Work From Home: Business Report for AKC Architectural Firm, Melbourne

This business report analyzes the potential for AKC Architectural firm to implement a work-from-home (WFH) policy, considering the flexibility desired by employees, particularly those with families. The report examines essential elements such as software and access requirements, additional resources needed, and potential cost savings for the firm, including reduced expenses on office space and utilities. It also explores the home office benefits for employees related to taxation and proposes strategies for managing working hours and preventing misuse of the flexible system. Furthermore, the report addresses potential issues arising from remote work, like adequate on-site staffing, and suggests diverse arrangements for different staff members. The report recommends the use of software like Hivdesk and MySammy for monitoring employee productivity and concludes that AKC can successfully implement WFH if key aspects are carefully managed, ensuring productivity and efficiency.

Business Report

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Executive Summary
The report examines whether the firm can support having staff work from home. Work from
home facility is nowadays provided by the many companies considering the flexibility of the
employees. The employees have to show their focus and loyalty towards the company due to
which the company will be able to make the decision in the favor of employees. If in case the
employees will not show their skills then the company won’t be able to provide them work from
home facility.
Content

Work From Home 2
s
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Software and access.........................................................................................................................4
Additional resources........................................................................................................................4
Cost savings.....................................................................................................................................4
Home office benefits to employees considering taxation................................................................5
Working hours.................................................................................................................................5
Preventing staff from abusing the flexible work system.................................................................6
Issues occur due to flexible working system...................................................................................6
Adequate staff on site......................................................................................................................7
Diverse arrangements for different staff..........................................................................................7
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The aim of the report is to critically analyze work from home to the administration and
architectural staff. This report is based on the scenario of the fictitious company that is AKC
Architectural firm which is a mid-size firm situated in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
Moreover, most of the employees working in the company are marries with young or teenage
children. All these staffs of the company are excellent at work and maintain a good culture that
leads to the flexible work culture.

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Software and access
AKC need appropriate software and access to allow the staff member for work from home
facility. There are different types of functions or activities that are performed by the company but
few of them are operated from the site only. So, the company can provide work from home
facility for specific work. The company also has Worksnaps software that is essential for the
work from home facility. This takes the screenshot in every 10 minutes along with this it logs the
keyboard strokes and mouse movement (Gerber, 2017). The time duration is 10 minutes that
helps the organization in identifying whether the employee is working, reading or just browsing
the files.
Additional resources
If the firm allows its employees for the work from home facility then the company has to make
additional resources which include laptops and software. AKC offers particular laptops to their
employees for work which helps them to keep their entire official files and documents in one
place. If the staff member performs the activity from home then they need a laptop to work that
contains entire documents. Therefore, the firm needs to purchase additional laptops and
additional software for tracking the employee’s productivity who are working from home (Allen,
et.al, 2013). The accountant has to analyze the requirement of the resources and the funds
required for additional purchase.

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Cost savings
Work from home facility to the employees will be cost-effective for the firm. The accountant of
the company has analyzed certain expenses on which they found savings. Some of them are
discussed below: -
 Savings in the expenses like electricity bill, conveyance charges, the maintenance cost of
office, rent of office space, internet charges (Hill, et.al, 2010).
 There might be a decrease in the salary package of the employees who are willing to
work from home due to freedom and lack of community costs.
 If AKC firm will provide work from home facility then it will be able to save the
reimbursement for the travel cost which is offered to the administrative and architectural
staff (Vischer, 2012).
 The accountant ensures that they can identify the suppliers who can offer the best quality
at low prices due to which the company will be able to save amount.
Home office benefits to employees considering taxation
In Australia, there are numerous companies who motivate their staff to open a home office for
the work and educate them about the benefits of same. The employees can ask for the benefit of
tax reduction at the time of filing the tax because they are bearing the expenses of the individual
office. The expenses of the office are exempted from the taxable income due to which the
employees have to pay less tax. Moreover, the employees will get to know about the sessions and
implementation of a tax on their salaries.

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Working hours
The Australian government has stated that the minimum standard working hours for the
employees is 38 hours. AKC has to decide the number of working hours that they accept if they
offer work from home facility to employees (Australian Government, 2018). The accountant of
AKC decided the standard time will be equal to the time taken by the employees to accomplish
the assigned task. AKC is architectural firm so the main function is to work on different task or
projects. Considering the same the manager will assign the task for daily purpose and the
employees will finish the task. This is also an effective way to get the productivity.
Preventing staff from abusing the flexible work system
Most of the employees abuse the flexible work system in the organization by taking the undue
advantage of the flexible. AKC firm should take some strict actions which are given below: -
 Limitation on the break time.
 Canceling the employee's week off shift at last minute.
 Use of biometrics will help the company in tracking the appropriate working hours of
employees (Kroemer and Kroemer, 2016).
 Leaves without information should be marked as leaves without pay.
Issues occur due to flexible working system
 Employees can take the work for granted.
 Employees may or may not work effectively and efficiently to achieve the goals of the
company.

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 The flexible working system will affect the punctuality towards the office reaching time
which makes the employees in-discipline (Kattenbach, Demerouti and Nachreiner, 2010).
 This system can exploit the image of the company in the eyes of new employees.
Adequate staff on site
This is the responsibility of the manager of the company to ensure the adequate staffs on site.
The accountant of the company helps the manager in identifying the number of tasks and
projects available. Considering the work, the manager makes roaster according to which they can
evaluate the availability of the number of employees on site.
Diverse arrangements for different staff
Part-time work: - Many employees like to work for part-time instead of full-time due to some
of the reason. There are numerous firms who offer the part-time available in which the employee
works for the predictable hours of every week (Queensland Government, 2018).
Flexible working hours: - The employees complete their usual number of the hour that is
essential but the start time and end time vary.
Compressed working hours: - In this system, the employee complete its full-time hours (36
Hours) but in less than 5 days.
Flexible working hours for administration staff
AKC provides flexible working hours to their administration staff because the firm has
employees who know their jobs and are focused towards the work.

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Recommendation
It is recommended to the company to make use of new software such as Hivdesk and MySammy
as this software will help the company in identifying that the employees are working from home
or not (Gerber, 2017). This is one of the effective ways through which they will be able to
resolve the problem of absenteeism of employees.

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Conclusion
It can be concluded, AKC firm can offer the work from home facility to their employees but they
have to make sure that they are getting the productivity. Moreover, the accountant of the
company has to make sure certain aspects which are essential to be managed for the smooth
working.

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References
Allen, T.D., Johnson, R.C., Kiburz, K.M. and Shockley, K.M. (2013) Work–family conflict and
flexible work arrangements: Deconstructing flexibility. Personnel psychology, 66(2), pp.345-
376.
Australian Government. (2018) Flexible working arrangements. Available from:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements/flexibility-in-the-workplace/flexible-
working-arrangements [Accessed on 4th March 2018]
Gerber, S. (2017) 11tools for tracking your remote staff's productivity. Available from:
https://www.business.com/articles/11-tools-for-tracking-your-remote-staffs-productivity/
[Accessed on 4th March 2018]
Hill, E.J., Erickson, J.J., Holmes, E.K. and Ferris, M. (2010) Workplace flexibility, work hours,
and work-life conflict: Finding an extra day or two. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(3), p.349.
Kattenbach, R., Demerouti, E. and Nachreiner, F. (2010) Flexible working times: Effects on
employees' exhaustion, work-nonwork conflict and job performance. Career Development
International, 15(3), pp.279-295.
Kroemer, A.D. and Kroemer, K.H. (2016) Office Ergonomics: Ease and Efficiency at Work.
CRC Press.
Queensland Government. (2018) Types of flexible working arrangement. Available from:
https://www.qld.gov.au/jobs/balance/arrangements/pages/types [Accessed on 4th March 2018]

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Vischer, J.C. (2012) Workspace strategies: Environment as a tool for work. Springer Science &
Business Media.