So people are sitting down for eight or 10 hours and never moving. That combined with the fact that people don t have appropriate furniture is leading to problems. A third of those surveyed said they had regular back and neck pain which came from sitting in the same position while at home. Ms Cook said people did not take regular rest breaks. While it was possible to try to educate staff about doing this, it was important to look at a range of solutions.
People are also interested in information about setting up a good home office.
Two of the frequent issues raised by staff were about tax deductibility of office equipment and workers compensation, she said. One of the interpretations is that if you have an office in your work environment then creating an office at home is not deductible. People also didn t feel that if they had an accident at home that they would be covered under worker s compensation, but worker s compensation is quite clear that you are. She said that one of the biggest problems faced by QUT staff was that there was no formal program for home-based work which had implications on worker s compensation. But I wouldn t want to see the university getting very formalised on it.