A third of employees are worried that their boss will see them in a bad light if they ask to work remotely, according to webexpenses research.

However, in spite of this, nearly 40 per cent of UK bosses say that they can see the positive impact that mobile working has on their business’ bottom line. In addition, 32.9 per cent of employees feel they do more work at home than in the office, with a further 36.6 per cent saying that working out of the office brings fewer distractions.

The research also highlights some of the personal benefits that a flexible approach to mobile working can bring for employees. Over half of employees say that they could save substantial amounts of money on commuting if they could work from home more often, with a further 49.2 per cent stating that they would achieve a greater work/life balance.

Sanjay Parekh, co-founder of webexpenses, said: “It is clear from our research that both employers and their staff see the huge advantages that can be gained from remote working – especially in respect to productivity and company profits. 

“Unfortunately, there seems to be a cultural disconnect within many organisations when it comes to staff working out of the office – this culminating in staff feeling that they will be viewed negatively when requesting to work remotely. This is an almost Victorian way of looking at things, and I would urge more UK business leaders to embrace the remote working model.

“Huge advances in cloud computing mean that an employee’s decision to work from home, or out of the office, doesn’t have to be viewed with negativity. There is a huge number of cloud-based products and services out there that can support all businesses in unlocking the advantages of mobile working. In fact, it’s with these business advantages in mind that we’ve developed our apps for smartphones and tablet devices – helping more UK businesses to simplify the way they track and process company expenses claims.

“With almost 40 per cent of the bosses we surveyed saying that mobile working has had a positive impact on their bottom line, I believe that embracing a flexible working culture could bring financial rewards for UK businesses and the economy as a whole.”

By Shané Schutte