How much does a day at home cost you?

Since Corona it has become the most normal thing in the world: working from home. And let’s face it, everyone likes starting such a day at home at your own pace without traffic jams and vending machine coffee. Many employers also see the benefits of it. So win-win. Still, working from home is not free. Gas, energy, a good workplace. What about those costs exactly? And even more interesting: are you entitled to compensation?

On your home workplace you incur costs other than a day at the office. Your travel costs will of course disappear, but there will be other costs. Let’s sum up: electricity, water, coffee/tea and toilet paper. And how about a furnished workplace with a desk, WiFi and a good office chair?

What does a home working day cost?

We have calculated that working from home costs about € 3 per day. That is of course an average. A compensation of € 3 will not be enough for every home working day. On a cold winter day you have to turn the heating a few degrees higher than in the summer. As a result, some home working days are more expensive than others. From an earlier Independer research from 2020/2021 it appears that a home worker spends an average of 9.3% more money than a non-home worker. This is mainly due to energy costs.

What do you get reimbursed from your employer?

Well, those numbers are actually a bit disappointing. The bottom line is that working at the office turns out to be cheaper than at home. The good news: many employers reimburse homeworking costs. This reimbursement is almost never complete, so it is more of an allowance. Since 1 January 2022, a tax-free homeworking allowance of € 2.15 per day applies. Please note that on the day you work from home you will not receive a travel allowance.

A homework allowance is not a right, unless something about this is stated in your collective labor agreement or contract. If that is not the case, your employer does not have to pay a homeworking allowance. But you can always discuss! Need a good argument? Tell your employer about the tax benefit: as an employer, you do not have to pay payroll tax on a homework allowance.

If you do not receive a financial compensation from your employer, you can also ask for a material compensation. This concerns, for example, items for furnishing your workplace: a desk, a chair, a computer, telephone and cupboards. But here the following applies: if you leave your employment, you must return all these items.

Save on your energy costs

Joris Kerkhof, energy expert at Independer: “You can also get started yourself. You make working from home the cheapest by saving on your energy costs, you get the fastest benefit from that”. On the Independer site you can easily find different compare energy suppliers. Do you still have a current contract with a fixed energy rate, but do you want to see if it is still possible to switch? Then use the transfer tool on the Independer site to see whether you have to pay a transfer fine and how high it would be.

Image: Vlada Karpovich (Pexels)