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Discussion on: Pay cut to work remotely - Fair deal?‍

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_garybell profile image
Gary Bell

Not a chance. If it was said that remote workers at my company would need to take a pay cut to stay working remotely, I'd tell them to keep me an office space (and then look for another job).

I'm paid what I am worth (actually probably less given how many pies I have fingers in, but I am very happy all the same). Working from home doesn't make me worth any less, nor my contribution to the company any less.

My commuting costs may be less, but my car maintenance is actually higher because the car is sat doing nothing more. I have increased electricity consumption as a result of powering my work machine (which is pretty hefty), and having air conditioning on to cool the room because my kit throws out a ton of heat.

I've also got to (potentially) buy other office equipment I might not have otherwise, and that would be provided by work. Some people don't have a proper chair to work on (I cringe when I see the pictures of people using dining chairs or other non-adjustable chairs as part of their office), or replace sooner than I might have needed to the same equipment.

Whilst I am currently enjoying working from home, I would rather be allowed to go to the office for some days per week to have the faster-paced interactions. It's a bit of an inconvenience to me to be working from home at times. It would be worse if I was getting financially penalised for the "privilege".

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hrishikesh1990 profile image
hrishikesh1990

Great points. I just wonder why people are ready to give in so easily. 45% respondents agreeing to a pay cut is astonishing and frankly concerning too. Same work should mean same pay.

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bloodgain profile image
Cliff

"Some people don't have a proper chair to work on"

100% right, Gary!

When we went more work-from-home, I bought a $1300+ Steelcase office chair. I'm a big guy, so I needed a specialty chair, but proper ergonomic chairs that won't fall apart in a year cost hundreds of dollars. The Haworth chair they gave me at work isn't much cheaper than mine. And even with that, some people might need sit/stand desks to avoid staying in the same position all day. It's an expensive thing to set up the first time.

You can get in cheaper if you have a local used office furniture place. I got a nice, sturdy adjustable task chair there for $150, but that was just a good deal on a lesser-known brand that they had gotten a whole lot of at once and needed to clear out. But the availability in those places could go down sharply after the first round of companies dumping furniture they don't need for offices they don't have any more.