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Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

swissinfo.ch

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Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#131

Post by Finnucane »

rwmj wrote: post #104

When I ran a company in the UK and worked from home I claimed various expenses: 100% of the cost of computers, desk, chair, printer and that sort of thing. And a proportion of the cost of electricity, rent etc which was calculated based on the size of the room I used as an office compared to the rest of the house (I don't remember the exact number but it might have been 10-15%). As far as I'm aware this is all comple…

In the US it is similar. If you have a home office you can deduct it as an expense, but it is a bit of a pain. To get the full benefit it has to be a dedicated work space. When I was doing freelance editorial work I didn’t bother because my only dedicated expenses were my red pencils and my copy of CMS.

Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#132

Post by bla3 »

philipov wrote: post #122
thetopher wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a non-remote employee, I had to find housing near my office. Now, as a remote employee, my only real requirements are a power source and internet connection. Sure, I have to live somewhere, but that need isn’t a result of my employment. It seems that non-remote employees have more specific and expensive housing requirements and costs.

If you use that new-found freedom to pick an area with a lower cost of living though, you're going to get your salary cut.

Another perspective is that if you live somewhere remotely, employers will pay for your increase in cost of living if you move to a more expensive place.

Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#134

Post by sgc »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #130
antr wrote: post #20

Thought: - Companies that now realised that remote schemes works for them, will push for that scheme to remain, with the aim of reducing their fixed costs (office rent, utilities, insurance, etc). - This eliminates a big chunk of fixed costs... as most are shifted to the employees. - If authorities/employees start demanding that part of those costs are covered by the company, companies will push to get avoid work-fro…

> I'm sure that there are other unintended consequences, such as higher rents, but who knows. That's not that easy. While Switzerland doesn't do rent control per se and there can be regional differences depending on scarcity of real estate for rent a landlord is rather restricted in raising rent once a contract is signed. The only reasons why a rent can be raised are: - Additional investments into an apartment, but t…

Curiosity questions: Do you know the specifics on the inflation based increases? Is it a common practice for landlords to have these increases?

Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#135

Post by zitterbewegung »

antr wrote: post #20

Thought: - Companies that now realised that remote schemes works for them, will push for that scheme to remain, with the aim of reducing their fixed costs (office rent, utilities, insurance, etc). - This eliminates a big chunk of fixed costs... as most are shifted to the employees. - If authorities/employees start demanding that part of those costs are covered by the company, companies will push to get avoid work-fro…

This hinges on that companies and people have a positive net benefit for each person that will exceed the amount taxed. Working from home eliminates transportation costs and time and for companies the need to buy real estate for people and all of the equipment.

Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#136

Post by malthaus »

MrGilbert wrote: post #128
malthaus wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing sketchy, i just linked to the semi-offical english Swiss news-feed. It was distributed in our local languages through all the standard media yesterday and has been the center of discussion in (virtual) office chitchat today. This is real and now Swiss companies have to figure out how to deal with it.

"Now"? This decision is from 2019, so they have to deal with it since 2019. Or did I miss something about the swiss legal system? And, if challenged, I'm pretty sure that judges might "judge" different if confronted with the current "state-of-emergency"-kind of situation.

You are right.

Our legal system is a bit different than in the US as we don't have US style case law though (not a lawyer so don't ask me for more details).

It was brought up again due to the current situation re home office and adds to the discussion in the country as well as elsewhere i think and is likely to be challenged now by employees with their respective employers.

Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#137

Post by technicaldonut »

bla3 wrote: post #132
philipov wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you use that new-found freedom to pick an area with a lower cost of living though, you're going to get your salary cut.

Another perspective is that if you live somewhere remotely, employers will pay for your increase in cost of living if you move to a more expensive place.

Or just hire people from low cost of living areas.

Depending on the location, they could just let you go. Imagine moving from Idaho to NYC. Drastic increase in cost. If an employer needs to compensate for that, I'm pretty sure theyll think long and hard whether its worth it.

Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#138

Post by CaptainZapp »

sgc wrote: post #134
CaptainZapp wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure that there are other unintended consequences, such as higher rents, but who knows. That's not that easy. While Switzerland doesn't do rent control per se and there can be regional differences depending on scarcity of real estate for rent a landlord is rather restricted in raising rent once a contract is signed. The only reasons why a rent can be raised are: - Additional investments into an apartment, but t…

Curiosity questions: Do you know the specifics on the inflation based increases? Is it a common practice for landlords to have these increases?

I hope your German is up to scratch :) [1]

Basically: It's based on a consumer price index with the starting point of May 2000 (100%) and which is published every few years.

A landlord can apply a maximum of 40% of the index increase in rent-increase, since the last time rent was adjusted. This is based on his equity investment into the object.

Does this make sense?

[1] https://www.mieterverband.ch/mv/mietrecht-beratung/ratgeber-...

edit: slight clarification

Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#139

Post by beezle »

Pfhreak wrote: post #18
dannykwells wrote: post #2

In the US of course, we deduct our home office from our taxes, meaning that our fellow citizens, or debt, support working from home. Thos seems like a saner solution.

Not anymore, this administration did away with that deduction in 2017 if you are an employee. Unless you are a contractor, business owner, or otherwise self employed you cannot deduct a home office. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2020/03/23/wor...

Employers can reimburse employees for home office costs provided they meet the existing definitions of home office and proper, regular accounting is done. That money is not considered taxable income to the employee.

However, an upfront flat "reimbursement" would probably be considered a taxable fringe benefit.

Re: Swiss companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home

#140

Post by 0817527930 »

antr wrote: post #20

Thought: - Companies that now realised that remote schemes works for them, will push for that scheme to remain, with the aim of reducing their fixed costs (office rent, utilities, insurance, etc). - This eliminates a big chunk of fixed costs... as most are shifted to the employees. - If authorities/employees start demanding that part of those costs are covered by the company, companies will push to get avoid work-fro…

> - This eliminates a big chunk of fixed costs... as most are shifted to the employees.

Signal apparently has a co-working space subsidy for remote employees which I think is a great idea.

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