Building Boundaries and Negotiating Work at Home

Abstract

Millions of people are now working full-or part-time at home. Computer technology allows workers remote access to materials and facilitates communication with coworkers and supervisors. Companies are developing telecommuting programs to benefit both the company and the employees. But working at home is not as simple as placing a computer somewhere in the home and beginning to work. The interaction with family members needs to be taken into consideration. This research looks at the process of negotiating the time and space needed to do work in the home and reveals a variety of relational and situational boundaries.