Remote working has blurred the lines between desk time and home time. When emails arrive all day every day and throughout the night, workloads can spiral. We want to balance an inclusive working life and a productive working life.

Absence related to stress, depression and anxiety accounted for 15.2 million lost days of employment in 2013, which was up from 11.8 million in 2010. In Germany, 14% of missed working days are due to psychological illness such as burnout. This has risen 50% in 12 years. We work with companies that think differently.

How businesses can help promote a healthy work/life balance

We believe that businesses can help protect their employees. They can develop policies designed to raise awareness of work related stress. And promote them around the workplace. The common themes to consider include flexible working, the right culture, technology, attitude and good staff.

As workers we can only work as well as our tools will allow. It doesn’t matter whether someone works from home, a client’s office or a coffee shop, if they’re using tech that isn’t suited to this new, flexible way of working then their experience will suffer. When done properly remote working can bring huge benefits. One leading UK company found its homeworkers took 63% less sick leave than office-based counterparts. And their absentee rate fell 63% - 20% under the UK average.

Inclusive working life

Workplace pressures from tight budgets and even tighter deadlines mean employees need extra support. We encourage employer working practices that remove complicated processes or outdated technology. We want balance in society, from the workplace, to the home, from the top to the bottom.

Inclusive remote working creates a connection between team members. It means being able to reach out via messages or a video chat to encourage working relationships. It means great communication between people and flexible ways to create and collaborate.

Companies that truly make it work invest in:

• great technology that supports, not hinders, remote working
• their people - allowing their staff the freedom and flexibility to work as they need
• their company’s working environment - using remote working to bring people together, not emphasise distance.

VERCIDA works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. And thousands of job seekers looking to find the sort of working environment that these employers create.

Find roles with companies offering flexible working and other work/life balance initiatives here.