On Thu, 9 Feb 2012 13:44:24 -0800 (PST), Ste
wrote:

However - just try getting almost any Engineering employer to agree to
that. Despite the fact that it would cost them nothing at all. Employers
are frequently not flexible, not because of any difficulty, but because
management like to be able to look at who is in the office and do they
*look* busy and so be obviously *managing* their employees.

It's because you gain more autonomy by working from home, and if you
have autonomy then you need to be trusted (rather than simply
monitored). A relationship of trust is always more efficient as a
whole, but for a profit-making enterprise determined to exploit you
and determined to survive in a competitive market, it does not matter
if the operation is 99% inefficient with your labour and theirs, so
long as that 1% of labour generates profits for them and gives them a
good standard of living by comparison to those they exploit.

Both trust and exploitation are 2-way streets.

Otherwise what you say is correct - working from home is possible only
if there is respect and trust *on both sides*. As your posts indicate
that you could never trust your employer, it would probably not be a
good thing to allow you to work from home.

If an employee feels as you do, that they are being exploited by their
employer, then it is pretty obvious that they will do all they can get
away with to redress the balance (as they see it). So if, for
example, you feel that you are not being paid enough, then you'll
probably respond by working fewer hours so that your hourly rate
increases to the point that you believe is more fair.

--
cynic