Would You Forfeit a Raise to Work From Home?

harryk asks: "There seems to have been a fair amount of talk about new jobs, telecommuting, and fair pay recently, so I pose this question: Would you forfeit some or all of a potential raise to work from home? My company is notoroisly bad about giving decent raises so I have been contemplating offering an alternative to receiving a raise, or a reduced raise with an expense reimbursement for telecommuting? What are your thoughts?"

Comments

Would I?

[Jhon]

Not only would I, I have.

I currently work about 60/40 (60% at work, 40% at home). I also live about 5 minutes away from my work. My current employer also allows me to get up and leave in a moments notice (barring anything nasty or important going on at the time).

I've been offered (by another lab) up to twice what I currently make to move out of state and I've also been offered significantly more by other local businesses -- but would require more 'face time' and more than an hour commute. (Yeah, one hour drives (or more) are LOCAL in LA).

Frankly, I'm not in it for the money. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm in it to be able to comfortably be able to take care of my family and myself. I earn enough to pay for a home, put my kids in a private school, buy myself or my wife the occational "toy" or "trinket" and save for our retirement.

Between my wife and myself, my kids have never been picked up from school by ANYONE other than us. Other than medzmama (grandmother), they've never had a baby-sitter. I CAN work crazy hours, but I also get to spend a lot of time with my children. I actually get to RAISE my kids! You can't pay me enough to lose that.

An extra benefit has been the ability to aid my sister (who recently had a stroke) in her recovery. I'm able to take a half-day off once a week and help her read her mail, fill out her bills and make what ever calls she needs to make. So, would I give up a raise for this ability? In a New York minute.

As Scott Adams once wrote

[Safety Cap]

"Sometimes the cream rises in a different jar."

There are jobs out there that offer decent raises along with the ability to telecommute. If you current employer doesn't see the value in keeping his employees happy, then that's his tough luck.

BTW: no one is going to give you anything. You have to negotiate it. If you don't have good negotiating skills, well, maybe that's what you need to work on.

No, not at all.

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

I'd go nuts without cow-orkers to talk too, different scenery and the social aspects of the office. I did work out of my house for a couple of years so I do have something to compare it to.

Remember that you're going to have to have your books, files, and possibly more computers at home, running up the power bill, causing wear and tear and taking up space. Think hard before you do this.

Re:No, not at all.

[Anonymous Coward]

This reminds of something that happened to me. One year in college I thought I was being clever by scheduling my classes so that on some days most of my classes were in the same building, some even in the same room. I thought this would make things easier. In reality it drove me nuts. Live and learn.

Re:No, not at all.

[Neil Blender]

I worked from home for nearly two years. In addition to the points made above, when you work from home, you are always at work. The lines get seriously blurred and it becomes a real drag. Even now, I wouldn't want to work even one day a week from home.

Re:No, not at all.

[bladesjester]

Don't forget one other very important thing -

If the managers don't see you, they don't think of you nearly as often. While this may not seem like a bad thing at times, it has one major downfall. If they don't think about you, they also don't think about your contributions to the company.

This is bad because when the time to cut people comes around, you aren't seen as being necessary (what does that guy do, anyway?). The same also applies to future raises and promotions...

not compensation

[j-turkey]

Your creative thinking is a good start. I'm not sure that working from home equals fair compensation...but this comes down to how much it's really worth to you.

It does cut down on certain costs (commuting can really add up) and you can get your phone and broadband expensed, however, it may increment your electric bill slightly (almost a non-issue). The nice thing about it is that it usually saves your employer some money. Many municipalities offer tax breaks for companies who allow you to WaH. Furthermore, they can save on real estate costs.

Have you worked from home before? Many people I've worked with have found that it's more difficult to work from home (especially when it comes down to motivation). Furthermore, the same people generally found working at home depressing, since they're rarely able to get out of the house at all.

FWIW, other creative compensation packages that I've heard of (where an employeer doesn't have sufficient cash) involve stock options, or dividing salary into market rate and taking the remainder and putting it into extra vacation time.

Re:not compensation

[jm92956n]

Many people I've worked with have found that it's more difficult to work from home (especially when it comes down to motivation).

This is a problem that is difficult to overcome. One piece of advice that I once heard is that those who work from home ought to do this every day:

At 8:55am, step out of your home and take a quick five minute walk around the block. Arrive back home at 9am and go straight to a room (home office) that has been specifically set aside for working. At lunch, take another walk, and at 5pm, take yet another walk around the block. Once back home, do NOT go back into the "office" until 9am the next morning. It's very important to distinguish one's home from one's home office.

I realize this is impractical for many system-admins, as they're often "on call," and, while I don't work from home, I still think it's still a solid piece of advice.

Re:not compensation

[esme]

I think it depends on how productive and disciplined you are.

Personally, when I'm working at the office, I goof off a lot. I read slashdot. I check out stuff at wikipedia. I browse amazon and on and on. But I'm also very productive, and can work like a dog when there's something time-sensitive to work on. I did the same when I telecommuted 2 days a week from a mile away. I did the same when I telecommuted full-time from 8 time zones away. And I've never had anything but glowing praise for my productivity.

The discipline to put the work away (mentally, too!) and relax in your free time is important, too. There's a much lower barrier to work when all your work stuff is in the next room, and you can just walk over to your computer/files/whatever. Taking a look at "one little thing" or reading "a couple of emails" can quickly turn into several hours of work.

And even if you're not actually doing work, just being in the same environment all the time can lead to blurring the lines between your professional and private lives. It can lead to having your work be at the edge of thought all the time, creeping into your thoughts any time you're not actively doing something else.

-Esme

Re:not compensation

[Triones]

This is assuming that you don't enjoy your work.
Otherwise, there's no point to distinguish the home office. I'd prefer a life where I can't differentiate work from leisure.

No way.

[Rahga]

Just ask any working man or woman with a family to support... Now, family comes first, always. It doesn't matter where you are or what you are doing, even if you are in an office many miles away.

Working from home simply means family comes first more often.

Re:No way.

[Leroy_Brown242]

Spend less on gas and transportation.
Spend less on nice clothes for work.
Spend less on the eating out that happens when you work.
Spend less on stress releaving measures you incure because of your commute and work environment.

Poof, there is your raise.

I work from home

[fozzmeister]

and quite like it, but I don't believe that you should take a pay cut (or less of a raise which is the same thing) for lowering thier office costs. heck they should be giving you more money, That's what happens if you use your own mobile phone for business, why not have it with your house.

Re:I work from home

[n1ywb]

I agree with this. Provided you're still willing to go into the office when necessary, for meetings and stuff, you do not become any less of an asset for the company and therefor do not deserve to be paid any less than if you were still in the office. You save the company money by working from home. Sun Micro knows this and a lot of their low level employees are required to work from home part of the time. When they come in they grab any of the many generic cubicles to work in, kind of like hot-bunking on the old submarines.

That being said if you really want to work from home and you really don't want to change jobs and the only way your boss will let you do it is to take a cut or a lesser raise, then do it I guess, but know that your boss is an assclown.

One foot out the door.. why not both?

[mabu]

If you ask me, the notion of "working from home" is basically a half-way approach towards separating yourself from your employer/employment in the traditional sense. While there are some who do this for practical/logistical reasons, many more people seem to be enamoured with the idea of being their own boss, and working from home is another step in that direction.

If you're thinking like that, then working from home is a good test to see if you have the discipline needed to run your own business without taking much of the risk.

But be aware that not everyone is capable of running their own venture, nor working productively when they're not supervised. You may or may not be one of these types of people that can benefit from such an environment.

Personally, I think that working from home should basically be phased into sub-contracting, because that's basically the direction in which people are going, and it makes more sense. If you employ someone, you need to be able to control them and regulate their time and productivity. Telecommuting is more like sub-contracting, where people are paid for their productivity and not the amount of time they're punched in. The half-way idea of employees "telecommuting" in my opinion is a bad idea for the employer. It's better for them to just cut the person loose and subcontract with them. In these cases the employee can usually have his cake and eat it too.. make more money, be autonomous, and have more control over his time. However, it may not be as "secure", but in reality, job security is a farce anyway.

Sure thing

[whoda]

I haven't got a raise for 5 years.
If I could NOT get another raise, AND work at home, that would be great. Someone let my boss know.

Not all telecommuting is flexible

[Fished]

I have been telecommuting for over 5 years now. There was a time when I had the kind of flexibility you describe. However, a year and a half ago my position was sold to a major IT outsourcer (whom I will leave nameless). I'm still telecommuting, but I no longer have even the flexibility that one would expect in a normal, professional office environment. I even have to get permission to leave my house for lunch! (And, yes, the manager DOES check.)

Not saying that every telecommuting situation is like this - like I said, I spend four years in a situation much like you describe. But don't assume that telecommuting implies anything relaxed about the work environment.

(BTW, if anyone needs a top-flight, alpha geek UNIX geek with programming and network skills and over 10 years UNIX and linux experience, who HAS to telecommute because he lives in the middle of nowhere, send me an email. :)

Re:Not all telecommuting is flexible

[shufler]

Telecommunitng is much different from working from home as your own boss.

While my job wouldn't differ much if I worked in an office, I have to do all of the business-running bullshit associated with being your own boss.

I deal with clients on a day-to-day basis regarding the simple fact that they have not paid me yet. This alone is enough to make one go mad, as it's something I should have to do, but yet I do. Clients are told up-front what my rates and fees are, and when they don't pay, I withhold delivery. It's a game I like to play which I would hope gets the message across, yet doesn't.

Them: "Where's Project X?"
Me: "Right here. Please send me my money."
Them: "Alright. One minute."

One week later:

Them: "Where's Project X? It's a week late?"
Me: "It was ready last week. Where's my money?"
Them: "One sec."

Etc, etc.

Re:Not all telecommuting is flexible

[shufler]

I use Paypal for many clients, so obviously if they haven't paid me, both they and I know, since it's instant.

The working from home lifestyle *is* great. As you said, you get more sleep, you can eat when you want, and more importantly what you want (my lunch usually consists of steak and vegitables, my big meal of the day). I love the freedom to go out to a store or get to the bank during regular banking hours. I'm under the impression a lot of stores are geared towards either people with no job, or people who work from home, simply because they're only open 9-5.

Additionally, I live on the West coast, and deal with a lot of people in EST (Ontario and the US East coast in general), so I'm at work for 6AM and effectively can end at 2, which gives me an afternoon to enjoy however I want. Remember, I'm *AT* work at 6 because I live at work. I don't have to get up to start commuting at 6. Not to mention since I deal with clients through Internet mediums, I don't really even have to be sitting at my desk all day. I can be in another room and hear an IM alert, and come by to check.

worth it to me

[NaturePhotog]

I would give up a raise for it, but my time not commuting and the ability to work in my own space are more important to me than money. And I'm an introvert, so while I do miss interacting directly with a few people in an office, I definitely don't miss the watercooler moments, endless meetings, office politics, people invading your space, and the other things that go with a shared work space. Your mileage will vary, depending on the relative importance of time and money to you.

And you need to decide if working at home is right for you. It is for me, but as some other posters have mentioned, some people have a hard time with motivation, distractions or whatever if they're not in an office environment. It can be very easy to slide back and forth between 'home' and 'work' if you're at home, but you need to need to keep the two separated. I've heard of some work at home people doing things like walking around the block to start work, and walking back around the block to interrupt work, so that there's a distinct line between the two.

All that said, keep in mind that it's probably a wash or even cheaper for your company to have you work at home. There's additional telephone and 'net costs (be sure they pay for those), but that's one less office space they need, too.

I never want to work from home!

[ageoffri]

If you can work your job from home there is a very good chance that someone from another country can do your job. I'm thinking about working from home but only for one day a week.

Re:I never want to work from home!

[T-Ranger]

So given a choice of working from home, or having someone from another country doing your job, you'll take the later?

Already done it.

[Undertaker43017]

Of course I hadn't had a raise in the three years before I started working from home (the downside of working for a struggling software development shop), but I would have definately given up a raise to do it. I actually did get a raise, since I spend a lot less on gas and wear and tear on my vehicle.

As for the reimbursement part, I would expect the company to pay for anything reasonable. That said I use the laptop they supplied, my Internet connection gets used much more for personal use than for work, and the office is in this area code (no long distance calls), so I really don't have any reasonable expenses to charge them for.

Next year my wife and I are going one step beyond working at home, we are going "mobile", buying a motorhome and traveling the country. Many RV parks have Internet access of some sort, or satelite is an option (not a great one).

We know a couple of consultant friends that do this currently, they look for contracts nationally and when they find one, "pull up stakes" and move to the next town. Work six months in a southern climate and six months in a northern climate.

Out of site, Out of mind

[Hardwyred]

I thought about going to such an arrangement with my employer, but it has one huge drawback. When layoff time comes, you are the guy that no one ever sees and therefore no one will ever miss. No matter how much work you do, face time counts for a lot.

Well, should be pretty simple

[hey!]

According to AAA, the average cost per mile to operate an automobile is 56.2 cents.

I personally commute round trip 90 miles per day, so the auto costs for me EVERY DAY are (in theory) on the order of $50. Now I drive an inexpensive, efficient and reliable four cylinder Honda Accord, so my costs are probably a lot less than average. For example I typically average nearly 35 miles/gallon. But it's safe to say I spend $25 every day I commute.

So right of the bat if given a choice of a $50 per week or telecommuting three days, I'd be better off telecommuting three days.

Next, consider my time. I work about eight to nine hours per day and spend two hours commuting. That means 11 hours of my day are devoted to work, nearly 20% of which are spent in the car. So looked at hourly, each day I telecommute, the cost to me (hour wise) is 20% less, which is like an hourly raise of 25%.

So again, for me with my long commute and a hypothetical three day a week arrangement, I save six hours out of 55 devoted to work, which is a 11% reduction in hour. Per hour, this is the equivalent of 12% raise, plus at least $75 per week for cost savings.

Re:Well, should be pretty simple

[Samrobb]

Well said... I had much the same thoughts. Right now, I have a good job that pays well. What I find myself lacking is time. Being able to telecomute, to me, would mean not just the ability to spend an additional 5-6 hours a week with my family, but also the ability to spend those hours meaningfully - taking 15 minutes to go out and play catch with my oldest, for example, or rock my youngest when it's time for her nap.

I'm not sure I'd take a pay cut to telecommute, but forego a pay raise? Sure. Even if I wasn't missing on my commute time, the added flexibility would more than make up for a few extra dollars in each paycheck.

Higher Pay != Higher Standard of Living

[Omega1045]

I am currently working a job where I make about 1/2 what I did previously as a contractor. Making tons of money is nice. It helped me put together a down payment on a house, buy a new car, etc. But I was flying all over the place and working long hours.

My current employer has no real dress code. We rarely see clients, so shorts, shirt and sandals are the dress code for the developers. Goals are more important than hours, and working from home is not an issue as long as the work gets done.

Now that the economy is picking up I am getting contacted by recruiters for jobs paying 150% to 200% of what I am making now but I am staying right where I am at. I have even received a couple of soft offers based on phone interviews, but I am not leaving.

I would say that you should not take less pay. When you tell an employer you will take a pay cut it is like telling them that you are worth less. I might make the "no raise, work from home" deal, but I don't think I would take the pay cut deal. HR managers (and many managers in general) just are not that insightful.

If you do end up getting to work from home, make sure to actual work from home. I know a guy who got fired when he started working from home. At the office he was getting work done. As soon as he went home he didn't get anything done. If you have anyone else at home I would recommend making sure you have an office (spare bedroom, etc) where you are physically seperated. Especially if you have kids at home!

The key is...

[mrhandstand]

1) make yourself visible. I'm a telecom...I've gotten a raise and a promotion in one year of employement for a Silicon company. Work hard, do more than is expected, and be creative. (It helps that I am 2 time zones earlier than my boss, AND I get into the office an hour earlier adjusted. He sees lots of email addressed before he even comes in.)

2) Leave work at work, and have a dedicated room for work. When I'm at work I stay there...just like a "regular" job. I "come home" at lunch, and again at dinner. If I want to check my email late, I do so from my couch, but I am respectful of my time with my family.

As for taking the pay cut...why? I am at least as effective as an in office worker...more so sometimes because I get distracted or dragged away less. It is easier to find an employeer that is openminded about telecommuting if A) they are a technology company, and B) they have employees spread all over the globe.

Telecommuting = less stress + big tax break

[twigles]

I telecommuted for over 4.5 years and have now gone back to the grind. Financial pluses to telecommuting include:

- Almost zero miles per day on your car, so no bills
- Ability to wear shorts and old tshirt, so no clothing gets old/worn out and needs replacing
- HUGE tax write-off. Essentially you write off the percentage of floor space you dedicate to your home office. I saved about 2,000+ per year from this.
- The ability to write off every single thing you buy that's remotely related to computing since it's for your home office....
- Don't have to buy lunch when you're too lazy to make it or just forget. You're already next to the fridge.

"Soft" factors:
- Almost no stress bc no traffic.
- Co-worker chatter consists of pets.
- If you have down-time you can play a video game instead of pretending to be busy (don't abuse this or it will end).
- You can shop for food or work out or something productive with the 2+ hours/day you're likely saving by not having to commute.
- When Friday rolls around you aren't sick of being out and just want to sit around the house. In fact you probably have cabin fever and want to go out.
- Loud thumping industrial doesn't bother your cube mates.

To get the tax break you have to be working at home for the *employer's* convenience, not yours, so get that cleared up. Overall you may take an upfront hit on pay, but it's worth a lot on the backend. Your health may improve due to quiet solitude and no commute also.

There's a good solution to this.

[devphil]

bladesjester raises a good point. As an answer, I'll point to my own current job, where I and everyone else telecommutes. Including the boss.

This raises its own unique problems of visibility and communications. (We're comfortable with our solutions, which I won't yammer about here. But these problems did need to be addressed, and they won't go away on their own; if your company tries something like this, you will need to actively tackle them.) If solved, though, telecommuting makes for a very nice visibility levelling field.

Re:No!

[Johnny Mnemonic]

Sure, any employee is dispensable. But my point was: why make it easy? Why write the rationale yourself? For example: in my job, I am needed on site, to rewire the LAN, screw things into the racks, unjam the printer. That's stuff that you can't do over the phone--and if they offered me a job that I could telecommute from, I don't think I'd take it.

I have also done my damnedest to build confidence in the value of having my skills onsite--maybe not enough to save my job, but it'd help if my users were polled on the decision before it was made. And some of my users are indeed important enough that they would be able to influence that decision.

Some Tips on Telecommuting

[cypherz]

I've been telecommuting for a while now. Overall, Its been really really great.
Pluses:
1) I get to have my development environment exactly the way I want it. All my servers and linuxy bits just the way I want without having to get permission from some winders-usin' corporate admin.
2) I get to listen to music while I work, and no headphones! In most cube farms I've been in, we had to wear headphones to listen to music. Since there's no one home but me during the day, I can listen to what I want!
3) No time wasted on commute! I can get out of bed, grab some coffee and boot the machines. I'm billin' time and I haven't even had to get dressed yet! My 8 hours are done before the GF gets home!
4) Less money out of pocket: Less wear and tear on car. I'd be payin' for broadband anyway, and my phone is a flat rate as well. Less money spent on dry cleaning and laundering of shirts are other benefits.

Minuses:
1) You can't _really_ get away from your work. After a while, it begins to feel like work is always waiting "right over there" at the workstation. Weekends are more about getting away from the house now.
2) Not as much socializing. If you live for talking shop around the water cooler, then maybe telecommuting ain't the best way to go.

Hard to Say...

[jkakar]

I work from home 3 or 4 days a week and come into the office when I'm needed--typically during planning or integration phases. The thing I've found is that I'm *way* more productive at home. I don't have my friendly co-workers to chat with, I'm harder to interrupt, etc. I get about double the amount of work done at home than work.

I really enjoy working from home--I've learnt how to keep the work/life separation, which took some amount of learning. I'm not sure that I would accept less pay to work at home since my output is significantly better.

Diary of a Telecommuter

[woobieman29]

Here are some point to consider that I have discovered over the past 6 years of telecommuting. Note that I work as a Sales Engineer, which requires about 40% travel time, which might mean that I spend a bit less time at the home office than you will.
1) Telecommuting should not be a replacement for a raise, at least not in my estimation. Yes, you are receiving a benefit from the company, and that may be worth some money to you, but consider for a moment the reduction of costs that a company sees by not having to provide you with an office. Lower space requirements, less power/utility usage, etc. In some cases companies will pay you for power used by business equipment at home, you can save that as a negotiating point knowing that if they don't want to reimburse you for this, in many cases you can write this business expense off on your taxes (IANAA - check with your tax pro first!!).
2) Do not try to do this if you have problems with self-motivation. It is difficult to keep yourself motivated when the lure of all of your toys at home is pulling you to do other things! If you are not strong-willed enough, you will fsck yourself, and any other people at the company that depend on your job getting done.
3) You need to take extra steps to make sure you are not invisible to the power people at your company. Make damn sure that the important people know exactly what you bring to the company, and that your role is not overlooked. You will not have the benefit of being in close proximity to decision makers, and this can screw you up royally. Some tips: Make a regularly scheduled visit to the office (once a week?) where you get some 'face time' with the people that are important. Step up the level of email/phone communication with managers and peers to let them know that you are not on a "Telecommute Vacation".
4) You need to have a defined, out of the way workspace if you have a family or other distractions. Make sure that any family members know that a) office supplies in this are are off-limits, and b) When you are in your 'office' you are unavailable.

I hope it works out for you. Telecommuting has been a wonderful arrangement for me.

Take both

[jsimon12]

Why offer to take a pay cut? If you are valuable tell them you want to work from home. Start high and then negotiate down. Never start at what you are willing to do. Start high, with the offer of "I want to work from home", then if they push offer to take a "slightly lower raise, by a few percentage points". Then work em from that point. If you are important to the company you can have your cake and eat it too.

Sounds promising

[91degrees]

In my case:

Reduction in travel costs ~ $40pw
Reduction in food costs ~ $10 pw

That's an effective rise of a couple of thousand straight off. You may also get a substantial increase in personal time saved from not travelling (approx 10 hours a week in my case) which even at minimum wage is worth thousands, and the actual value of extra free time worth a lot more than that to me.

Most of work is being seen working

[SgtChaireBourne]

Most of work is being seen working.

Try to deliver selected results in person to your manager, especially big or sought after items. If possible, include your manager's manager. It doesn't have to be formal, just in person.

Otherwise, even though their brain knows otherwise, they will be getting your work "from the computer".

Also, find a way to make the managers feel that they can contact you. However, be careful to reward planning, and prevent situations where crises are rewarded.

Yes!

[burdalane]

If I had a job, I would rather quit it than than commute to work. I like spending all day alone, and telecommuting also reduces the risk of getting into a car accident or other transportation mishap. I don't get much work done at home, but I wouldn't get much work done at an office, either. Instead, I would just end up too miserable to eat properly or do anything other than drag myself in and out the door.