Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by pc86 2078 days ago
The location from which I am working is irrelevant with respect to the value I'm providing to the company. If anything I should earn more working from home, because I'm paying more for utilities and my employer isn't paying utilities for me at the office.
2 comments
AnIdiotOnTheNet 2078 days ago
But you're also no longer paying for your commute.
link
stephenr 2078 days ago
The salient point for ops argument is that the company isn’t providing utilities, isn’t providing parking, cleaning etc etc.

Working from home saves the company money. A company that is good to employees would recognise this and return at least some of the savings via payroll or reimbursements.

link
Udik 2078 days ago
The company is still paying you the same although you are no longer commuting though. Before you wasted between 1/2 hour and 2 hours every day just moving back and forth from the office (formally unpaid time). Now you can get out of your bed ten minutes before the first meeting in the day or be grocery shopping in your neighborhood five minutes after your work day ended.
link
stephenr 2078 days ago
That is irrelevant. Should a person who literally lived next door to the office then be paid the same because they saved less on commuting? What if I “work from home” but actually choose to commute to work from a storage facility on the other side of town?

No. Commuting is irrelevant to the cost because it’s unrelated to the work or the cost of doing business.

The cost of utilities not required on site is a literal and measurable saving for the business. That cost is directly transferred to the employee.

link
Udik 2078 days ago
It's not that you're not paying for your commute. It's that the company is no longer not paying you for those 1 or 2 hours you spend every day to go to your workplace and back.
link
gumby 2078 days ago
That’s true for some jobs. But some jobs consist of talking to people.
link
stephenr 2078 days ago
You might want to look into this invention, it’s called the telephone. It lets you talk to people over great distances. They even have ones now that have no cord and even let you see the person you’re talking to.

What a time to be alive.

link