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Requiring large US employers to compensate on-site office workers in full for their commuting costs would be one way of discouraging long commutes, as laid out

Requiring large US employers to compensate on-site office workers in full for their commuting costs would be one way of discouraging long commutes, as laid out by the IRS' Publication 463 ( https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463 ). If they want employees in the office so badly, let them assume the full cost of transportation & food/beverages. That would only be a starting point, though. Because as others have already pointed out, employers still aren't compensating on-site employees for the time they spend commuting -OR- the time wasted preparing for the commute. The average one-way commute time in the US is just under 30 minutes. But in order to get to work at 9:00am, I used to have to wake up at 7:30am. That's an extra 1.5hrs per day, on top of the 1hrs spent commuting. Finally, there's the human cost associated with working in the office. I didn't have time to help my kid get ready for school; he had to take the bus, which (yep) costs more money than if I could just drive him. When I got home, I usually missed dinner with my wife & kid. And I'd rarely have time to take care of all the daily chores: laundry, dishes, grocery shopping. Which means that once the weekend finally does arrive, I have to spend my free time working to take care of those remaining chores. Now that I work from home, I can roll out of bed, drive my son to school, shower, get coffee, & show up to work at 9:00am every day. I can attend non-participant meetings while also doing laundry or dishes, while wearing a wireless headset. My cat spends part of his days in my office, which makes the work days feel less like work. I can grab a late lunch, pickup my son from school, & be home in same time it'd normally take me to get lunch downtown. I can make my own lunch at home, too, which is usually healthier & costs way less than eating near the office. When I'm done at work, I can actually have dinner with my family now. And when the week is over, I can actually spend most of my free time doing stuff I want to do, besides chores. Honestly, I'm not convinced that employers could ever fairly compensate workers for what it costs us to commute. But forcing them to pay some of that price, instead of placing the majority of that burden on workers' shoulders, would be a start.

ahtihn 3y ago
> But in order to get to work at 9:00am, I used to have to wake up at 7:30am. That's an extra 1.5hrs per day, on top of the 1hrs spent commuting. What preparation do you need for the commute that you wouldn't need working from home? Any why do those preparations need 1 whole hour? When I'm in a rush, it takes me about 10 minutes from getting out of bed to being out the door.
- danaris 3y ago
  Working from home, you can wear clothes that are less polished and professional. (Depending on the needs of the day, you might not even need to take a shower and get properly dressed at all!) You can pop back down to the kitchen at 9:15 and grab a breakfast to bring back to your seat. You can hear the dog barking to get back in right from your desk, rather than having to wait for them to be done, then put them in the crate, before you go. You know that the route to your desk won't have a random delay of 0-20 minutes, so you have to leave early just to guarantee arriving on time. You know that there won't be a line at the coffee. Even ignoring all those little improvements, there's a big difference between "the maximum speed I can get from bed to door in an emergency" and "the speed I am comfortable moving to get ready to go every morning of every workday."

ahtihn 3y ago

> But in order to get to work at 9:00am, I used to have to wake up at 7:30am. That's an extra 1.5hrs per day, on top of the 1hrs spent commuting. What preparation do you need for the commute that you wouldn't need working from home? Any why do those preparations need 1 whole hour? When I'm in a rush, it takes me about 10 minutes from getting out of bed to being out the door.

danaris 3y ago
Working from home, you can wear clothes that are less polished and professional. (Depending on the needs of the day, you might not even need to take a shower and get properly dressed at all!) You can pop back down to the kitchen at 9:15 and grab a breakfast to bring back to your seat. You can hear the dog barking to get back in right from your desk, rather than having to wait for them to be done, then put them in the crate, before you go. You know that the route to your desk won't have a random delay of 0-20 minutes, so you have to leave early just to guarantee arriving on time. You know that there won't be a line at the coffee. Even ignoring all those little improvements, there's a big difference between "the maximum speed I can get from bed to door in an emergency" and "the speed I am comfortable moving to get ready to go every morning of every workday."