Home Offices and OSHA

As telecommuting continues to expand, employers and policy makers have been forced to look at issues such as worker's compensation and safety in the home office. Unfortunately, the first attempts at determining these policies have not come with out problems.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) original directive regarding home offices indicated that OSHA and employers could inspect home offices for safety issues. A backlash by businesses and telecommuters alike forced OSHA to take another look at the issue. On February 25, 2000, OSHA recanted the policy relieving them and employers from regular home office inspections. The directive does allow OSHA to inspect home manufacturing operations when a complaint regarding health or safety violations are received.

For people looking to convince employers to allow them to work at home, the OSHA directive can be used as one more positive. Employers are notorious for finding excuses to disallow telecommuting. Common excuses include policies such as those originally set by OSHA. Now though, employers need to know that they nor OSHA is required to make any inspection of a home office.

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