The matter in summary: Home offices have led to many people working even when they are ill. The boundaries between sick and healthy have become more fluid with increased use of home offices. Researchers at the Labor Research Institute at Oslo Met confirm that many people experience home offices as a good thing, but that the distinction between sick and healthy has become blurred. It can increase the pressure on workers, especially new hires and people with young children. Director for working life in NHO, Nina Melsom, believes it is important to be aware of the distinction between sick and healthy when using a home office. Melsom is also concerned about how home offices affect corporate culture and the separation between work and private life. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It is more difficult to report sick when you think that you can contribute from a home office, says Stine Trulsen. She is one of 53 percent of Norwegians who have the opportunity to work from home, and who do so at least once a month. The use of home offices has increased sharply in Norway since the corona pandemic. In 2017, only 35 per cent had this opportunity, according to the Institute for Labor Research. And Trulsen is not alone in feeling that the boundaries between sick and healthy have become more fluid. Do you use a home office? Yes, I enjoy that. No, I don’t have the opportunity to do that in my profession. I have the option but prefer the office. Show result Sick or not sick? news meets her and colleague Kaja Berentsen during a break out in the sun in Arendal. Berentsen also recognizes that it can be difficult to leave work when she is ill: – You think you can get a few things done from the sofa. Then it won’t be the same break, she says to news. Colleagues Trulsen and Berentsen say that a home office provides flexibility in everyday life. Photo: Kristin Olsen / news Nevertheless, both agree that the home office makes everyday life easier. – It is easier to bring and pick up at the nursery and you can start a load of laundry during the coffee break, adds Berentsen. Do you have thoughts about the effects of a home office? Have your say at the bottom of the matter. Researching advantages – and disadvantages Wendy Nilsen and Cathrine Egeland at the Institute of Labor Research at Oslo Met are researching the effects of home offices in Norway in the project Crossbow. The project started in 2021 and will continue until 2026. During Arendal Week, they presented preliminary findings from the study. Facts about the study: The study is based on interviews with 59 employees who have the opportunity to work from home (and who do so to a greater or lesser extent) in five companies (3 in the public sector and 2 in the private sector). Many people experience a home office as a great asset. Among other things, the researchers have seen that it can work “work inclusively”. – This means that all the benefits associated with being able to work from home mean that employees feel a greater degree of motivation and job satisfaction, says Wendy Nilsen. But the findings also indicate that the distinction between sick and healthy has started to become blurred, so that many people think it can be challenging to give up work when ill. – The fact that people work even if they are ill probably goes a bit against what we think and believe about Norwegian working life, which is well regulated and with a large degree of protection for having to work when ill, says Egeland. Researcher Cathrine Egeland leads the work in the Crossbow project at Oslo Met. Photo: Sonja Balci She says that sick leave can be good – both for health and for the economy. But the fact that the distinction between sick and healthy becomes unclear in the home office can also be challenging for working life policy: – Because how do you maneuver in a landscape where people are willing to pay for a high degree of flexibility with their own occupational health? The consequences of home offices were the theme during Arendal Week this year. Photo: Magnus Skatvedt Iversen / news Fears pressure on new employees Researcher Wendy Nilsen also emphasizes that it is not necessarily stupid to be able to work from home for a while if you are sick or have sick children. But if many people do it, it will also create an expectation that even more people will do the same. – This increases the pressure on, for example, new employees who do not know where the expectations in the workplace lie. Or people with small children who should have their parents present. – GUILTY SELF: Rune Rasmussen likes the concentration you get in your home office. He realizes when he talks to news that he has worked from home several times due to illness. Photo: Kristin Olsen / news Work and privacy Nina Melsom is director of working life at NHO. She believes it is good if using a home office can prevent one being 100 per cent away from work one day. But she emphasizes that it is important to be conscious when it comes to the distinction between sick and healthy. – Because it can also be thought that disconnecting 100 per cent and using a sick leave day is what contributes to a healthy return to work one or two days later. Photo: Kristin Olsen / news Melsom is happy that the effects of home offices are being researched. – We need more knowledge, precisely to address this type of problem. She is also concerned about how home offices affect corporate culture and the separation between work and private life. – There are pluses and minuses to using a home office, both in the short and long term. And we need to have more insight into that. Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in to other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our terms of use for online dialogue Published 18.08.2024, at 12.28
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More difficult to be sick from a home office – fears pressure on new employees – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
