£6 allowance from employer for working from home

mattyprice4004

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

That makes sense - if they don't save the money, they're having to spend more to work from home.
You're saving money as you don't need transport, so this covers the money you have to spend on energy. 

Seems OK to me  

Where you live is your choice. Most employers don't pay you more because you choose to live further away. Why should they then take this into account when refunding the extra costs everyone incurs working from home?

Because the costs incurred are different if you have to commute or not - it's quite simple. 

Jeremy535897

mattyprice4004 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

That makes sense - if they don't save the money, they're having to spend more to work from home.
You're saving money as you don't need transport, so this covers the money you have to spend on energy. 

Seems OK to me  

Where you live is your choice. Most employers don't pay you more because you choose to live further away. Why should they then take this into account when refunding the extra costs everyone incurs working from home?

Because the costs incurred are different if you have to commute or not - it's quite simple. 

On that logic you would get an allowance for working further away from your home, but most people don't.

epm-84

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

That makes sense - if they don't save the money, they're having to spend more to work from home.
You're saving money as you don't need transport, so this covers the money you have to spend on energy. 

Seems OK to me  

Where you live is your choice. Most employers don't pay you more because you choose to live further away. Why should they then take this into account when refunding the extra costs everyone incurs working from home?

Because the costs incurred are different if you have to commute or not - it's quite simple. 

On that logic you would get an allowance for working further away from your home, but most people don't.

Another way of looking at it - let's say two people both have an employment contract saying they earn £25,000 per annum and their usual work place is an office in Manchester city centre.  One person lives in Manchester city centre, the other lives in Liverpool and both accepted the contract on the basis that they'll get £25,000 per year and that they'll work at an office in Manchester city centre.

If the employer says we are going to change the terms and want you to instead work from home on a temporary basis, it's reasonable to say they'll compensate anyone who is worse off as the result of a change.  

Jeremy535897

epm-84 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

That makes sense - if they don't save the money, they're having to spend more to work from home.
You're saving money as you don't need transport, so this covers the money you have to spend on energy. 

Seems OK to me  

Where you live is your choice. Most employers don't pay you more because you choose to live further away. Why should they then take this into account when refunding the extra costs everyone incurs working from home?

Because the costs incurred are different if you have to commute or not - it's quite simple. 

On that logic you would get an allowance for working further away from your home, but most people don't.

Another way of looking at it - let's say two people both have an employment contract saying they earn £25,000 per annum and their usual work place is an office in Manchester city centre.  One person lives in Manchester city centre, the other lives in Liverpool and both accepted the contract on the basis that they'll get £25,000 per year and that they'll work at an office in Manchester city centre.

If the employer says we are going to change the terms and want you to instead work from home on a temporary basis, it's reasonable to say they'll compensate anyone who is worse off as the result of a change.  

It's a matter of opinion. In my view, either where you live is relevant to your compensation, or it isn't. There could be all sorts of reasons why an individual might be better off working in one place as opposed to another. The nearest supermarket might be cheaper. It might be nearer to a child's school. I can also see the view that where the move is employer driven, there is an argument to compensate those disadvantaged.

Grumpy_chap

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

That makes sense - if they don't save the money, they're having to spend more to work from home.
You're saving money as you don't need transport, so this covers the money you have to spend on energy. 

Seems OK to me  

Where you live is your choice. Most employers don't pay you more because you choose to live further away. Why should they then take this into account when refunding the extra costs everyone incurs working from home?

Because the costs incurred are different if you have to commute or not - it's quite simple. 

On that logic you would get an allowance for working further away from your home, but most people don't.

I think that it is quite common (though not universal) to get an allowance if working further away from home than the normal workplace, through mileage / travel expenses, subsistence and accommodation.

epm-84

Grumpy_chap said:

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

That makes sense - if they don't save the money, they're having to spend more to work from home.
You're saving money as you don't need transport, so this covers the money you have to spend on energy. 

Seems OK to me  

Where you live is your choice. Most employers don't pay you more because you choose to live further away. Why should they then take this into account when refunding the extra costs everyone incurs working from home?

Because the costs incurred are different if you have to commute or not - it's quite simple. 

On that logic you would get an allowance for working further away from your home, but most people don't.

I think that it is quite common (though not universal) to get an allowance if working further away from home than the normal workplace, through mileage / travel expenses, subsistence and accommodation.

Yes some employers have an expenses policy that takes in to the account the difference between your normal commute and your commute to the other place of work e.g. if you normally drive 10 miles into the office but you're required to drive 50 miles in the opposite direction to a different office one day then they'll pay you mileage for 80 miles (40 miles each way) not 100.

Dr_Crypto

epm-84 said:

Another way of looking at it - let's say two people both have an employment contract saying they earn £25,000 per annum and their usual work place is an office in Manchester city centre.  One person lives in Manchester city centre, the other lives in Liverpool and both accepted the contract on the basis that they'll get £25,000 per year and that they'll work at an office in Manchester city centre.

If the employer says we are going to change the terms and want you to instead work from home on a temporary basis, it's reasonable to say they'll compensate anyone who is worse off as the result of a change.  

I don't understand your logic here. It was the employees' choices where they lived. If anything the Liverpool person is better off due to the change as they won't be commuting. 
This is very different from a situation where the employer wants to relocate the workplace further away thus incurring additional expenses for employees. That can throw up some perverse situations too: say the employer in your example moved their offices from Manchester to Liverpool. The Liverpool employee would be travelling less but depending on the policy may be entitled to expenses for travelling from Manchester to Liverpool. I vaguely remember something odd like this happening when my Dad's work moved, but it was a long time ago and I can't remember the details. 

epm-84

Dr_Crypto said:

epm-84 said:

Another way of looking at it - let's say two people both have an employment contract saying they earn £25,000 per annum and their usual work place is an office in Manchester city centre.  One person lives in Manchester city centre, the other lives in Liverpool and both accepted the contract on the basis that they'll get £25,000 per year and that they'll work at an office in Manchester city centre.

If the employer says we are going to change the terms and want you to instead work from home on a temporary basis, it's reasonable to say they'll compensate anyone who is worse off as the result of a change.  

If anything the Liverpool person is better off due to the change as they won't be commuting.  

Exactly.  That's why I suggested they are an example of someone the employer might NOT choose to compensate because of the workplace not being the place specified in the contract, as they are saving the cost of a daily Liverpool to Manchester commute.

Rizzyblue

I was working from home since march 17th, in September told would be made redundant and finish oct 9th. I applied online on Sept 12th for P87 £6 x wk working from home. All I see from the HMRC website is 'processing and tax code changed' no info if I will get any payment etc. Concerned as its about £192 and money will be tight now for me. Why offer it if No way of getting as I don't know anyone who has claimed and received the payment. Thanks.

nick74

Rizzyblue said:

I was working from home since march 17th, in September told would be made redundant and finish oct 9th. I applied online on Sept 12th for P87 £6 x wk working from home. All I see from the HMRC website is 'processing and tax code changed' no info if I will get any payment etc. Concerned as its about £192 and money will be tight now for me. Why offer it if No way of getting as I don't know anyone who has claimed and received the payment. Thanks.

You will get the money eventually but I get the impression that HMRC are totally swamped at the moment. Please be aware that if you put in a claim for £192 expenses you won't actually receive £192. You will receive a tax rebate on the £192, so if you pay tax at 20% that means you will get £38.40 back from HMRC.