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Examples of teleworking; Just what might I do to "telework?"
Are you interested in working from home but looking for ideas on what you might do? Here are some examples of what individuals might do who could use the Michigan TeleWork Loan Fund to help get them started with their business:
- An employee who works as a bookkeeper in her employer’s office develops a disability that makes it impossible for her to travel without accessible transportation. She owns an unmodified vehicle and cannot afford to purchase an adapted van. Her employer allows her to work from home as an accommodation. She requests a TeleWork loan to buy a computer, printer, printer cartridges and related supplies.
- A man who is visually impaired has tried unsuccessfully for over a year to find a job. He has had several interviews and has been highly qualified for each position, but believes the prospective employers have been unwilling to hire him due to his visual impairment. A firm that provides contract telework employment for workers with disabilities offers him a customer service position working from home. He requests a loan to buy a computer with an extended warranty, screen reader, ergonomic workstation and office furniture.
- A woman with quadriplegia is offered a position as a web developer. She has a modified van and is able to get to and from work, her employer provides her with a computer with an adapted keyboard, and she hires a personal attendant to assist her for one hour per day at the office. Her primary personal attendant is only available to provide services to her in her home. Her employer recognizes that it is a challenge for her to work in the employer’s office, especially because of the need to hire an attendant on the job. The employer agrees to allow her to work from her home two days per week as an accommodation, and to work in the office the other three days. She requests a loan to buy a laptop computer that she can use at home and at out-of-office meetings, a copy of Dreamweaver software, fax machine and an adapted telephone for home use.
- A man with a disability elects to start a business producing and selling greeting cards from his home. He needs regular medical services and experiences frequent fatigue and illness, so it would be very difficult for him to work a regular schedule; a home-based business will provide him with the flexible schedule he needs. He requests a loan to buy printing equipment, toner, card stock and envelopes.
- A woman with a personality disorder has been fired from her last three jobs due to conflicts with supervisors and coworkers. She opts to start an electronics shop in her basement so she can work for herself. She requests a loan to convert the basement into an electronics shop, to purchase tools and machinery, and to attend courses at an electronics school to improve her skills and enable her to use the tools and machinery properly.
- A long-time chicken farmer has developed arthritis that severely impairs his ability to feed his chickens and ventilate his chicken houses in the customary, labor-intensive manner. The state VR agency has purchased an automated feeding system for him. He requests a loan to buy “tunnel ventilation” – a mechanical system that ventilates chicken houses automatically. Tunnel ventilation will also increase the farmer’s income, as the poultry company to which he sells his chickens pays more per pound for chickens raised with tunnel ventilation.
- A former truck driver with a psychiatric disability chooses to return to work, but would have difficulty working for an employer due to anxiety and paranoia. She decides to become a self-employed owner-operator, driving a truck on the road and managing the business’s administrative tasks at her home. She requests a loan to buy a used truck and to pay for a driver’s education course to update her skills.
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