The stress brought on by a long working week and a lengthy daily commute is a significant cause of ill health in the UK but can be tackled in part by increasing employee flexibility, it has been claimed.

Boosting the number of people in the UK who carry out their jobs from home would help ease the country’s congestion concerns, one expert has made clear.

Giving staff a right to demand flexible working arrangements, such as operating from home, would be good for business, according to around one-third of those polled in a recent study.

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.

An increased level of productivity is rated as the most significant benefit home-based workers can offer businesses in the UK, according to research from the human resources firm Ceridian.

Businesses that offer flexible working options can expect to improve their recruitment performance, as well as their workforce’s motivation and productivity, according to the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Brendan Barber.

British companies need to learn to work "more cleverly" and introduce practices, such as enabling staff to operate from their homes, if the country is to maintain its international competitiveness, it has been claimed.

Almost seven out of every ten office workers in the UK would prefer to do their job from home, according to recent research by Cornhill Direct.

An agreement reached between the North American telecoms company Nortel and the unified collaborative communications group Polycom will aim to develop technologies that enhance the effectiveness of a dispersed and mobile workforce, it has been announced.

There are thousands of mobility-restricted people in the UK who could be putting their skills to use as contact centre operatives, but much of their potential remains largely untapped, it has been claimed.