Employees who operate from their homes often do more work than their office-based counterparts because they want to avoid being labelled as a skiver, it has been claimed.

A recent survey carried out by Cornhill Direct found that two-thirds of home workers tend to put extra effort in to their job to show that they were not simply taking it easy.

Furthermore, the research established that while 50 per cent of home-based staff felt they were perceived as being lazy, their average working day comprised seven hours and 15 per cent of the 3,000 respondents said they typically operate for ten hours or more.

Mark Bishop, a spokesman for Cornhill Direct, said: "Whenever someone says they work from home, many people immediately think of long lie-ins, daytime TV and an early finish, but this survey proves this is far from the truth.

"People who work from home often get more done than people back in the office because they feel under extra pressure to prove they are working hard."

Meanwhile, recent research from Nokia and the Economist Intelligence Unit claimed that establishing a mobile workforce is increasingly becoming a mainstream business practice around the world.