Does your employer pay towards working from home costs?
Discussion
As it says in the title, does your employer pay towards working from home costs?
The company I work for is making 90% of its staff work from home permanently - and closing more than 50 large offices across the country.
Commuting cost me next to nothing before so I thought they might have contributed towards my broadband, phone, gas, electric etc, but no. I was just curious what other companies were or weren't doing for employees in a similar position.
Thanks in advance!
The company I work for is making 90% of its staff work from home permanently - and closing more than 50 large offices across the country.
Commuting cost me next to nothing before so I thought they might have contributed towards my broadband, phone, gas, electric etc, but no. I was just curious what other companies were or weren't doing for employees in a similar position.
Thanks in advance!
No contribution from employer so far, but my only noticable increased costs have been an upgrade to my broadband. Which will be more than offset by the decrease in commuting costs of more than £50 per week & wfh tax credit / benefit when I can be bothered to claim it. & I've gained three hours of my life back too.
Richard-390a0 said:
No contribution from employer so far, but my only noticable increased costs have been an upgrade to my broadband. Which will be more than offset by the decrease in commuting costs of more than £50 per week & wfh tax credit / benefit when I can be bothered to claim it. & I've gained three hours of my life back too.
Same here, on all points. I miss being in the same room as the team but the fact I have a 1 minute commute and can do other household tasks during the day that would otherwise always get pushed to the weekend is great.No contributions from the employer here either.
Frustratingly just before covid they wanted to lease some office space and were willing to pay staff a contribution to work from home. Covid kicked off before any of this went through and they've decided the £6 per week tax relief covers what they would have paid us.
Frustratingly just before covid they wanted to lease some office space and were willing to pay staff a contribution to work from home. Covid kicked off before any of this went through and they've decided the £6 per week tax relief covers what they would have paid us.
carinatauk said:
Just a quick question, does working from home affect house / contents insurance and council tax?
On the other points, would you have broadband if you weren't working from home? Same with gas / electric?
I updated my insurance policies recently to reflect the new normal; car insurance went down as I've done <4000 miles in the last year plus I no longer need business or commuting cover, buildings and contents went up roughly 10% when I changed the answer to "is someone usually in the house during the day?".On the other points, would you have broadband if you weren't working from home? Same with gas / electric?
I thought it would go down given the reduced opportunity for burglary, then again maybe they know how clumsy I can be and expect the accidental damage claims to kick in
ETA: no additional payments related to Covid, they already paid mobile and broadband costs.
We were told at the outset that the company would be paying for nothing so don’t bother asking. It has been a cold winter, so heating my study all day every day has spiked the leccy for the last three months, but I’m well ahead after taking commuting cost savings Into account, so mustn’t grumble, still having a job and all that...
No, but I can't work from home anyway. But those at my place who can don't get anything either, as far as I'm aware. Nor have most of my friends who are on WFH had any contribution from their employer.
I only know one person who has had extra funding to sort out an office chair, desk etc, as well as getting his additional London allowance despite not being in London when WFH. Government employee, so clearly they're a lot more ready to spendtheir our money.
I only know one person who has had extra funding to sort out an office chair, desk etc, as well as getting his additional London allowance despite not being in London when WFH. Government employee, so clearly they're a lot more ready to spend
Only the extra £6 tax relief which they claimed on our behalf.
Bills have gone up and looks like broadband suppliers are putting prices up across the board.
However my commute cost me around £240 a month and lunch/coffee was about £6 a day and parking in the staff car park was £50 a month, so saving quite a bit WFH.
Can't fault my company though as they have been great since day 1, desks, chairs and any other aids you may need are provided right down to extension leads if you want them.
We still received an annual pay rise and bonus so should be thankful for that given the current climate.
I'm guessing if they never paid for stuff before covid then they are under no obligation to pay during it.
Bills have gone up and looks like broadband suppliers are putting prices up across the board.
However my commute cost me around £240 a month and lunch/coffee was about £6 a day and parking in the staff car park was £50 a month, so saving quite a bit WFH.
Can't fault my company though as they have been great since day 1, desks, chairs and any other aids you may need are provided right down to extension leads if you want them.
We still received an annual pay rise and bonus so should be thankful for that given the current climate.
I'm guessing if they never paid for stuff before covid then they are under no obligation to pay during it.
Edited by Radec on Sunday 18th April 00:53
I run my own business so this doesn't apply to me but my sister-in-law works for the NHS & has been WFH for months.
The money is not really the issue as far as I can see, the elephant in the room is that it becomes necessary to dedicate a part of your home to work. Maybe fine if you have a garden office or a spare room that you can give up for it, but lots of people don't.
My SiL's desk is her dining room table & its far from ideal . I'm sure it must be the same for a lot of people & I can see there is going to be some conflict where companies start trying to close offices and try and force people to WFH.
Lots of younger people (especially in cities) have little more than a rented room or a bedroom in a shared flat that they live in to start with.
The money is not really the issue as far as I can see, the elephant in the room is that it becomes necessary to dedicate a part of your home to work. Maybe fine if you have a garden office or a spare room that you can give up for it, but lots of people don't.
My SiL's desk is her dining room table & its far from ideal . I'm sure it must be the same for a lot of people & I can see there is going to be some conflict where companies start trying to close offices and try and force people to WFH.
Lots of younger people (especially in cities) have little more than a rented room or a bedroom in a shared flat that they live in to start with.
parabolica said:
Richard-390a0 said:
No contribution from employer so far, but my only noticable increased costs have been an upgrade to my broadband. Which will be more than offset by the decrease in commuting costs of more than £50 per week & wfh tax credit / benefit when I can be bothered to claim it. & I've gained three hours of my life back too.
Same here, on all points. I miss being in the same room as the team but the fact I have a 1 minute commute and can do other household tasks during the day that would otherwise always get pushed to the weekend is great.We got a one off $1500 to expense a wfh setup - I spent mine on 2 monitors, docking stations, a chair, mouse, keyboard etc.
Initially we could expense additional monthly home expenses as well - eg broadband etc but they have since replaced this with a wfh stipend. - $200 ish a month
Pretty decent tbh
Initially we could expense additional monthly home expenses as well - eg broadband etc but they have since replaced this with a wfh stipend. - $200 ish a month
Pretty decent tbh
Wombat3 said:
I run my own business so this doesn't apply to me but my sister-in-law works for the NHS & has been WFH for months.
The money is not really the issue as far as I can see, the elephant in the room is that it becomes necessary to dedicate a part of your home to work. Maybe fine if you have a garden office or a spare room that you can give up for it, but lots of people don't.
My SiL's desk is her dining room table & its far from ideal . I'm sure it must be the same for a lot of people & I can see there is going to be some conflict where companies start trying to close offices and try and force people to WFH.
Lots of younger people (especially in cities) have little more than a rented room or a bedroom in a shared flat that they live in to start with.
This is a really important point.The money is not really the issue as far as I can see, the elephant in the room is that it becomes necessary to dedicate a part of your home to work. Maybe fine if you have a garden office or a spare room that you can give up for it, but lots of people don't.
My SiL's desk is her dining room table & its far from ideal . I'm sure it must be the same for a lot of people & I can see there is going to be some conflict where companies start trying to close offices and try and force people to WFH.
Lots of younger people (especially in cities) have little more than a rented room or a bedroom in a shared flat that they live in to start with.
I would suggest for 90% of people who have moved to WFH, the additional amount on their bills is outweighed by the savings they make from not commuting. I would say the time savings are even more valuable.
But, for most people, the biggest issue by far is the lack of space, and the lack of a suitable work environment. Hence the explosion in sales of 'garden rooms', extensions being built, and people effectively being forced to move home.
I have worked from home for a few years now, so had my home office already set up, but my wife was sent home last year at the start of Lockdown V1, and is unlikely to return to the office. To be fair, her company sent her home with a new laptop, additional screen, wireless headset for calls, proper office chair, and so on, but we still had to turn a spare room into an additional office.
There is no doubt that working from home will create difficult situations in some homes with regards to space.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 18th April 09:47
My employer tried to pay zero but then got a load of people not working either because they didn’t have a PC at home (several senior managers very surprised that, no, not everyone has a PC. A lot of people only have tablets and phone) or working in poor conditions and starting to aches and pains. They had to buy a load of laptops and desks. Which, of course, resulted in a lot of complaints from people who had purchased desks.
As for bills, no money and very few complaints. The main complainers are the ones who live in walking distance of the office, which is very few. Everyone else recognises that it’s swings and roundabouts with commuting costs.
As for bills, no money and very few complaints. The main complainers are the ones who live in walking distance of the office, which is very few. Everyone else recognises that it’s swings and roundabouts with commuting costs.
Wombat3 said:
I run my own business so this doesn't apply to me but my sister-in-law works for the NHS & has been WFH for months.
The money is not really the issue as far as I can see, the elephant in the room is that it becomes necessary to dedicate a part of your home to work. Maybe fine if you have a garden office or a spare room that you can give up for it, but lots of people don't.
My SiL's desk is her dining room table & its far from ideal . I'm sure it must be the same for a lot of people & I can see there is going to be some conflict where companies start trying to close offices and try and force people to WFH.
Lots of younger people (especially in cities) have little more than a rented room or a bedroom in a shared flat that they live in to start with.
That's the largest issue for us. We have a 3 bed house and whilst I worked from home to start with (sales rep), my wife started as well, so now we have 1 bedroom and 2 offices. Though I'm starting a new job in an office which I'm looking forward to - even the commute, and it means we'll get our spare room back. Long term, WFH will be great for some people but I think once the novelty wears off, people will be keen to return to the office, at least part-time.The money is not really the issue as far as I can see, the elephant in the room is that it becomes necessary to dedicate a part of your home to work. Maybe fine if you have a garden office or a spare room that you can give up for it, but lots of people don't.
My SiL's desk is her dining room table & its far from ideal . I'm sure it must be the same for a lot of people & I can see there is going to be some conflict where companies start trying to close offices and try and force people to WFH.
Lots of younger people (especially in cities) have little more than a rented room or a bedroom in a shared flat that they live in to start with.
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