RE: Should I furnish computer?

["Swallow, William" <WSwallow -at- courion -dot- com>]

::  He may not be paying for commuting but that is nothing 
::  compared to the financial benefits they have from him
::  working at home. Too many people presume that working
::  from home only benefits the employee...but that's
::  another discussion.

Sure, it benefits the company to a degree, and it also benefits the employee
to a degree. Therefore, I still fail to see why the company should then be
expected to pay for personal computer use. Besides, it's really not an issue
for us to argue whether it's right or wrong and warranted or not. This issue
should have been raised prior to the work-at-home agreement and handled
between the employee and the company in that agreement. Sure, the employee
can then ask for compensation at a later date, but the company is in no way
bound to grant that wish. 

I've worked from home a decent amount, and every time I've used my own
equipment without fuss or fear. If something went wrong with the machine,
I'd investigate the problem. If I could determine it a work-related problem,
I'd ask for compensation for repair. If it was my own fault, I'd suck it up
and pay the bill myself. 

As for lost data and other responsibility issues, it's no different than at
work. You are responsible for keeping your work materials backed up and
safe, whether you are at work or at home. If you have a live connection to
your work servers (which ISDN/DSL provides), it's no different than being at
work. You load your working files to the server for nightly backup. If you
have no such connection, back up to Zip, CD, Jazz, whatever. Don't have such
drives? Buy one. They're cheap and will come in handy even at home in
non-work situations.

::  Finally, play the disability card last but research it now. 
::  If you are
::  working at home solely because of your disability I believe 
::  they need to
::  provide you with the same level of equipment and resources 
::  (as much as
::  possible) as their standard employees. However, do your 
::  research. It may
::  help to make a copy of the Disabilities Act and highlight 
::  the areas that
::  apply to you before you subtlety drop it off with your boss.

And for cryin' out loud, TALK to your boss about it. That's what bosses are
for...  mediation between you and the company. Bring up your issues in an
honest and polite manner, and see what happens.

I have to keep going back to the original situation... A work-at-home
arrangement has already been made between the company and employee. That
means that in some way, shape, or form, both parties agreed to the current
terms of employment. So, the company is going to now analyze what warrants
the sudden change. I think the best option is to just approach your boss
first and bring up all the pertinent issues (and don't ask for the sun, moon
and stars... keep it simple). Then see what happens. You could find that the
situation resolves itself favorably in a matter of days.

Anyhow, food for thought moving forward. If you are thinking about working
from home, cover all bases if you're that concerned. Personally, I'm not. I
still have an ignorant notion that most people in this world are still open
to suggestions, and are at least somewhat willing to be helpful when asked.

***************** 
BILL SWALLOW 
Technical Writer 
C O U R I O N   C O R P O R A T I O N 
1881 Worcester Road 
Framingham, Mass.  01701 
T E L * 508-879-8400 x316 
F A X * 508-879-8500 
www.courion.com 
***************** 

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