What happens now?

[Rorschach]

If we are all doing more WFH, who is expected to pay the cost?
I am currently working from home (which suits me as I have now been banned from going out again by aunty Nichola) as opposed to losing the job, doing a market research/QC phone based job. I use my own laptop and audio kit to remotely log in on my broadband and work that way. Now I used to do this job at the company's offices using their kit, electricity, phone line etc. The job is minimum wage but since WFH started my electricity use has nearly doubled during the day as I am now here in the house and not there in the office. How do I get that cost back. The company wont pay my internet or electricity bill, so they save and I am working for even less money than I used to 'cos I now have to pay for the privilege of having a job and to be able to do it.

You have my sympathy there and hopefully it will only be a temporary thing. You are entitled to claim tax relief for working from home, it's worth £60 a year, not much but better than nothing. My partners employer provides her (specialist) equipment, we already had the broadband but they would have paid to have that setup. Currently she can only claim the £60 tax relief but they are actively looking at alternative options for the future so staff have been told to hang tight for now which I think is fair and take into account commuting travel savings when thinking about increased costs at home. Those who cannot work from home can still use the office if they want.

I think in the future wages will have to reflect WFH costs/benefits. I am not sure on taxation, doesn't seem fair to tax home workers more, but then there is going to be a lot of tax revenue from commercial property missing so who knows. Guess it depends how quickly these offices change into other uses and how profitable they are.

 

[NickVanBeest]

it's worth £60 a year, not much but better than nothing

I've got a limited company, and am allowed to claim £18/month for "home office", which is not a dedicated room purely for working. If it was, I could actually work out the proportion of the office room to the rest of the house, and claim that portion of the rent. Maybe dig into it, or ask an accountant, but I thought this £18/month was allowed for everybody working from home?

Could be wrong though, but just putting this out there

 

[Rorschach]

I've got a limited company, and am allowed to claim £18/month for "home office", which is not a dedicated room purely for working. If it was, I could actually work out the proportion of the office room to the rest of the house, and claim that portion of the rent. Maybe dig into it, or ask an accountant, but I thought this £18/month was allowed for everybody working from home?

Could be wrong though, but just putting this out there

Different for those on PAYE. I am self employed and can either claim a proportion of my bills or a flat rate at £6 a week (same as PAYE rate).

 

[alex_heney]

I've got a limited company, and am allowed to claim £18/month for "home office", which is not a dedicated room purely for working. If it was, I could actually work out the proportion of the office room to the rest of the house, and claim that portion of the rent. Maybe dig into it, or ask an accountant, but I thought this £18/month was allowed for everybody working from home?

Could be wrong though, but just putting this out there

You can claim tax relief on the flat rate of £6 per week. Which for a standard rate taxpayer (20%) means £1.20 a week actual savings to you - which is where he gets the £60 per year from.

 

[Cirks]

The fixed amount is the easiest thing to do and will be accepted by tax office. Doing the proportion of house electricity/gas and all other things requires far more evidence. For those wfh (vs a limited company with home as a registered address for example) it’s not worth trying to claim anything other than the fixed amount.

The more Interesting bit about all this WFH being done is that majority of companies are suddenly ignoring all the Ergonomic workplace assessments which generally get done in office spaces to ensure seating, desks, lighting etc are all ok.I can see people ending up suing companies for bad backs/necks etc if they’re not having good office chairs, lights and monitors being provided to them.

 

[Rorschach]

The more Interesting bit about all this WFH being done is that majority of companies are suddenly ignoring all the Ergonomic workplace assessments which generally get done in office spaces to ensure seating, desks, lighting etc are all ok.I can see people ending up suing companies for bad backs/necks etc if they’re not having good office chairs, lights and monitors being provided to them.

Yes, probably something not really thought about in the short term but might be more important this year.

We are lucky, my partner can be provided with anything she needs in terms of equipment and furniture. For space (and aesthetic) reasons we bought our own desk which I modified. There are plans to reimburse purchases like this but I am not too worried to be honest, the fuel savings alone will have more than covered the cost of the desk.

 

[billw]

The more Interesting bit about all this WFH being done is that majority of companies are suddenly ignoring all the Ergonomic workplace assessments which generally get done in office spaces to ensure seating, desks, lighting etc are all ok.I can see people ending up suing companies for bad backs/necks etc if they’re not having good office chairs, lights and monitors being provided to them.

I worked for a company that allowed WFH and as part of the scheme they made sure you had a suitable office chair, a desk, and any items such as monitor stands, wrist pads, etc etc to make sure that your seating arrangement adhered to the same standards as in the office. Also made people do annual refreshers on all the stuff like seating position, posture, taking breaks, exercises at your desk etc.

 

[Cirks]

I was officially home based (consultant) and yes, could get pretty much anything sorted equipment-wise, as can my wife who WFH. Both employed by big companies. I was thinking more of smaller businesses and the situation people who normally work in offices are in. Ie those without home desks, office chairs, monitors, decent lighting etc. Smaller businesses wouldn’t have the ability / finances to suddenly equip or even move loads of kit to people’s homes and lots of employees don’t have space to put desks and office chairs in their homes. In some cases there’ll also be insurance questions too.