New research has revealed that employees working from home are more productive than their office-based counterparts, despite thoughts to the contrary.

The study, carried out by labelling solutions provider DYMO, found that home workers are less likely to spend their working hours making personal phone calls or logging onto social networking sites.

In contrast to office-based colleagues, home workers were also found to take shorter- and fewer- lunch breaks and were more likely to work evenings and weekends alongside their set working hours.

A DYMO spokesperson said, “Whenever anyone says they work from home, it’s easy to picture them still in their pyjamas at lunchtime watching daytime television. But it seems that they are actually working harder than their office-based counterparts.

“While it might seem like it’s easier to shy away from work when you aren’t in the office, it can actually mean that many are working harder to prove themselves to their boss.

“Working from home can also mean you actually get more work down as it’s much quieter than a busy office,” added the spokesperson.

The research found that more than 50 per cent of employees based in the office said they spend time sending personal emails during work hours, and 42 per cent said that they made personal phone calls whilst they should have been working.