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Should your company pay for your expenses while you work from home?

Coffee? Tea? Internet? This is what your company should pay when you work from home.

Johannesburg, 21 Aug 2020
Sandra Maritz, Legislation Consultant at CRS Technologies.
Sandra Maritz, Legislation Consultant at CRS Technologies.

There are regulations and rules that protect both employer and employee when it comes to costs, tools and behaviours, but these are being tested in entirely new ways with the 2020 pandemic. It’s a perfectly legitimate question for any employee to ask for financial support when they’re working from home, using their Internet and electricity to do their jobs. It’s equally legitimate for companies to query the extent of these costs at a time when budgets and economies are tight. According to Sandra Maritz, Legislation Consultant at CRS Technologies, employers are obliged to provide employees with the tools they need to perform their duties, but what the employer ends up paying for will differ from company to company.

“The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) requires an employer to provide an employee with the tools they need and this can include Internet, data, stationery and the like, where applicable,” says Maritz. “The employer may require that the employee then provide proof of the data capacity on their devices and the proof of payment for the data if they are going to reimburse it. If data isn’t exclusively used for the business, for example, the costs should be calculated and shared.”

The employer isn’t required to provide staff with a subsidy for coffee, tea, cleaning materials, or telephones, however, expenses such as rent or bond interest, or premise repairs may be claimed from SARS (South African Revenue Service) as a tax deduction. The latter expects the employee to meet rigorous qualifying conditions, however, this is not a guaranteed payment either. While SARS does make provision for home office expenses, this is only allowed under certain conditions – the employee must spend more than 50% of their working hours working from home and must have done so for a minimum period of six months in a tax year. They also need to have an area of the home exclusively used for a home office – not the dining room or lounge – and it must be fitted with the relevant tools.

“I think it’s safe to say that a company may be willing to pay for the total cost of the data or Internet connection, and they may even be willing to pay an allowance for coffee or tea or cleaning materials, but working out the percentages on these would be difficult,” says Maritz. “It’s very unlikely that they’ll pay for a percentage of the rent or house bond or electricity. That said, these payments will vary from company to company.”

Some companies may be willing to provide their people with extra rands to cover some of the expenses of working from home, some may do the bare minimum. Employers are not required to do more than what’s defined by the BCEA, and some may not be able to due to financial constraints, but ultimately it will depend on the company, the employee and their unique remote working situation.

For more information, go to www.crs.co.za.

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CRS Technologies

CRS Technologies is a leading provider of solutions and services to the growing human capital management industry.

Following its establishment in 1985, the Johannesburg-based company quickly found its niche in the HR, people management and payroll sector and soon matured into the specialist of choice for blue chip organisations and SMMEs throughout Africa.

Today CRS is acknowledged as the most proficient HR and payroll solutions company on the continent, underpinned by solutions and services that help create workplaces of inspired, engaged and rewarded employees. Our approach to market is about maximising value between employer and employee, integrated with innovative technology that unlocks human potential and grows businesses.

CRS achieves competitive advantage through its commitment to global best practice in HCM and its drive to transform HR departments into strategic, valued-added business units, be it through bespoke software and services or shared industry insight.

For more info, go to www.crs.co.za

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