Working from home significantly improves productivity, enabling businesses to be more competitive, and enhances work-life balance for staff, with added health benefits.

BT are leaders in their flexible working policies and now have more than 70,000 flexible workers, with seven out of 10 people working flexibly and nearly 10% home based.

Remote Employment, a web service dedicated to flexible and home based recruitment, urges companies across the UK to support National Work from Home, by giving their employees the ability to work flexible hours or work from home. Founder and Managing Director, Ken Sheridan believes a flexible employment solution benefits business, employees, and the country as a whole. Sheridan said: “There is a growing desire by employees to work from home, which shows a need for businesses to take steps to enable workers to work from home to reduce their carbon footprint. Research shows that the structure of the labour market is going to be reshaped dramatically over the four years, with remote working expected to almost double. There are already around 3.1 million people working from home in the UK and this is expected to double by 2012! The recent emergence of 'virtual jobs' and 'virtual communities' is changing the way companies attract and retain skilled employees.” Sheridan explained that although working from home fits snugly with the lifestyle of the self-employed, regardless of their location, it is fast becoming the ‘norm’ with forward thinking organisations across the UK.

He said: “Already the majority of freelancers and self employed consultants work from home, now both big businesses and their smaller counterparts, each mindful of budgets, can also benefit from outsourcing their PA and admin services as well as their creative skills.” Smarter working practices revolutionise the way people work and leads to increased business productivity and competitiveness, reduced transport congestion and pollution, improved health, assist disadvantaged groups, and harmonise work and family commitments.

Last year an Oxford University report revealed that working from home can help reduce the emission of the gases that cause global warming. The study, which pulled together research from around the world, demonstrated conclusively, that the reduction in commuting time resulting from people working at home will mean less carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere - one of the gases that causes global warming.

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK which is organising National Work from Home Day said: "Technology is enabling people to work virtually anywhere. National Work from Home Day is not an excuse for an extra day off, it is a serious attempt for people and organisations to try out homeworking." Smarter organisations reduce employment costs by adopting ‘remote working’ as a regular employment solution. With this new approach, many employers are now considering remote working and working from home as viable options in their recruitment drive. For more information, view  the Remote Employment website and the WorkwiseUK site .