There is also a bias in terms of which category of the work force you fall into:

skilled trades people are  the most likely to work from home. 

A Manager is more likely to be working from home than a secretary. I imagine the reason given for this is that managers can "manage" people from a distance more easily than a secretary can provide secretarial support from a distance. I have worked with lots of companies where I have conducted job needs interviews and role analysis of individuals roles. My own experience of the reasons why secretaries are often told that they have to be in the office full time is that they are required to be "there" for people who need them. In other words, there is a certain comfort derived from the knowledge that the secretary will always know where to find that essential document, front the phones, type the urgent letter immediately and keep an eye on what’s going on in the office (or, more contraversially, but nevertheless all to often true: making the tea, taking in the dry cleaning, nipping out and buying the boss’ wife a birthday present, ordering flowers for his buddy’s wife as a thank you for the dinner party, finding flights for his holidays etc).  I personally believe that this isn’t all strictly necessary for those people who rely on the secretary to demand from her that she is the only person able to perform this function which anchors her to the office. I think it is more personal than that. My own view is that a secretary is performing a role which can be likened to the office wife/mother role: people are comforted by her presence. She does all those things that make being in an office a more human experience and makes sure everything runs smoothly in the same way that a wife/mother makes the home run smoothly. I know all too many secretaries who do all these things for their bosses which are way beyond their job description. Frankly, she "looks after" the boss whilst his wife/mother isn’t there to do it!!! A sexist view and not one that I condone but I think it is the reality that is never voiced as the people who feel this way would be too wary about expressing it in those terms. But just stop and think about it for a moment………..And all the time she does these things, how can he/she be without her even for a day????

But how does this affect her own life? Many secretaries are still women and many of them have children. If they can’t be at home some of the working week to look after their children because of the "demands of their role" is this fair on them as an employee? If much of their work isn’t really in their remit, but is more because the boss really does need an office "wife", shouldn’t these extra tasks be acknowledged and brought out into the open? If there are several bosses (male and female) who all lead such busy lives that they need their dry cleaning sorted, their holiday flights booked, their spouses birthday presents bought etc, then why not employ an office junior to perform all those tasks and make it their specific role to do so? This would ensure that the secretary can focus on her strictly office work, much of which could, in fact, be done on a more flexible basis. For example, she can type documents at home, she can take phone calls at home, book and cancel meetings, organise diaries etc. The only task she can’t do from home is filing and making tea!

What do you think?