1 in 5 now work from home – survey

The United Nations calls for revised rights for the millions toiling at home during pandemic.

Geneva – The shift to home working triggered by the coronavirus pandemic looks set to endure long-term, making it vital to protect employees’ rights and avoid blurred lines between on-theclock hours and personal time, the United Nations said yesterday.

Issues facing home workers and their employers need greater attention, including better safeguards and more awareness of the rights and risks involved, the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) said in a report.

“When the world was brutally hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, wide swathes of the world’s workers turned almost overnight to home work as a way of protecting both their jobs and their lives,” the agency said.

The ILO estimated that in 2019 there were about 260 million home-based workers around the world, representing 7.9% of global employment.

In the first months of the pandemic last year, that shot up to an estimated one in five workers, said the ILO.

In low- and middle-income countries, most home-based workers were own-account workers, but in high-income countries, employees were the largest group.

Most home-based workers are women. According to ILO estimates, 147 million women and 113 million men worked from home in 2019. The 279-page report said the growth of working from home in 2020 has brought renewed urgency to the need to address issues facing home workers and their employers.

“For teleworkers, the main concern is the blurring between working time and personal and family time,” the report said.

“The introduction of a ‘right to disconnect’ is an important measure to limit working time and ensure respect for the boundaries between work and private life.”

The report said the greatest benefit in working from home was flexibility in hours and though home workers’ hours are more uncertain they do shorter days on average.

“The provision of quality childcare is important for all home workers, boosting their productivity and supporting the –