Businesses are unaware of the true scale of ‘work from anywhere’ (WFA) trends among employees, according to new research by SAP Concur.

The recent survey of 835 HR decision-makers, 835 finance decision-makers and 1,670 employees across seven markets found that 18 per cent of employees globally have knowingly worked from anywhere in the last 12 months – for an average of six days – without telling their employer, yet business leaders believe only 7 per cent of their employees have done so.  

The report reveals employees have a good understanding of their company’s WFA policies, as 65 per cent understand how often they are allowed to work remotely from anywhere, and the same number of employees understand what they can and can’t expense whilst working remotely from anywhere.

UK employees are among the worst offenders, with 54 per cent agreeing it would be easy for them to incorrectly report the number of days they work abroad. 

The report also highlights duty of care risks and tax implications related to remote work as companies often lack the full picture. 

On average, business leaders believe that 6 per cent of employees have ever knowingly worked from anywhere without telling their employer, however the report reveals a much larger scale, with 36 per cent of employees admitting to doing so. 

More than half of HR leaders (57 per cent) and nearly three-quarters of finance leaders (74 per cent) are concerned about employees incorrectly reporting the number of days they are working from anywhere each year.  

Most finance leaders (67 per cent) also said they would need to make significant changes to finance processes, such as tax and compliance, to make working from anywhere feasible, while 66 per cent of HR leaders believe they need to roll out more WFA training.

Employees are also tactically covering their tracks, with the report finding nearly two in five (36 per cent) admitting they avoid social media activity to hide their location to colleagues and 44 per cent admit to applying a virtual background to cover up their real location. 

A third (32 per cent) work unsociable hours to account for time zone differences. Yet, only 10 per cent of employees considered tax penalties for themselves or their employer as a ‘top risk’ while working abroad. 

More than half (59 per cent) of employees also said they would be willing to accept a reduction in salary to be able to permanently work from anywhere, while 46 per cent cite WFA as a key perk in the workplace, which ranked above other benefits such as pension contributions (27 per cent).

Commenting on the findings, Rob Harrison, managing director of SAP Intelligent Spend Solutions (SAP Concur), said: “It’s clear that employees are itching to travel, with many happy to secretly work from anywhere to do so. With this employee desire in mind, it’s easy to see why many organisations are implementing policies around it. 

“However, allowing employees to work from abroad presents not only exciting opportunities but also brings with it certain risks. There are immediate complications related to taxation, but considerations should go beyond that – with HR and finance teams also needing to consider data privacy or their duty of care regarding health and safety,” he added.