this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023
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Suppose there are two employees: Alice and Bob, who do the same job at the same factory. Alice has a 10 minute (20RT) commute, Bob commutes 35 minutes(70RT).

If you're the owner of the factory, would you compensate them for their commutes? How would you do it?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Government has power to put it on trial.

  1. Revitalize public transportation, adjust timetables to usual starts\ends of shifts;
  2. Make dumb paycards to pay-per-ride, consequential rides counting as one (if one needs to jump them);
  3. Public sector employees, essential ones first, get 2 rides per working day monthly, to go there and back;
  4. After getting some stats, make it equal to N litres of gasoline in $, tax-free, promote paying with it on gas stations and for government's services. No easy conversion to cash tho, not at the start at least, so it won't be seen as free money, worthy a fraud.

As a public test, it'd show if it works. Then, it can be pushed onto students, then on other spheres.

Then, as a large amount of workers has this benefit, it's not a wet dream but a real thing to consider and demand. One that private businesses would see.

I do find that not paying for commute has a good competitive value. It means I start to earn money right from the time I clock in, not spending my first minutes to compensate getting there โ€“ and that's a bitch for low-paid workers. Compared to those working from home, I still wake up earlier and am trapped on company's ground, but it's a first step to bridge and accept this difference.

In some cities I visited (ex-socblock) some big factories provide their own transport to take workers from their district and then bring them back. Since they are based way out of cities' limits due to health concerns, it's an obvious solution to that. By managing the commute of workers, factory may also be sure everyone in production line gets there at the same time, reaching full efficiency.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Let's make generalizations to answer the bigger problem here.

Most jobs that people are talking about are in cities.

Some people choose to not live right in the middle of a city for various reasons, but still want that job. They may live in a nearby community, the edge of the city, a county or two over, etc.

Predatory companies like Amazon resolve this by telling someone like Ryan homes to build a few 300 house communities right next to their new warehouse, resolving the issue and making their own non-city town. Normal companies do not have this ability.

There has to be a balance.

Businesses need to not be involved in commute repayment. They should instead invest into their local communities to make them more desirable to live in.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"choose" is doing a lot of work there. Have you priced housing lately? The real "choice" I see is that companies "choose" their location such that their employees can't afford to live nearby on the wages they're earning, or the companies "choose" to pay employees to little in wages to afford to live nearby.

[โ€“] grepe 2 points 1 year ago

You could also say the employees choose to work for the company that's not paying them enough. Of course they have constraints in how many jobs there are and how many other job seekers exist and which jobs they are qualified for... but then the problem complexity explodes to "how do we build a fair society" very quickly.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I'll offer Bob a place near the workplace if he's a good employee. If he asks me to pay for his transportation expenses, it won't happen. I think I'd formally invite him to find another job at the end of the contract.

[โ€“] rockSlayer 2 points 1 year ago

If I were to do it, I'd take the mileage of the drive as the most important factor, as companies in the US know the addresses of employees. Then I'd assume a gas price of $4.5/gallon at all times (Midwest prices aren't like the coasts) and assume a gas mileage of 25mpg. The person is paid this every day of the year without exception

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, the one with the longer commute should be taxed extra to account for all the damage caused to the environment, increased traffic, road wear and tear, etc.

Commuting should never be encouraged. Live where you work.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Fuel card, or static rate for travel costs that actually covers the cost

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[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (7 children)
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[โ€“] Hazdaz 2 points 1 year ago (11 children)

This is idiotic. No one compensates employees for their commute.

So many ridiculous variables that would need to be factored in and so much room for abuse. Are they going to be compensated based on distance or time?

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Where I live (NL) โ‚ฌ0,21 per kilometer (untaxed) is typical. Some get a cross country public transit pass which can be used for unlimited private trips or even car which can also be used for private trips, though for cars this is seen as income and taxed. But with tax incentives for EVs it isn't too bad.

There are also companies that pay something like โ‚ฌ600-1500 per month mobility budget (taxed as income if not used, partly tax free is used for transportation options named above or KMs.) This is more typical in higher paying jobs of course.

It's less typical to see time paid.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

This is idiotic. No one compensates employees for their commute.

Yea, thats not true. Where I live any employer legally has to do it. They either pay a certain amount per kilometer (defined by law) or pay your public transportation fee. I rack in about 300โ‚ฌ of travel compensation every month which covers fuel costs. Having to pay to get to work seems to bizzare to me.

Also wait till you learn our lunch breaks are paid and on top of that the company has to either provide a meal or compensate you for that too...

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[โ€“] Touching_Grass 1 points 1 year ago

I would negotiate that with them because maybe Bob doesn't care but Alice does or vice versa. Now if I was either bob or Alice. Yes I'm calculating fuel, maintenance and meal cost into pay.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

The compensation could be capped at 15 miles or 30 minutes or something, which would encourage people to live closer to work.

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