Google has launched an internal calculator that lets employees see how much their payments will be reduced if they decide to work from home on a permanent basis, according to a Reuters report. What’s unfair about Google’s implementation is that those who normally commute to work from less expensive neighborhoods will be made to take a larger pay cut compared to those who live in the city the office is located in.
Google has followed the decision of Facebook and Twitter to cut pay based on where employees live whereas other firms like Reddit will pay remote workers the same no matter where they live. Responding to the issue, a Google spokesperson told Reuters that:
“Our compensation packages have always been determined by location, and we always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from.”
The decision has meant that some workers will now continue to commute to work because the pay cut is too great. One unnamed employee explained that they recently got a promotion and a pay rise at Google but according to the calculator, they’d receive a pay cut of 10% if they did remote work which would have wiped out their recent gains – this is causing them to continue commuting two hours into work when they could be working from home.
In terms of how the new rules could affect employees’ pay, Reuters reports that it has heard some people say that pay cuts could reach as much as 25% based on the calculator’s estimates. According to Payscale, the average wage at Google in the U.S. is $120,000; with the new changes, some could see their wages reduced by $30,000 based on those figures if they choose to commute.