Do you mean the light from the display? Can you configure the laptop's power settings so it doesn't shut down when the lid is closed?

If you can find another solution that allows to you to perform your work during normal business hours (which is the point of the automated tests running overnight), you should ask to implement those solutions, but what you describe is not unreasonable. You are being asked to use company hardware to perform a task overnight, that would be performed overnight, if you were going into an office setting. A solution is to change your home office setup.

I think the fire hazard is a bit paranoid. I've done all kinds of things with all kinds of computers. They are CE marked and tested not to cause fire hazards. If you're really concerned, connect it to the power supply and remove the battery.

Even if you're living in Germany equipped with Dell XPS 17 running 24/7 at max load, the cost would be measly $30 per month, feel free to ask the company for electricity reimbursement if you want. Fire hazards should be non-existent in any livable room, laptop gamers around the world regularly pull all-nighters with almost no tales of bursting into fire.

I'd call this quite fussy and difficult behavior if my employee did this. It sounds like something you should be able to figure out on your own.

Working from home usually allows you to claim tax deductions for things like extra use of electricity.

To all the people down playing fire risks: youtube.com/watch?v=2aOICtMyKTk and please remember that defects are discovered after a number of cases happen pcgamer.com/… Plus, the CE mark is something you apply claiming your device complies with whatever standards are behind the CE mark, you do not have to test it, in principle you have to test it to claim something, but testing is not what is required by CE mark!

Why cant you run these automation tests in the cloud or even on a jenkins server ?

I understand working in your bedroom, but laptops are portable. You could put it in the kitchen or somewhere overnight.

@EarlGrey On the other hand, wfh allows you to be home in case your hot water heater or home heating system catches on fire. Or lightning hits your house and starts a fire. Or a mouse chews threw a wire. Etc. Consumer electronics are on the list of things that can start a fire, but so low on the list that complaining about that really does come off as unreasonable.

@user3067860 to me, it does not look a big advantage that being at home you can have your working time disrupted by external circumstances that are your responsibility. While at work, in a building/infrastructure provided by the employer, the same external circumstances are under the employer responsibility, so I would just add all the things you mention to the disadvantage of wfh, but it may be a cultural thing. For example, I know that the document cabinets and the wardrobes in my company are fire-proof (in fact they cost 5 to 10 times more than standard furnitures).

@Darren In the US, to claim a tax deduction you need a part of the home that's dedicated to work. I've been working full time at home for the past decade, but I use a workstation in the living area of my apartment. When I checked the relevant IRS documents, it didn't seem like I qualified.

@EarlGrey No, not that "the building you are in" could catch fire. While you are working away from home, your home could catch fire. (Due to lightning strike, etc., etc.) And you wouldn't be there to put it out, so it would probably cause much more damage. So while wfh the risk to your stuff from the laptop is increased, but the risk to your stuff from "mouse chews through wires" is decreased. The net risk is uncertain, but not obviously a net increase (could easily be a net decrease).

@EarlGrey I couldn't find a study or anything listing an actual percentage or "1 in x" chance of issues like that, but they seem to be pretty rare, and there are a lot of other more dangerous things people do with a much higher risk. Yes, it's possible, but seems to be not very likely. Everything in life is a risk. It's not worth getting anxiety over it.

Hi. Out of curiosity, did they tell you to use tools such as TeamViewer or VMWare Horizon to access the tools you need to work with?

@Darren Additionally, unless you are working as an independent contractor you'll likely not be able to deduct anything either.

@Darren Good point. Sometimes I forget how badly the U.S. su...mersaults onto the world stage!

Are you asked to do this once? Or every now and then, of every night of the week?