Making the switch to working from home brings up so many questions. Whether it be wondering if you can keep up with the workload or how things will change, it is normal to have your mind racing with questions about what is going to come next. One of the big questions is that of pay.
Working from Home: Does Compensation Change?
Money is not everything, but it is the bottom line. That is never truer than when it comes to the time that you put into work. But what about when it comes to working from home?
A big worry that many at-home workers may have is that they may not be getting fairly compensated. There are many factors that go into whether or not compensation will change, such as:
- Is it a salary position?
- Is overtime a factor?
- What kind of job is it?
There is no official iron-clad answer but let us dive into some of the things that may affect changes in compensation in regard to working from home.
Is It A Salary Job?
If you are already under a salary and are switched to working from home, your compensation should not be affected. Especially if it is a temporary situation. Within the window of time that the salary covers, i.e. a year usually, nothing should change.
Is Overtime a Factor?
Let’s say your job pays by the hour and you rely heavily on overtime. In that case, compensation may change. Depending on the type of work, hours can often be cut and sometimes overtime will never be hit.
Usually, a business will have you install a program to keep track of time or at least have you log your hours. Chances are, however, that the hours allotted will be less than if you were working normal hours in a brick and mortar office setting depending on the business.
What Kind of Job Is It?
If the job in question is a customer service job or something of that nature, compensation is less likely to change unless it is a case of an hourly position with hours being cut. In general, however, it should not affect compensation.
Another factor is what kind of expenses the employer will have to exhaust. This entails covering the rise is phone bills caused by remote working, internet access, computers and other essential tools to work remotely if that is what they require.
More and More Common
Remote working is growing more and more all the time. It is so common now and will continue to grow so much that it is becoming a new normal. In the past, at home workers did receive less pay. Now, however, with more and more at home jobs being created and brick and mortar jobs moving towards remote work, that is slowly changing.
That also raises the question of whether or not the growth of remote working will lower the pay even more and create more competition. Whether or not that is the case is still up in the air.
There are currently no rigid rules of thumb in place in regard to at home worker’s compensation, especially when it is the case of office workers being transferred to working remotely.
Conclusion
The answer is it is complicated. Unless there is a contract in place or a salary, there is no sure way to say no, it does not affect compensation. Hourly workers having their hours cut due to working from home would almost definitely see a pay cut.
One thing is for sure, remote working is more and more common and changing all the time. As time goes on, more rigid rules about compensation will surely be put into place.
