Nine out of ten employees not allowed to work from home

Only one in ten employees in Belgium has received permission from their employer to occasionally telecommute, or work from home, according to research by the FPS Economy, write various Belgian media.

Telecommuting is most common among highly educated office workers, a quarter of whom regularly work from home.

"But working from home is on the rise," a spokesperson from the FPS Economy told the newspapers. "Twenty years ago, only 5% of all employees did it, a number that has now almost tripled."

Managers are the most likely to work from home, with 44% reporting that they do it regularly, compared to just 1- to 2% of low-skilled workers.

According to Guy Van Geys of KU Leuven, telecommuting is more common among managers simply because they have the autonomy to do so, but also because the distinction between work and leisure time for them is often quite vague.