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Working at Home Pays More
In a recent survey of government data, researchers found that telecommuters make more money than their office-bound counterparts. But why? And how should HR address the issue?
Working from home may be slightly more lucrative than commuting to the office. Aside from the obvious cost savings -- burning less gasoline, spending less on eating out and having smaller clothing budgets, for example -- a survey of Bureau of Labor Statistics data found that men who work from home are paid about 13 cents per hour more than men who work from the office. For women, the differential is about 9 cents. Are employers intentionally offering slightly bigger salaries to telecommuters? Apparently not, says one of the study's authors, Bonnie Sue Gariety, an economist at Oregon's employment department. While she admits not being able to "untie the data from the reality" and identify exactly why telecommuters take home more money, she and other telecommuting experts have a few hunches about the pay gap. For one thing, people who work at home may simply be better workers than their office-bound counterparts. "Better workers get better benefits," says Gariety. "If someone is teleworking they have probably proven themselves a good worker," says Rita Mace Walston, executive director of Telework Consortium, a Leesburg, Va.-based agency that assists organizations in planning and implementing telework programs. "The better workers may be given the telework option." Chuck Wilsker, president and CEO of the Telework Coalition, a telecommuting advocacy group headquartered in Washington, agrees. "I have a hard time believing people are making more money working from home because they are working from home. Maybe the people working from home are working more hours." The pay gap between commuters and telecommuters -- however slight -- could ruffle a few commuters' feathers. With that in mind, here are a few strategies courtesy of Gariety, Wilsker and Walston: * Inventory the company's commuters' and telecommuters' salaries. Is there a gap? If so, can it be explained by performance? And when did the telecommuters' salaries rise above the commuters'? "Were they making a dime an hour more before they began working from home?" asks Wilsker. * Review time sheets, if applicable. With their commute reduced to about 30 seconds, many commuters simply devote more time to their work. * Analyze the company's performance reviews to ensure that telecommuting per se does not factor in to the equation. "HR should make sure performance reviews are based on tasks completed rather than 'I see you, so you must be working,'" says Walston. "Base the review on deadlines and milestones." And don't be surprised if telecommuters turn out to be more productive than commuters. After all, there are a lot of tasks -- "anything requiring creativity, problem solving, trying to keep a train of thought," according to Walston -- for which the relative calm of a home office may be conducive. "The differential may not be big," says Gariety, "but it's a good commentary on how we see work." Before broadband and PCs, she says, working from home was considered a sacrifice; it was hard to be as productive. Today, she says, it's possible to be even more productive from home -- and therefore better paid.
June 20, 2007 Copyright 2007© LRP Publications |
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