Telecommuting, Telework, Remote Worker, and Work From Home

One of the things that confuses newcomers to telecommuting is the terminology. Is telecommuting different from telework? Is telecommuting the same as Work From Home?

I use the terms telecommuting and telework interchangeably. Indeed, I often say telecommuting/telework to get the point across that I see them as the same thing. One of the defining features of telecommuting and telework, IMO, is that you’re someone’s employee, but you don’t report to an office with your coworkers. Instead, you work remotely, from your home, from the beach, from one of your many local Starbuck’s, wherever.

The phrase “Working From Home” is often associated with telecommuting, since many full-time teleworkers in fact work from their homes. I think there’s also a negative connotation to the “Work From Home” movement in that there are plenty of scams out there that try to snare people with the promise of being able to “work from home” while requiring a fee up front. Beware of these - if you have to pay to work, who do you think that’s helping?