Global reality of carbon emissions has more bosses making telework option possible; new technology makes it more feasible and commuting less necessary for employees

Kris Bailey is a self-described "queen of working from home."

And she assumed her crown long before gas prices made commuting costs shoot through the roof.

The executive director of CritiCall, a medical 911 service for emergency room and intensive care doctors looking for advice, referrals and transfers for critically ill patients, once spent about five hours a day driving from her home outside Kitchener to a former job in Toronto.

She was stressed, had gained weight and developed back and knee problems.

"I had to quit. I went into my boss's office one day and said, 'I'm finished. I can't sit in the car one more day.'"

That was about 10 years ago, and since then Bailey has made it her "duty" to get people to work productively and efficiently by working from home.

"We need to get people off the roads."

When the technology arrived that would allow people to work from home, it seemed the landscape of the Canadian office and the daily trek into work would dramatically change.

That didn't happen. Some blame managerial resistance in stodgy corporations.

Others say it's more about employees worrying their absences will come back to haunt them in times of promotion or layoffs.

Still others say remote working raises too many concerns about data and privacy security.

Whatever the reason, the fact is less than 10 per cent of the Canadian workforce -- about 1.5 million people -- work from home. That's typically once or twice a week.

But it's estimated that more like 50 to 85 per cent of the workforce have a job that could accommodate some element of telecommuting.

"As a society, we got caught up in the technology and felt it would change our lives much quicker than it actually has," said Bob Fortier, president of the Canadian Telework Association.

But the double-edged sword of skyrocketing gas prices and the growing concern about global-warming could trigger that revolution, say experts.

"More and more employees are demanding a telework option for so many reasons like gas prices, time and congestion," said Fortier.

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