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?

@Bouncebacker

But your broadband doesn’t cost more because you are using it for work?

We had to upgrade from our normal broadband to fast broadband - it's an extra £23 per month.

We also needed to purchase boosters, ethernet cable etc. We use a noise cancelling app to reduce environmental noise for Zoom meetings etc. (monthly subscription).

It really gets to me when people say “my bills will go through the roof!”....they really won’t......

It really depends on the type of house though.
It has cost us significantly more to heat our house this winter.

and the wear and tear of your carpet now you are home more.

Ooh good one, I didn't think of that.

What about slippers? You have them anyway but you wear them at home during work hours, so the employer should pay. And slippers cause more wear and tear than bare feet, so then you can charge more for the wear and tear on your carpet.

How about a cleaner for the mess you create during working hours?

I am amazed by all these people who have different heating costs. Did you all switch off the heating every time you left the house?

Yes. Didn't you? Why would you heat an empty house?

Our gas consumption over the winter has more than doubled compared to previous years.

Wow entitlement issues or what. You are annoyed because you now have to pay for your own coffee and refreshments! You must be a joy to work with.

It’s the tax you can claim back on £6 so for the higher paid this will be 40 or 50% and for the lowest paid £0 if they don’t exceed the tax free amount

When you take a job you agree to the commute, that’s not the same if you have been forced to work from home. Employers have done this to reduce their expenses but those expenses have been pushed to employees in the shape of heating bills, electricity bills and allocating space in the home for equipment. I don’t think that’s fair no. Using broadband free is fine if available but what if you develop a fault or equipment breaks or you can’t afford broadband anymore? The less well off staff are probably not the ones who are doing long commutes and those on energy meters will be paying more for their utilities. It really does disadvantage those on low income

Broadband is a household bill and does not increase because you are using it for work.
Yabu.

@CongealedCrags

My brother is a facilities manager and they have had requests for- Chairs Desks Cameras Microphones Keyboards Monitors Boxes of individual teabags A log cabin

I cannot tell you how amused he's been at the log cabin Everyone else got what they wanted, even Teabag Lady, but unfortunately Log Cabin Man was denied.

My dds company employed someone on a short term temporary basis, on a remuneration of something like £650 a day, it was made clear that they would need to use their own tech . The first question asked was “ when do I get my new laptop” apparently it was urgent as he was sharing his current laptop with his wfh permanently employed wife. When asked why her company didn’t supply her with tech , there was a huffy silence. DD then pointed out that as a freelancer he would be able to claim back the expense of a new laptop ( not to mention being able to afford one) and that the terms of employment were made very clear. More huffy silence.

The next day he decided he didn’t want to work with them any more.

Public sector so no free anything. I had to buy my own kettle too which is now marooned in my office along with my jar of coffee and my mug.

But I do empathise about the space issue. Making do is one thing. But working from the dining table is another.
I am already having some minor alterations done to the inside of the house to accommodate it and am eyeing up tiny garden offices to go where the shed is on our small garden (but then what to do with the stuff in the shed?

I can't believe some workplaces don't pay for tea and coffee, that's next level stingy!

The less well off staff are probably not the ones who are doing long commutes and those on energy meters will be paying more for their utilities. It really does disadvantage those on low income

You can't make that generalisation. The people with the long expensive commutes are often those who can't afford to live near their workplace.

@TheJerkStore mine is 4 bed 3 storey so on the larger side.
Anything bigger than that surely you would look at a heating strategy for different areas to keep costs down?

@therocinante

I can't believe some workplaces don't pay for tea and coffee, that's next level stingy!

I can't believe there's employers out there who provide biscuits, fruit, pastries, proper coffee, free gyms. It's a different world.

Employers have done this to reduce their expenses but those expenses have been pushed to employees in the shape of heating bills, electricity bills and allocating space in the home for equipment

No they haven't, they have done it because they were forced to by the government. Yes sure some could have spent lots of money converting the office space to 'covid secure', but even then the guidance is wfh if you can, and they would need to justify themselves. A lot of employers aren't overly keen, and will welcome people back happily into the office when they can.

@therocinante

I can't believe some workplaces don't pay for tea and coffee, that's next level stingy!

I work at a university with over 4000 employees - we've never had free tea or coffee apart from at certain meetings or when attending training. In fact, I've never worked anywhere that provided free hot drinks.

It would be quite costly to provide free tea and coffee for all staff and we'd probably get complaints about how we spend tuition fees!!

@thecatandthevicar

I am amazed by all these people who have different heating costs. Did you all switch off the heating every time you left the house?

...yes? Why would I heat an empty house?!

Heating on for 2 hours before we wake up, just long enough to heat our drafty high ceilinged nightmare house, and from 4-8ish. Unless it's reaaaaaaally cold outside, then it might stay on overnight occasionally.

Our heating bills have doubled - our house is absolutely freezing in the day, so it's been on a lot over winter or I wouldn't be able to concentrate to work (I already was wearing gloves until it warmed up).

I can't wait to go back to the office for mostly that reason. (And no we can't make the house any more energy efficient unless our landlord decides to replace the single glazing, get any kind of insulation done, or accept that an entirely open plan downstairs is probably a bit chilly when your ceilings are 10ft high!)

It doesn't make any difference whether you had broadband already. It is a facility that you are providing for the smooth running of their company and you're not doing it out of the goodness of your heart.

That's a good point TheJerkStore, didn't think about publicly funded workplaces. I've never worked anywhere with that many employees, to be honest, max of about 100, and each department just funded their own employees'.

I'm so sorry for all of you! At least you can get the good teabags and nobody steals them from the communal area, I guess?!

@BarbaraofSeville for those on NMW they simply wouldn’t be able to afford a long commute. Those in the middle may be doing it to save on living costs. If you look at the country as a whole it’s quite a small area where commuting long distances would be done purely for financial reasons ie the south east

I'm gobsmacked at many of theses replies.

Many companies have moved their business costs (utilities and maintenance) on to their employees.

If the business is saving money and the employees are paying more of their own money to enable that, there is a problem.

My utility bills are double what they were pre WFH and my employers have dropped.

That so many people on this post think that is acceptable astounds me. Of course, OP's original point about BB is moot given it appears BB costs have not changed. But the wider issue of businesses sponging of employees should be unacceptable to every worker.

I can't believe there's employers out there who provide biscuits, fruit, pastries, proper coffee, free gyms. It's a different world.

and lunch, a few places provide a very decent lunch too

You tend to be able to judge an office by having a look at the ladies toilets (being female, I don't really venture in the male loos). The facilities and accessories on offer generally tend to tell you all you need about the little office perks.

[quote LGY1]@TheJerkStore mine is 4 bed 3 storey so on the larger side.
Anything bigger than that surely you would look at a heating strategy for different areas to keep costs down?[/quote]
Ours is a 4 story Victorian terrace - we've done all we can believe me!
It is an expensive house to heat anyway but this winter has been particularly costly.

At work paid for tea coffee ourselves, at home did get a laptop eventually but printer, desks, chairs, stationery our problem. Ditto heating, electricity, now company are halving work force so have to reapply for our jobs