out, a garden to escape to, good desks in separate areas, and no distractions. The people affected worse in our lockdown were those trying to work from home with children at home, when schools were also closed, but that won't apply as much post-civid...

[Scot Dutchy]

Australia has little problem with space. For many European countries it is but it is also very much a psychological problem and dont underestimate what the process of going to work gives to a family. Not every one who could work at home wants to work at home. It is also discipline; the actual getting up and going out is for many is a mental kick. Belonging to a tribe is mentally very important. Meeting colleagues is also an important act. Our Arbodienst (Labour Regulators) advise at most two days working at home in a separate space that is used only for work and not the kitchen table.