Should companies now start paying for home internet services?

[brianmanahan]

If you are required to wear a specific uniform or required to wear special shoes it’s cover **at least in several states
If you are required to use your car for work reasonable parking fees are covered

i've payed like 15000$ in parking over my career that wasn't covered

one place had a program that allowed it to be pre-tax, but wouldn't pay it outright

 

[dullard]

i've always needed shoes to go to work but my company doesn't pay for the shoes
also i needed to park at work but the company doesn't pay for parking

1) Shoes are a poor example to use. If it is a safety shoe required to do your work (and doesn't meet exceptions such as you wear it for personal use), then yes by law the employer IS required to pay for the shoes.

https://www.osha.gov/dte/outreach/intro_osha/7_employee_ppe.pdf

On May 15, 2008, a new OSHA rule about employer payment for PPE went into effect. With few exceptions, OSHA now requires employers to pay for personal protective equipment used to comply with OSHA standards.

Examples of PPE that Employers Must Pay for Include:...
 Rubber boots with steel toes

2) Are you actually required to pay for parking? Truly required? Like it is not allowed to take a taxi, carpool, walk, ride a bike, etc? I doubt it. So, no in most cases it is not REQUIRED to pay for your parking. It may be highly impractical not to pay for parking, but not required.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

i've payed like 15000$ in parking over my career that wasn't covered

one place had a program that allowed it to be pre-tax, but wouldn't pay it outright

Were you required by your employer to drive to work in your car?

 

[brianmanahan]

2) Are you required to pay for parking? Truly required? Like it is not allowed to take a taxi, carpool, walk, ride a bike, etc? I doubt it. So, no in most cases it is not REQUIRED to pay for your parking. It may be highly impractical not to pay for parking, but not required.

true, it's not a requirement, i did bus for a while because it was cheaper

 

[dullard]

true, it's not a requirement, i did bus for a while because it was cheaper

That requirement is the thing that is different. You weren't required to pay for parking, but it made your life a whole lot better. We are talking about actual requirements to do the job where you are unable to do the job without the expense.

Are you required to use internet for working from home? Then yes, in many locations by law the company must reimburse you at least partially for the internet. Can you do your job without the internet at home? If you can go without, then there is no requirement to pay for the internet and the company does not have to reimburse..

 

[Fanatical Meat]

true, it's not a requirement, i did bus for a while because it was cheaper

That’s the point. A guy like the one who works for my wife is getting notice he is approaching his data cap, that afternoon he is asked to transfer a large amount of files.
Again I’m not saying internet should be 100% covered and I’m not saying everyone should be greedy and take the most expensive internet package possible. I’m simply saying employers should cover some amount of the internet and ideally phone bill (provided phone is required and it’s not some VoIP type set up)

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

If you are required to wear a specific uniform or required to wear special shoes it’s cover **at least in several states
If you are required to use your car for work reasonable parking fees are covered

I've been to a lot of liberal states... I have never heard of employers having mandatory laws to cover parking. Some have out of the kindness of their hearts (or covered portions of it).... but nothing mandatory.

Liberal cities are also more prone to having public transit...

Anyhow, unless you are driving a company vehicle because your actual job requires going to/from places or something - how is driving ever a necessity? Even things like road construction I've talked to guys that have to pay $30/day to get to work for parking.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I've been to a lot of liberal states... I have never heard of employers having mandatory laws to cover parking. Some have out of the kindness of their hearts (or covered portions of it).... but nothing mandatory.

Liberal cities are also more prone to having public transit...

Anyhow, unless you are driving a company vehicle because your actual job requires going to/from places or something - how is driving ever a necessity? Even things like road construction I've talked to guys that have to pay $30/day to get to work for parking.

I'm talking like @s0me0nesmind1 company needs you to drive to the city and attend some conference. Parking would be covered. I am not talking about I took a job downtown and I should get free parking.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I'm talking like @s0me0nesmind1 company needs you to drive to the city and attend some conference. Parking would be covered. I am not talking about I took a job downtown and I should get free parking.

See, why is it a necessity? They could tell you to take public transit (e.g. bus), or take a taxi if it's within a reasonable distance?


What is the defining characteristic of saying it is a "necessity"?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

See, why is it a necessity? They could tell you to take public transit (e.g. bus), or take a taxi if it's within a reasonable distance?


What is the defining characteristic of saying it is a "necessity"?

"You have to upload this large file on your limited data cap account."
"You have to use your vehicle or Bus or Train or whatever to get to a location you normally don't work at"

 

[Red Squirrel]

i've always needed shoes to go to work but my company doesn't pay for the shoes

also i needed to park at work but the company doesn't pay for parking

i don't see why internet would be different

Wait, you have to pay to park at work? That sucks.... then again, our hospital is like that too, even staff have to pay. I think that's BS. A workplace should not charge employees to park. When I worked there I had a parking pass, was paid for by my company though since I was a contractor, but people who work for the hospital actually pay out of pocket.

 

[brianmanahan]

Wait, you have to pay to park at work? That sucks.... then again, our hospital is like that too, even staff have to pay. I think that's BS. A workplace should not charge employees to park. When I worked there I had a parking pass, was paid for by my company though since I was a contractor, but people who work for the hospital actually pay out of pocket.

yeah like 10$ a day

at least it's not one of the big US cities where you pay 30$ to 50$ a day to park close

usually in those cities i park for 5$ an hour away, then take a 10-20$ train in

 

[Red Squirrel]

yeah like 10$ a day

at least it's not one of the big US cities where you pay 30$ to 50$ a day to park close

usually in those cities i park for 5$ an hour away, then take a 10-20$ train in

Woah that's still a lot of money, that's crazy. And people there are actually ok with that?

 

[sdifox]

Wait, you have to pay to park at work? That sucks.... then again, our hospital is like that too, even staff have to pay. I think that's BS. A workplace should not charge employees to park. When I worked there I had a parking pass, was paid for by my company though since I was a contractor, but people who work for the hospital actually pay out of pocket.

Lol downtown Toronto parking is 20 a day if you park at city owned lot. Private lot is a lot more. I take commuter train, which is like 18 a day. Much easier on me than driving in rush hour traffic.

I used to work at a hospital and you can get a pass at half the regular rate if you fill out a form but it is still out of your own pocket.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Lol downtown Toronto parking is 20 a day if you park at city owned lot. Private lot is a lot more. I take commuter train, which is like 18 a day.

Yeah Toronto is crazy for parking. I would not even bother owning a car if I lived there or other big city, too much of a hassle driving in those places, let alone parking. It would take a lot to convince me to move to a place like that in first place though. MAYBE do it for a short term gig if it was enough to retire off of after a year or two. Like if some oddball opportunity came up that pays upper 6 figures.

 

[sdifox]

Yeah Toronto is crazy for parking. I would not even bother owning a car if I lived there or other big city, too much of a hassle driving in those places, let alone parking. It would take a lot to convince me to move to a place like that in first place though. MAYBE do it for a short term gig if it was enough to retire off of after a year or two. Like if some oddball opportunity came up that pays upper 6 figures.

Err you need a car in Toronto. NA cities are not built around public transit. I have done close to 500k km of driving and most of it is really putting about.

 

[brianmanahan]

Err you need a car in Toronto. NA cities are not built around public transit.

i didn't drive last time i was there, i stayed like 30km out of downtown and took the ttc bus and subway to downtown

i got to spend loonies and toonies on the bus. man i love those words

 

[Red Squirrel]

Err you need a car in Toronto. NA cities are not built around public transit.

Don't they have transit there? Any time I've visited I always took the go bus or ttc to get around as I would leave my car at home and take Ontario Northland to get there to avoid having to worry about driving or parking etc. Usually requires planing in advance to know the routes though. But no way would I want to live there and deal with that on a day to day basis.

 

[MrSquished]

Err you need a car in Toronto. NA cities are not built around public transit.

The only big city in the US you can really get away with not having a car at all and it still being very convenient is NYC. I'd say most New Yorkers don't own cars actually. Staten Island kind of skews the numbers because it's far less dense than the rest of NYC with no subway system, and is mostly suburban, so most people own cars there. But the four main boroughs that people think about when they think NYC - Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, car ownership is far less than half.

 

[sdifox]

Don't they have transit there? Any time I've visited I always took the go bus or ttc to get around as I would leave my car at home and take Ontario Northland to get there to avoid having to worry about driving or parking etc. Usually requires planing in advance to know the routes though. But no way would I want to live there and deal with that on a day to day basis.

Public transit is ok if you are just doing home to downtown and back. But I live in Markham, I would have to do a lot of transfers to get somewhere. And then back. If you live downtown, then yea transit can work.

 

[sdifox]

i didn't drive last time i was there, i stayed like 30km out of downtown and took the ttc bus and subway to downtown

i got to spend loonies and toonies on the bus. man i love those words

Getting to downtown is doable, moving around town would be a pain.

 

[brianmanahan]

Getting to downtown is doable, moving around town would be a pain.

when you can't drive for years at a time, you get used to the pain

going to a store or doctor that would normally be a 25 minute drive away is either a 75 minute bus ride with 2 transfers, or a ridiculously expensive uber/lyft

eventually you just do less and less things because it's not worth the hassle or money

then throw in a freaking pandemic and riots and it makes for some great times

 

[Red Squirrel]

Public transit is ok if you are just doing home to downtown and back. But I live in Markham, I would have to do a lot of transfers to get somewhere. And then back. If you live downtown, then yea transit can work.

Oh yeah if you live that far that's different. That would be like me having a job in Cochrane and living here or vise versa. Would not want to be that far from work.

The nice thing about big cities though is other than work, typically everything is just a walk away.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Lol downtown Toronto parking is 20 a day if you park at city owned lot. Private lot is a lot more. I take commuter train, which is like 18 a day.bmuh easier on me than driving in rush hour traffic.

I used to work at a hospital and you can get a pass at half the regular rate if you fill out a form but it is still out of your own pocket.

Jeebus dude, $18/day for standard commuter train? Are we talking a piece of shit tram that is packed to the brims, or a nice train with big seats and such?

Even still, $18/day to just have a seat on a train is nuts too.

I would drive if the only expense was $20/parking, but when you factor in things like gas and car wear/tear, then I guess I would begrudgingly accept the train.

 

[sdifox]

Jeebus dude, $18/day for standard commuter train? Are we talking a piece of shit tram that is packed to the brims, or a nice train with big seats and such?

Even still, $18/day to just have a seat on a train is nuts too.

I would drive if the only expense was $20/parking, but when you factor in things like gas and car wear/tear, then I guess I would begrudgingly accept the train.

50 min ride each way. It's a double decker commuter train. I take an early train at an earlier stop so I get to sit. Not so for people that get on later. I would not drive to downtown, too much wear and tear on me.

Haven't gone down in a while so forgot roundtrip fare is 16 when I use the pass as opposed to cash $18. We do get a discount after 35 rides in a month, 36-40 is 1.07 each and after that it's free. But the standard month is 20 work day so 40 rides is the norm.

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