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Amazon Engineer Sues for Work from Home Costs

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71–79 of 79 posts

Re: Amazon Engineer Sues for Work from Home Costs

#71
Honestly we surely need to discuss WFH in laws terms, in the sense of "I worker provide a room, empty, accessible for inspection, the company provide furniture etc, I'm responsible to keep it safe and closed etc" or "I, worker, provide a room, well equipped, and the company pay me a fee for my work and room usage".

But that's not a thing to be discussed in court. It's a thing to be publicly discussed in political terms to arrive at a CLEAR and defined norm for WFH. In some country such norms already exists but are a bit old, meant for another tech era, in some others do not exists at all.

For instance in Italy there are two norms, the ancient clear but hard, a new one opaque and obscene. The first is for "teleworking", it MANDATE an empty room, inspectable by a public body responsible for safety at work, locked, furnished by the company, with dedicated services provided by the company etc. The second is "smart working" witch essentially state that workers and companies agree a kind of place-less, by-target works no one surveil, the company just provide a craptop and a crapphone and all are f** and happy. Clearly both norms are not good at all.

For instance we need to separate time-defined jobs (like call centers, banking, ...) to potentially async ones (like development) and so regulate them accordingly. We need to define "a home workspace" but without exaggerations like the Italian "telelavoro" laws etc. To do so discussing is mandatory, and courts are not a good place to discuss and negotiate...

Re: Amazon Engineer Sues for Work from Home Costs

#72

It is possible - my home office is on a separate circuit (own DB board) and I have a electricity consumption monitor on it. I remember when we went WFH and I was so cheesed over the disruptions in Teams meeting when colleagues used those shitty $10 Chinese made earbuds - asked management to at least supply everybody with a Plantronics headset so we don't waste time. I was told - we are professionals (we need to buy o…

What about HVAC? My laptop and monitor probably add up to 100W. That's maybe $2 of electric per month? My added HVAC bill from being at home is much more, and I'm not sure how to split the bill for it.

Using about 190W - i6700 desktop - Dell Optiplex Mini and HPE mini server (Gen 10) Don't use HVAC during winter - only during summer but it sits on another circuit.

Re: Amazon Engineer Sues for Work from Home Costs

#74
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can take away WFH. It’s pretty simple. “You are required in the office.” They will eventually back fill those roles or make those that are left to fill the gap. Either way, they can and will soon.

What is stopping them right now?

Atm the job market is still hot. But the tide is turning (or so the economists say). When/if this happens it's going to be an employers' market and if the employers' require a butt in the chair there's not much you can do.

IMO though full remote is not without serious downsides for the workers as well. Globalized market with localized salaries and alienation being just two of them. Being in my third year of fully remote I can testify to the second one.

Re: Amazon Engineer Sues for Work from Home Costs

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about HVAC? My laptop and monitor probably add up to 100W. That's maybe $2 of electric per month? My added HVAC bill from being at home is much more, and I'm not sure how to split the bill for it.

Using about 190W - i6700 desktop - Dell Optiplex Mini and HPE mini server (Gen 10) Don't use HVAC during winter - only during summer but it sits on another circuit.

> HPE mini server

Is this personal or for work?

Re: Amazon Engineer Sues for Work from Home Costs

#77
This is absurd and greedy of the employee. Surely the cost of internet and electricity would be a drop in the ocean compared to an Amazon engineer's salary.

As an aside, here in India, most companies do reimburse internet charges. But then broadband internet is quite cheap here - my 300Mbps connection only costs me around $25/month.

Re: Amazon Engineer Sues for Work from Home Costs

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using about 190W - i6700 desktop - Dell Optiplex Mini and HPE mini server (Gen 10) Don't use HVAC during winter - only during summer but it sits on another circuit.

> HPE mini server Is this personal or for work?

Both as it functions as the family NAS - bought it to learn about Docker, Kubernetes , also now an independent contractor so I need my own stuff.

Re: Amazon Engineer Sues for Work from Home Costs

#79
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that this lawsuit's judgement will affect not just Amazon but every tech company in California. The thousands of companies that popped up remote-friendly positions overnight will all have to reassess their stance now that they could be on the hook for employees' electricity, internet and even rent. Right now Amazon and Google have to compete with a startup that is offering a competitive salary and f…

If you look at the IRS rules for deductibility on a home office, they are pretty strict. It needs to be a physically defined area that is used only for work. If you use the same area as living space, or use the same desk and computer for personal stuff, it's not deductible. If you work off of a laptop, sometimes sitting on the couch, sometimes at the kitchen table, it's not deductible. I don't know if California law…

None of this is easily verifiable. Are the tax agencies going to install cameras in your office and monitor your internet traffic to verify compliance?

Not recommending tax fraud, but as a practical matter, these are non-issues.

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