This incentivizes people to live far from the office. I know people who live 2 hours from the office. If the commute counted, every day would be a half day. People choose where they live relative to where they work, so if someone has a 2 hour commute, that is a choice they made… assuming the housing choice and work choice were made in an environment where working in the office was the expectation.
I work from home currently, and thought about getting a less expensive place in a small town. However, I ended up deciding to get a place closer to the city. This way if I do need to get a new job, I have more options without a painful commute, and I’m not only reliant on remote positions. We all make these choices.
While the downsides of this are obvious, I wonder if in the long run this would push our cities towards better designs, by encouraging the mixing of residential and office buildings, and by encouraging improvements to implementing public transit that can quickly and efficiently move a dense population between their homes and their jobs. It probably wouldn't work, but I can dream.
That sounds great, and I care enough about this that I moved somewhere with well-designed transit, but I still think it's a problematic policy. Some people might want to live in a bigger place further out, and if they're willing to make the long commute (and pay for its negative externalities, which most aren't) then I don't see why they can't.
I actually prefer to bike to work, but I doubt any employer would be willing to give me my hourly rate for that...
Awhile back a bunch of superbowl workers who were mandated to drive off-site to go through security screening before being bused on-site sued to have those 3 hours counted as billable. They lost in court.
I work from home currently, and thought about getting a less expensive place in a small town. However, I ended up deciding to get a place closer to the city. This way if I do need to get a new job, I have more options without a painful commute, and I’m not only reliant on remote positions. We all make these choices.