Dear Bob ...
I've been enjoying your Keep the Joint Running series on telecommuting.
[ For the whole series, visit the KJR Archives and search for "telecommuter." ]
What scares me, however, is that there are so many organizations out there that believe that telecommuting is an employee privilege that should be paid for, in one form or another, by the employee. I spoke with a writer last year who told me that to telework in her company, the employee had to take -- ready for this -- a $30,000 annual pay cut.
Do you think that's reasonable?
- Teleworker
Dear Teleworker ...
When a company sets a telecommuting policy, it must be very clear about the answer in all communications on the subject. Otherwise, instead of boosting morale and loyalty, it will have the opposite effect.
To be fair, in some situations it is an employee privilege. I've heard, for example, from a number of correspondents who needed to work from home due to family situations: injuries, a parent with terminal health problems who needs care, or a spouse who took a job in another city.
[ See also: Should the feds offer tax credits to companies that encourage telecommuting? | Get sage IT career advice from Bob Lewis' Advice Line newsletter. ]
In these cases, the ability to work remotely allowed people to maintain their positions with employers who, all things considered, would have preferred having them work on-site but preferred to keep them than to lose them. These correspondents considered working remotely to be a privilege and were quite appreciative.
And then there are cases where it's part of the company's overall plan and the company expects to realize direct financial benefit as a result.
That's fine, but under those circumstances, asking employees to pay part of the cost is double-dipping.
A $30,000-per-year contribution from someone employed as a writer? That doesn't sound like a reasonable calculation. It sounds like a deliberate barrier. All things considered, I'd advise the company to simply deny the request instead. It wouldn't be a popular answer, but it would be more popular than assigning a $30,000 cost.
- Bob
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