[sokoloff]

> A $1,500 stipend to replace your company laptop.

It seems like a wild choice to give a specific figure as additional cash rather than just letting them keep their (wiped) laptop. That additional cash will be taxed (as should a laptop that is left with the ex-employee, but the used laptop can be valued and taxed as a used laptop rather than a $1500 cash payment [and frankly would often be, um, overlooked...).

It seems like it's better for Patreon (cheaper, less IT labor) and approximately as good for the ex-employee to make this be in the shape of the used laptop than a $1500 payment.

[smelendez]

This seems more like a bounty for the laptop potentially full of company information, passwords, code, secrets, etc., which Patreon does not want out in the wild or to have to deploy lawyers to demand back. The carrot, rather than the stick.

[stackskipton]

I would assume they are company managed Macs so they could just order a remote wipe and then remove them from iCloud so they revert to their out of box setup.

[smelendez]

Sure, but they’re still potentially sitting in limbo and turned off in the trunk of an employee’s car or whatever. If you’re concerned about leak issues, why not wipe them and have them shipped back for less than the cost of an extra week of severance.

Also, many employees likely have their own personal laptops and may not have any use for them.

[stackskipton]

In my experience, so many people these days do not have personal computer at home. Their personal computing is phone/tablet and if they game, it's done via a console.

EDIT: My wife didn't until she got "second job" as volunteer and needed to do some real work. Before that, she was planning entire vacations from her phone.

[Y-bar]

Might be different in USA? But while just about every reimbursement or perk is indeed taxable here in the EU… It is also used as a measure of how much you earn when calculating unemployment benefits, parental leave, and pension and such. For my own part about 23% of my pre-taxed income is paid to my pension fund.

[popinman322]

With RAM prices how they are right now the used laptops might be more valuable than $1500.

[Shalomboy]

I mean, I wouldn't want to have to bulk-purchase a large number of well-spec'ed laptops in this market. But you aren't wrong.

[Hamuko]

What are you bulk purchasing them for?