Were Companies Flexible With Expense Policy During WFH?

While some employees were using workplace funds to purchase office equipment during the Coronavirus work from home shift, they respected the expense policies put in place by their employers.

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On Blind, the anonymous professional network, we learned that employers were not more flexible than usual with what they allowed employees to expense.

Expense Policy During Work From Home

1. Was your company more flexible than usual with their expense policy during work from home?
   • 70% of professionals did not get a more flexible expense policy during WFH
     • However, some companies granted their teams more flexibility during these unprecedented times
       • 63% of Linkedin employees had a more flexible expense policy during WFH
       • 69% of Indeed.com employees had a more flexible expense policy during WFH
       • 73% of Expedia employees had a more flexible expense policy during WFH
       • 92% of Zillow employees had a more flexible expense policy during WFH
       • 75% of Dropbox employees had a more flexible expense policy during WFH
       • 82% of Intuit employees had a more flexible expense policy during WFH
       • 80% of Okta employees had a more flexible expense policy during WFH
       • 70% of eBay employees had a more flexible expense policy during WFH

2. Did you violate your company expense policy during covid-19?
   • . Even with remote work and less visibility, 97% of employees did not violate their company expense policy during covid-19
3. If yes, were you caught for violating your company expense violation during covid-19?
   • . For those who did violate their company expense policy during covid-19, only 1% of them were caught. 

View data highlights here.

Employees Share Their Experience

A Google user posted, "In Google Ads, we get nothing. Do we deserve anything? No. We get enough to pay to buy things that we need ourselves."

A user at Barclay's shared, "To start it off, no, I did not. No help on purchasing equipment for at-home use and no dinner credit. Some firms such as Goldman are reimbursing their employees for any WFH expenses you incur (monitors)"

An employee at Hyundai Capital America shared, "I had thought about this before, and I did read some articles that said some banks are offering employees allowances for office equipment and even dinner budget... but I got absolutely nothing. Definitely could use a better office chair :( "

The switch to remote work meant that employees were outfitting their homes with office equipment like computer monitors, printers, desks, and chairs. However, most of these companies did not extend this type of financial support to their employees.

The companies who extended empathy and support to their employees during this unprecedented time will likely retain their talent more effectively as the workplace opens up again.