To expect my work to pay for broadband and other wfh expenses?

[Zazzii]

Since last March like many of us I have been working from home - I have a work laptop and phone and use our spare room. I had always worked the odd day at home when it was convenient for wating in for deliveries/ appointments etc but only once or twice a month. I, and line manager etc, were happy with this but it was seen as a bit of a perk

Now that working from home is established as the 'new normal' is it wrong for me to expect my employer to cover my broadband costs? They dont seem inclined to give us anything telling us that as we have it already there is no increased costs for us of using it for an additional 7 hours a day.

It is vital for the business that we are connected therefore the cost should be met by the business. Plans from teh summer are for us to continue working from home at least for part of the week so it will be long term.

I undertsand that they dont want to get involved in discussions about individual broadband contracts etc but a standard amount for all staff - say £30 a month?, £40?- should be part of our expenses claim. Or do I need to accept it as part of the new way of working?

Then there are other expenses which I have incurred over the past year - bigger things like the heating and electricity during the day but also small things like the coffee, tea and other refreshments I would normally expect to have at work which I have had to pay for.

I havent reduced any costs in other areas - my commute is 2 miles by bike so negilible cost and time saving.

Am I being unreasonable? Would it be unreasonable to try and rally my fellow workers to ask for this?

Where I used to work, there was an official communication informing teams that it was no longer acceptable to use the organisation's money to pay for a packet of biscuits to celebrate a team-member's retirement.

YABU.Do you want them to provide toilet paper too?

I have a colleague that asked, in a team meeting no less, whether we'd be getting paid extra because of the increase in having to use our 'own' things and she included toilet paper on the list

Broadband is one of those things we have anyway so I'm happy to claim the small amount we can claim for WFH and continue working in a way that suits me best. TBH, I'd take a pay cut to be able to continue

YABU - My DS has been wfh in IT, as he's developing Apps etc for College students to enrol etc, we've had to upgrade to Fibre BB to enable him to do it.. my Internet bill has doubled, as has my Leccy bill.
Tough, there are so many people in the same boat.

Companies should definitely be paying for people working from home for things like extra electric, heating, IT equipment, phone etc. It's outrageous that some aren't doing that. If offices close then they will be saving money themselves. I'm annoyed that I have to use my own phone for work and I had to upgrade it recently because of it, at my own expense. Not unreasonable at all to ask.

My work have addressed this by finding a hot desking space, if you don’t want to work at home then you can work there. Obvs no one does but it gets them out of the ‘forced to wfh’ argument

YANBU. The whole point of providing your services to an employer is to make money, and since you are now effectively providing work premises as well as your service, the employer should pay for it.

I provide my own laptop for wfh as well as heat, light and broadband. A paltry tax allowance goes nowhere near compensating me for my costs.

@CJsGoldfish

YABU.Do you want them to provide toilet paper too?

I have a colleague that asked, in a team meeting no less, whether we'd be getting paid extra because of the increase in having to use our 'own' things and she included toilet paper on the list

Broadband is one of those things we have anyway so I'm happy to claim the small amount we can claim for WFH and continue working in a way that suits me best. TBH, I'd take a pay cut to be able to continue

How shameless! Not a good thing to be known for!

I bet she’s one of those who uses half a toilet roll at work for 1 poo and yet is stingy with it at home

For many of us, working from home is a perk and it would be easy for an organisation to refuse any requests to work from home.

I'm saving time and money through working from home - childcare costs, commuting costs and time and meals. We had to upgrade our wifi to fibre as it kept crashing, but the whole family benefits from that. I wear jumpers if I'm cold and only turn the heating on if I need to.

Most organisations I have worked in (public sector) dont provide tea and coffee - 1 provided tea/coffee but no milk and another provided milk, but no tea and coffee. One provided both tea/coffee and milk, but my current place doesn't provide anything.

I think work should pay for broadband. I want to switch to a cheaper slower service but can’t because I need it for work.

I’m baffled by all these people who are saving money on work clothes by WFH. How many work clothes were you buying? I barely buy any clothes for work.

My company appears to be getting around the being forced to WFH issue by having hot desks available in one of the offices just outside London. To use it I’d have to travel over 200 miles each way because my usual office (which is closed) is in an entirely different part of the country

@Stopsnowing

I think work should pay for broadband. I want to switch to a cheaper slower service but can’t because I need it for work.

I think work should have been paying my commuting costs all these years. I want to walk one minute to work but I can't because they refuse to build an office next door.

[quote fastingnewby]@DGRossetti we seem to have zero data security since this all began. I regularly have no option but to download files to my laptop to work on them, and at one stage I used my own portable hard drive to store a bulk download as my laptop is full ( of apps and programmes required exclusively for work).
To manage routine updates I have to manually delete stuff so there's enough space.
Makes me furious. Quite a large employer, we're all working like this.
[/quote]
This is exactly my experience.

I'm laughing at all the people making sweeping statements about 'broadband doesn't cost more because you use it more' and 'metered broadband just doesn't exist now'

Hahaha.

I had to pay more for my broadband when wfh as we have an expensive metered connection. Cost of my broadband went from £28 to £45 so I could work.
I have no option for a different provider.

Living rurally.

We are also recognizing that work done from home is about 25% less productive than that done in the office. We are continuing to pay people the same, have done no layoffs, and are keeping going. Despite our revenue being reduced by about 25% over the last year. Again, nobody to blame, but the cost has not reduced along with the revenue

I work for a not-for-profit organisation, so productivity is measured differently.

Because we're not travelling around to see clients, attend tribunals etc, we've been far more productive. I can work right up to the time a tribunal starts (they're done by conference call) and start again the minute it's over, instead of crawling through traffic for ages and then sitting in the waiting room with the client for a couple of hours. I can use that time in productive ways instead.

It's freed up enough time for us to start taking referrals from projects that we couldn't support before, and the gains we get for clients have shot through the roof. And we've been delivering more training as well.

Most organisations I have worked in (public sector) dont provide tea and coffee - 1 provided tea/coffee but no milk and another provided milk, but no tea and coffee. One provided both tea/coffee and milk, but my current place doesn't provide anything

I worked in local government for 4 different councils, on and off over 3 decades. Not one of them ever provided tea, coffee etc.

@poshme

I'm laughing at all the people making sweeping statements about 'broadband doesn't cost more because you use it more' and 'metered broadband just doesn't exist now'

Hahaha.

I had to pay more for my broadband when wfh as we have an expensive metered connection. Cost of my broadband went from £28 to £45 so I could work.
I have no option for a different provider.

Living rurally.

To be fair, not sure why rural dwellers should come to our minds. I don’t know anyone with metered bb.

Using your own tea and coffee?
What an utter jobsworth 🙄

Work supplied a laptop and chair. Bought my own desk. It's not ideal as we usually use two screens at work and I'm on the laptop all day so hunched over to look at the screen while typing

Usually get free tea/coffee/milk at work. Didn't realise how much milk I need for brews
Heating has gone up as it's usually totally off 7.30am - 6pm

I’m surprised you’re not asking your employer to contribute to the costs of your slippers. After all, you must be wearing them out so much faster now that you’re wearing them all day, every day.

Work have contributed 900$ annually for WFH. I'm happy with it. I've saved a fortune not commuting and in childcare costs.

The broadband is down to you, though I do think they should cover any increased insurance costs you incur as the job wasn't a WFH job when you accepted it.

There shouldn't be any increased insurance costs if you are just doing an admin type job. If you were a potter and had a kiln in your house then yes. I've been working from home for years and insurance companies will ask if you work from home. It doesn't increase the premium if you're just sat on a laptop. Infact it might be the opposite as you're at home and less likely to be burgled .

A few companies are willing to pay for kit such as screens, desks and chairs. So have paid an extra £30 for broadband but my current employer doesn't pay for anything.

It doesn't cost you any extra on your bb so I don't see why an employer should pay for it. As for additional heating extra, that works out to be a lot cheaper than fuel, wear and tear on your car etc

You forgot toilet roll OP
No way should you have to pay to wipe your own ass between the hours of 9 and 5

You forgot toilet roll OP
No way should you have to pay to wipe your own ass between the hours of 9 and 5

The OP is one of the reasons I hate managing people, and thankfully I've found a job I enjoy without having to do it any longer.

There's always that one person on your team who will feel entitled to EVERYTHING. Give an inch and they will still find a way of complaining that you didn't give them a mile.

My company recently announced that they were reducing out hours, specifically we had an extra 2 hours off on a Friday, and an extra 4 days holiday a year, to take at Xmas. With no impact to salary. A member of our team then started to ask how it would affect his holidays and if he booked a Friday off, did he get those two hours back, what about good Friday etc. He then went onto moan that he didn't want to take Xmas off and he wanted the 4 days to take at other times.