Working from home is known to be good for a strong work-life balance, advantageous for employee productivity, and is even touted as being beneficial for the environment. However, telecommuting has also carried a stigma that employees who work remotely have difficulties rising in their career.

New research from the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute suggests that the reality is more positive than previously feared. In the study, recently published in the Journal of Vocational Behavior, Timothy D. Golden, a professor and area head of enterprise management and organization in Lally, found that rather than suffering career consequences, telecommuters and non-telecommuters receive an equal number of promotions.

“Although telecommuting has experienced rapid growth, some workers are reluctant to try telecommuting for fear that it will hurt their career,” Golden said. “This research helps answer that critical question: Does it hurt your career if you telecommute? My study shows that it depends heavily on the employee’s work context.”

Golden found that a key determinant in the success of telecommuters receiving promotions was the prevalence of telecommuting in their workplace. Telecommuters were promoted more when they worked in offices where working from home was widely accepted, yet in offices where few people telecommuted, those employees received fewer promotions.

But … extra hours and face time needed

While telecommuters may rise in the ranks at the same rate as their office-bound counterparts, Golden observed that employees working from home don’t earn the same bump in pay. However, if telecommuters signaled a “devotion” to the workplace by working additional hours outside of normal working hours, his analysis indicated that they benefited in terms of both promotions and salary growth.