Remote Working - advice

belasta

I'm working PT at night but due to childcare failing at times and unable to find alternative help at the moment, I am thinking remote working would be better for my situation 

They attend nursery in the afternoon and I set off to work and husband picks up at night, however, due to lack of staff, time changes, self isolations of staff etc, I am regularly having to change my set shift times and I feel I am becoming a burden despite this not being my fault and husband had also had to do same so he too is in the same position but he has a much better job so I am more than happy to change mines as my current role was only to help with childcare.

Looking through job sites there are many remote roles available which I can do thanks to my past experience but is there anything to look out for?  I would hope to be employed and not have to go self employed (otherwise I would be a Virtual pa which I am in the process of setting up)
Many of the roles seem a little too good/too easy for the money and I don't want to be duped by scam businesses so any advice on recommendations, what to look out for etc would be very much appreciated.

belasta

Jillanddy said:

Can I ask,  are you expecting to be able to look after your child when childcare "fails" whilst working remotely? Because you will undoubtedly find that few employers are willing to allow that. It is impossible to supervise or care for a child or children whilst simultaneously working. And for many employers it would breach their terms and their insurance.  

My job starts later in the day, a couple of hours after little goes to nursery and husband finishes soon after, however, when nursery is cancelled, we often don't find out until I am about to enter work or already in and then have to make the hour long trip back to pick her up.
Husband is in the same position but he has a great paying job he loves and would rather avoid causing disruption with his job and find a solution myself as I'm on a nmw job.

I was hoping that there might be afternoon/evening positions that I can start in my office upstairs as soon as husband comes back instead of having to wait for him to come home then travel all the way to my job, start then commute back which often can be midnight before I get back home - sadly we aren't within a busy location so besides a few small shops and businesses, most vacancies are an hour away.

I wasn't looking for a remote job that started during nursery time but after husband comes home, hoping to cut the commute time 
I just feel that these regular changes to nursery times or sent homes are causing irritation with the employers and don't believe they will humour it for too long.

We are looking for an alternative nursery but it seems many are having the same issues, we can't afford a childcare and if we could, they are full capacity so we are sort stuck between a rock and a hard place

Sandtree

belasta said:

Many of the roles seem a little too good/too easy for the money and I don't want to be duped by scam businesses so any advice on recommendations, what to look out for etc would be very much appreciated.

In what way too good/easy?

As long as you are going to be an employee there isnt that much to "look out for"... certainly for anything based on sales make sure you understand the basic salary -v- commission, "OTE" earnings are frequently absolute rubbish and almost no one is getting enough sales to hit that amount. The one outbound telesales job I did thankfully didnt list a OTE income but the target was to make 3 sales per hour and if you did so it almost doubled your income however the reality was the call centre average was less than 1 sale per hour and you got no commission at all if you didnt hit target. I'm sure someone would argue that OTE should at minimum be the basic target and so the reality would have been half the pay than you were expecting.

Outside of that... how is training done? Some remote/out of hours job have on site business hours training for a few weeks which can be difficult to fit around everything. What, if anything, is the requirement to go on site? Some "remote" jobs do have a monthly onsite day for a team meeting etc

Too good/easy may mean you are underestimating the job. A lot of people used to say my work in call centres was an easy job just sitting on your !!!!!! talking to people for a good step up from NMW however a lot of people find it very stressful as you are constantly monitored on average call length, the gap between the end of the call and being ready for the next, cross/up sell even in non-sales roles. My ex used to do directory enquiries calls and their average call time had to be under 10 seconds and most staff lasted less than a month before leaving 

Own_Worst_Enermy

I have an ideal work from home job that doesn’t even involve the phones! even although shift times aren’t great, but I don’t think it will last more than 3 months as much as I’d love it to and certainly installing resilience! the productivity required is so very high and it’s a bit worrying talking to existing team 7 out of 8 reckon they were the only one kept on out of their ‘training’ group. : (

The Employer refuses to make wfh a contractual right in the employment contract and each month we have team meetings and team office days in the workplace which I heard was moving to failure to physically attend results in a disciplinary. I’d be ok with attending the office but feel for those who are really going to struggle. 

I just wouldn’t take any newer WFH jobs as without clauses these days.

Although I do know of a sales company who are 100% remote, contracts worded as such - remote induction included and take on nationwide but you do have to work to sales targets. They were really so pleased when I had an exit interview that I would recommend them as an Employer even though the role wasn’t me. (you are welcome to PM)

mcpitman

A lot of "Virtual PA" call centre roles can be massively flexible based on the hours you want to work as long as you can commit to cover certain busy periods. Places like MoneyPenny etc.

I work remotely and have done for a few years (pre covid was 3 days per week at home, post covid = perm wfh).

It works well for me and my work/life balance has improved dramatically since working from home. I simply couldn't imagine spending the 4 hours a day in the car I used to when commuting to the office.

I can say that remote working isn't for everybody and some people struggle with the lack of human interaction.

TELLIT01

Work From Home may seem like a great idea, but it's not necessarily all it seems particularly for somebody who is new to a job and organisation.  In the office there is generally somebody around to ask questions of and you get a sense of the dynamics of the company.  WFH and you can be very isolated.