Fairness for who gets to work from home?

As organizations continue to adapt to a challenging labor market and changing employee work location expectations, public entities are grappling with the long-term evaluation of who can work from home. Human Resources can drive standardization of position eligibility across the full organization as the foundation for equitable remote-work application for employee eligibility.

To implement the assessment, organizations can modify an approach used by the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago to systematically assess work-from-home viability. The institute recently published a white paper using questions from the US Department of Labor Work Context Questionnaire and Generalized Work Activities Questionnaire.

The surveys focus on “work settings and possible hazards, the pace of work, and dealings with other people” and “work activities and how they relate to the position”. A sample of questions that public entities can use to assess remote work viability for all positions include:

• How often does your current job require face-to-face discussions with individuals and within teams?
• How frequently does your position require electronic email?
• How much contact with others (by telephone, face-to-face, or otherwise) is required to perform your current job?
• How often does your current job require you to work outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions?
• How important is handling and moving objects to the performance of your current job?
• How important is controlling, repairing or inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to the performance of your job?
• How important is evaluating information to determine compliance with the standards to performance of your current job?