To wonder about the heating bills for WFH?

[CheetasOnFajitas]

It’s occurred to me, now that colder weather has set in and it looks like those who can do so will be WFH for the next 6 months- the heating bills are going to be through the roof!

Has anyone’s employer acknowledged that home-based employees are going to have to bear this cost? I know for some it will be offset by no commuting costs, but not for all: my husband and I cycle to work normally.

I do acknowledge that I am personally lucky to (a) have a job that can be done from home and (b) have a job at all.

Speaking to friends and family, the employers that are paying anything for additional costs for WFH are in the minority.

Do you save anything on wear and tear on your bikes? Sorry, if this is a stupid question but I dont cycle and not sure how much they cost in upkeep!

@Dillydallyingthrough

Speaking to friends and family, the employers that are paying anything for additional costs for WFH are in the minority.

Do you save anything on wear and tear on your bikes? Sorry, if this is a stupid question but I dont cycle and not sure how much they cost in upkeep!

I guess there would have to be some reduction in wear and tear due to reduced use (and unfortunately also reduction in fitness and increase in weight!). But I doubt it would make a huge financial impact, and also some bits of bikes deteriorate if they are just left sitting unused for a while too.

I’m not facing financial difficulties caused by increased heating bills though. It was more of a theoretical question prompted by the thought that some people might struggle (eg junior staff where I work).

Yes, fully understand that in companies where some come in and some wfh it is often the lower paid who have to come in. They often resent the higher paid comfortably sitting at home (or at least that’s how they imagine it) and saving on travel cost and time....but forget the increased heating bills!! The grass is always greener ...

And yes, wfh varies a lot according to circumstance. Now the kids are back at school it’s better for lots but I’ve heard of people working on the ironing board as there’s no spare table space and some people live in bedsits and work at home.

People’s home circumstances vary hugely but I’m not sure what employers can really do about that.

It’s the same as usual - the better off have jobs which often can be more flexible (done at home or in office) and if they have to work at home have nicer environment to do it. Low paid insecure work often has to be done at workplace within rigid hours with no flexibility and on the occasion the job might be at home it’s hard for those people to actually work from home comfortably. The lie paid are more likely to be furloughed or in industries where mass redundancy is coming.

Some people always have an easier or harder life and more or less choices available to them. It’s not fair and it’s not new. And I don’t think it’s down to employers to redress the balance.

Some people are right that they’re getting a bad deal. Others are sure they are but often hone in one fairly small aspect and have a bit of a spirit of jealousy/comparison and forget the other positives they have in their circumstance. So the people who don’t want to work from home or face increased heating bills forget lots would rather be at home than travel to work and pay travel costs. Some people were jealous of the furloughed whilst most furloughed said they would love to be secure and slaving away.

The other half gets our broadband reimbursed and all travel from the house paid above HMRC rates plus £6k car allowance.

Car allowances are a common way to increase pay at lower cost to the employer as it comes at lower cost in employers national insurance contributions and doesn’t have to be factored into redundancy, pension, maternity, etc. Perhaps people could negotiate a similar work from home allowance?

It's so frustrating being told about saving from wfh. I am paying no less than before it a no closer to go home after school/ nursery run than to go to work. We aren't getting anything from work just ad ised recently we could claim that £6 a month before then told we couldn't even claim that. I think I'm just gonna wear more clothes rather than heat the house all day. That's before I even get started on being attached to the bloody sofa all day! getting so stiff lately sure it's because of that

Car allowances are a common way to increase pay at lower cost to the employer as it comes at lower cost in employers national insurance contributions

but fuck the environment, eh ? One reason why I struggle to believe successive governments commitment to the planets future ....

@DGRossetti

It’s paid in cash (taxable), you use it for anything you want but on paper it is in lieu of a company car.

Working from home is now costing me quite a bit.... not just heating in the house.... but I chose DS school based on where I was working.... so now I have to drive to work twice a day.... that's aside from not having a suitable place to work at home and being in pain as a result.... i wish I coukd go back to my workplace, it's quite easy to socially distance there too

My blood is near boiling. At least you can WFH! Take the positives from it and crack on. Just how entitled does a person get to be these days! Some folk will want to claim for the air that they breathe in their homes next.

You can't apply for tax relief unless your job is an actual home based role. I was employed as a home worker so I can claim money back.

Yes, I remember when we chose a school for daughter 2 in London so I could take her on my way to work. Lots of parents have picked a nursery by work too. It is a very complicated situation people are now in and no one knows what is the new permanent normal yet.

Those in a union (probably not most office workers but will include many many civil servants) may want to negotiate over some of these issues. I know when my son was a postman for 3 years there were various union negotiated things they got (obviously not in their case to do with home working)

@10pennychews

You can't apply for tax relief unless your job is an actual home based role. I was employed as a home worker so I can claim money back.

Actually you can apply for tax relief if your job is not home based... You can claim if your employer requires you to work from home (like when practically everywhere did because of lockdown). You can't claim if you work from home voluntarily.

I work in a school and got a refund of tax relief for the last 3w of 2019/20 tax year and an updated tax code for the current tax year factoring reflecting the weeks I was WFH.

You have to claim retrospectively, so claim once you go back to your workplace and are no longer required to WFH.

I think it boils down to the fact that everyone seems to have been affected financially by Covid. I’m working as normal but have had to change my transportation which has not resumed any normality and will not be for the foreseeable future. I’ve lost £100 a month as a result. No one will refund it or give it back to me. Wait until the predicted tax hikes come, we will be paying for this in many ways for years to come and sadly will have to mainly suck it up.

I think you should be grateful to still have a job. Put on an extra layer there is plenty of thermal clothing out there and a hat as granny used to insist on. Out of interest my summer bill was still £100 per month I turned off my towel heater in bathroom (only on twice a day) and saved £50 per month !!!!! Some heat to take the chill off, of course, you don't need to see your breath in the air.
Turn it off earlier in the evening at least an hour and it won't notice too much.

Employers and Landlords suffer too !

Are you forced to WFH or do you have the option of going in? If so then just start working from the office again every day or at least some days, that is the way to avoid heating bills. Assuming it is covid secure of course. I have been going in every day since July and feel pretty safe, obviously no guarantees.
If you have no commuting costs and minimal lunch costs you have been extremely lucky so far. You will continue to save on smart clothes for work etc. There are advantages and disadvantages to wfh and working in the office and I don't think people can have it all ways. Not saying this is you, but I've come across a lot of people who think working from home is a lifestyle nirvana, based on doing it for a spring and summer, for some of which at least the weather was gorgeous. Once the novelty wears off and winter kicks in the reality will bite. Having said that I am probably biased because although I quite enjoyed WFH during lockdown I do prefer being in the office.

I think you should be grateful to still have a job.

Oh great, this attitude is resurfacing. Delightful.

Employers and Landlords suffer too !

Let me dig out the world's tiniest violin to play my lament for the reduction in profit from exploitation of people's labour and basic needs...

Also, consider that your employer may be suffering financially and demands for heating bills etc may not be that reasonable in the circs. They might be making people redundant and unfortunately there may be much bigger worries down the line. Like many people I took a massive pay cut so I am hugely worse off, but consider myself fortunate to be - so far a) still healthy b) not lost any loved ones c) still in a job

Do you get your tiny violin out for farmers and shop workers too @unmarkedbythat? Asking for a friend.

I think they should pay something, my DD had no commuting costs to offset,, she pays keep etc, but normally I have no heating on during the day. But I am not sitting still on a computer taking calls. They have also removed all her extra pay for working till midnight and 3 weekends a month. I am still paying my last energy supplier £20 a month so there is no way I can have the heating on longer. The employers are saving £1000s so they should pay something for heating and lighting. We don't have a fire only radiators, anyway she works in her bedroom which is one of the coldest rooms in the house with 2 outside walls.

Are you forced to WFH or do you have the option of going in?
Do you not watch the news @TrixieMixie? The government has asked that everyone who can work from home should do so.

Regarding your comment that my company may be suffering, I explained earlier in the thread that we are not. The area we work in has become busier as a result of the pandemic.

Put your heating on constant as it’s more economical according to my gas man. I pay £65 for combined gas and electric for a 3-bed semi. It doesn’t need to cost a lot if you manage it right.

If you have a job you do from home quit whining about heating bills, put an extra jumper on and get your hot water bottle out.

It's not ideal but so is not having a job at all.

Horses for courses.

I tried the leaving heating on all the time one winter in a well insulated cottage with thick walls. We had the biggest bill we ever had, it was about £500.

@WombatChocolate

Yes, I agree there is a straightforward hit on the pocket. However I don’t think it is the employer responsibility.

Firms have also faced lots of hits on their pockets. But no-one really thinks they should be relieved of those by paying staff less - it’s just been accepted as one of those tough things.

Heating is one of those tough things of Covid in the same way feeling isolated is. We have to adjust to new norms. Maybe some people adjust with a slanket or a plug in heater or working in a different room. It’s easier for some people to adjust just by putting the heating on more but life generally is easier for some who have more choices. It isn’t the employers job to plug the gap for those who struggle more or find adjustments needed arising from Covid living difficult. If individuals can’t manage it themselves, that’s a job for government not the employer.

However I would say we all have to be willing to bear costs and make adjustments and not expect government to cover everything or restore us to pre-Covid standards. Things have simply changed and we all need to live in the new now and expect some things to be different.

Saying ‘but last year I didn’t need to buy so much loo roll as myself and DH were out during the day so now I’m worse off and someone somewhere must pay for it, but not me’ just doesn’t help or acknowledge the shift.

Lots of people will financially struggle this winter - part time work for those previously furloughed from full time, with government subsidies. But less than full pay. Those made redundant. Those who owe money due to debts built during lockdown etc etc. Our individual costs and struggles are part of a bigger picture. They aren’t just faced by us, they haven’t been deliberately generated by employers or government. We all have to find new ways to make our budgets if incomings and outgoings work ....and most people will be worse off. It shouldn’t be a surprise - it’s the impact of a pandemic!

Yes, this is why I posted my frustration as an employer who these sort of requests fall on (only to be told by the OP that she worked for a different company so of course my contribution wasn't relevant ).

But last time I checked I'm still a human being, one who wasn't taught to steer my small non-profit through a global crisis, and who has a responsibility that I take very carefully to keep the company financially secure in perpetuity. The thought of failing to do so keeps me awake at night.

I've done as much as I can to be flexible for staff, and they've all had a payrise this year. We treat our staff very well (last year we cut hours and increased pay), but in return we expect competent adults who accept that the business that pays them has a bottom line.

CARDIGAN..? VEST...? Come on! I may be older, but get a bloody grip, just put an extra layer on..ffs!