BOSTON -- Rising gas prices and longer commutes are taking their toll on American workers.

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NewsCenter 5’s Ed Harding reported on the top reasons employees can enlist to convince their bosses to let them work from home some or all of the time.

Rachel Greenstein is a public relations professional with a commute that’s enviable. She walks about 15 feet across her bedroom to her computer. Everyone at her company, Warner Public Relations, can choose to work from home, including her boss.

“It’s just like talking to somebody down the hall,” said Carin Warner, Greenstein’s boss, who works out of her Manchester-by-the-Sea home office along with just a few support staff. “I’ve never really seen any negatives. I know that the most important thing is for people to be productive and happy.”

“The employers are starting to realize that if they want to keep some of their key employees, they have to make a concession,” said Chuck Wilsker, a national advocate for telecommuting who heads up The Telework Coalition.

Wilsker said bosses could be losing money if they don't consider letting employees work from home. If that's what you want to do, here are tips to make it happen.

Argument #1: Better productivity.

Fewer distractions at home generally make employees more productive; Wilsker estimates up to 20 percent more productive. That's like squeezing in an extra work day every week.

“The time you waste in the office every day is not wasted here,” said Greenstein.

The average commute in Boston is about 28 minutes each way, so that hour each day can become another hour spent working.

“Yes you put those extra hours on, absolutely, on either end, but it's working and it's getting more done,” said Greenstein.

Argument #2: Employees save money, especially now that gas costs more than $4 per gallon.

Wilsker adds, “It's too expensive to drive to work every day. When we throw in not just the gasoline, but we throw in the wear and tear on the automobile, when we throw in parking, what it costs to eat lunch at work, dry cleaning and all these things, it's just getting too expensive for anybody to drive to go into the office every day.”

Given those conditions, convincing your boss to let you work from home “can be like getting a raise,” Wilsker said.

Commuting less is also beneficial for the environment.

Another reason that may sway a boss to let you work from home is workplace continuity. Employees who work from home are able to stay productive when a hurricane, blizzard or other type of disaster strikes.

Bosses also benefit with lower real estate costs, and better employee retention.

“The cost of turnover is very high,” said Warner. “The cost of lack of productivity and unhappy people working for you is immeasurable.”

Wilsker adds that finding and recruiting new employees becomes easier, too, when employees are allowed to telecommute. The pool of potential hires is larger because geography and commuting time are not issues.

Experts say the bottom line is to convince your boss that you are responsible enough to get your job done without going to an office every day.

If your job cannot be done from home, consider asking your boss for flex-time, for instance working four, 10-hour days. Or, ask to shift your hours earlier or later to avoid sitting in traffic.

If you work for company that has multiple locations, ask to transfer to the one closest to your home. Don't be deterred you're the first person at your company to ask.

“What I suggest you say is that ‘It's a good thing to set a precedent because it may make you, as a company, more successful,’” said Warner.

“There are a lot of very large, successful organizations doing it, and there are a lot of small businesses that are doing this and saving a whole lot of money,” said Wilsker.

If you’ve tried all those arguments and your boss is still hesitant, ask for a trial run. Ask to give working from home a try for a set period of time so everyone can see how it will go.