Working from home - cost compensation

If your company asks you to work from home, do they have to pay part of your electricity/internet bill?

Working from you are going to rack up a much higher electricity bill running your PC all day, especially if you need to run a multi monitor setup in order to do your job efficiently. Not to mention AC.

I know in the UK companies were doing this when their employees had to work from home.

Are there any labor bureau policies on this?

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I doubt it. Taiwanese usually go to a café, buy a drink and hangout all day in the air conditioned establishment using the wifi.
Of course this is not ideal if video meetings are a big part of your job. :grin:

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Or if you are asked to work from home due to COVID.

Talk to your employer. Working from home is still better than getting furloughed without pay.

Most likely not.
Does your company pay for your commute to work?

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unfortunately, they can cut it.

Hang on, exactly how expensive can it be running a multi monitor PC? I doubt it costs much.

But aircon, yeah that’ll cost.

And pina coladas, they’re not cheap. :beverage_box:

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You’re saving transportation costs. So just call it even.

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Unlikely. Even if so, you would probably still have to eat up the costs. Taiwan isn’t labor friendly compared to other places. As others have said go to a coffee place (or even 7-11). The real cost with AC tends to be the turning on phase, rather than running it after it is in drift mode.

Yes, the car is much more expensive than the cheap electricity in Taiwan (Tai-Power runs a big loss).

Or in Taiwanese: bo ke ling ah!

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It really isn’t a lot. My office power bill (two PCs, although not usually in use simultaneously) is about NT$450 a month. I use a fan but not aircon.

As mentioned, I’d be inclined to just call it even.

Don’t forget about the wear and tear on your office chair.

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Or I don’t know… get a laptop, and a 1280 ticket. Sit on the MRT train doing your work with 3G wifi or something. Charge up with one of those MRT charging ports they have at various stations. Free AC, but won’t be very quiet though so there will be distractions. Or do the same on a bus… some buses have REALLY strong AC (but others have nonexistant AC for some reason).

Brilliant idea, but doesn’t sound covid safe.

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If covid is the true worry, and not just trying to get your company for more money, best not to live in a city then. thats obvious.

I cant imagine a company that pays a person electricity costs to work at home. most people consider it a favor… altenative is likely getting fired unless you are truly THAT important. At which stage i doubt you worry about a few nt for electricity. to each their own. I wouldnt die on this hill, thats for sure.

Sorry, I’m living under a rock. When did MRT wifi become fast enough for people to, like, actually use? :cactus:

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Since it began. Plenty addequate if a person wont pay for their own. Never had an issue. in either end of the island. Especially after the early stages of annoying sign ins.

Probably they were referring to connecting to the cellular network via tethering.

Didn’t they turn it off a year or two ago because nobody was using it?