How flexible can you be with your location when working from home?

Flexible working arrangements have become the new normal for millions of employees, with recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealing 37 per cent of Australians now regularly work from home. Remote work and work from home are terms that are often used interchangeably, but as Griffith University Business School lecturer Ben French explains, "they do have distinct nuances". "Remote work refers to any work done outside of a traditional work environment and could include working from locations such as cafes while you're travelling," Dr French says. "Management has an obligation to provide basic equipment, so if they're letting you work from home, they should be supplying you with noise-cancelling headphones, ensuring that your computer equipment is up to scratch and maybe giving advice on the suitability of chairs and so on," Professor Orr says. Getting the balance right Despite research from the Productivity Commission suggesting "productivity will remain the same or improve under more widespread working from home", assistant professor of Organisational Behaviour at Bond University Libby Sander says some employers still have a negative view of remote work.