Reflections

Abstract

In pondering this interesting collection of research studies, I am struck once again by the diversity of this phenomenon we call “telework”. Students of this phenomenon are accustomed to encountering a wide variety of definitions, and the present set of chapters is no exception. The definitions used herein include:

• “employees who did work at home by formal agreement in lieu of, rather than in addition to, office based work for more than one day per week” (Leeds and Leeds);

• home-based teleworkers: “those who work from home (instead of commuting to a central workplace) for at least one full working day per week, use a personal computer in the course of their work, use telecommunications links (phone/fax/e-mail) to communicate with their colleagues/supervisor during work at home and are either in salaried employment or self-employed in which case their main working place is on the contractor’s premises”; mobile teleworkers: “those who work at least 10 hours per week away from home and from main place of work, e.g. on business trips, in the field, or on customer’s premises, and use online computer connections when doing so” (Gareis); and

• “work performed at a distance from the employer or client for whom the work is being performed, and where is mediated by information and communications technologies”(Akselsen, et al.).