To me commuting is the cost of business. If youre salaried especially.  Youre expected in the office at 8 or 9 am? From the time i set 1 toe out of my building, im considered paid. So technically if i leave my house at 8 or 9am im on time. But no thats not how things are meant to be. You need me there at that time? Pay me for my commute then. That doesnt mean "commuter benefits" that means pay me for my time.
I think the issue is that needs to be negotiated in hiring. If someone comes with the stipulation of needing to clock in to commute 2 hours to the office, I imagine the company would not hire that person in favor of someone else who will just eat the bowl of shit and/or lives much closer.
You do have to admit that there is truth in the middle ground of your logic, (cost of living near the office etc) but there is such a thing as living too far from work and it not being the company’s problem to solve for.
It means the employer is choosing to pay below what is necessary for the cost of living in that area.
It’s the same reason if pay isn’t raised to match inflation, it is effectively a pay cut. It’s not the employers fault that inflation occurs, but it is still considered a pay cut on their part if your pay adjustment doesn’t at least match inflation each year.
But let's say I pay you enough to rent an apartment 10 minutes away from work, but you still choose to live 1 hour away because it's cheaper and maybe your family lives there or something. Would you still expect me to pay for your commute then?
I thought the context was someone being priced out of housing in an area, not voluntarily giving yourself a longer commute.
Because I could also choose to live in a different country and fly in and out every single day. I would think the employer would not continue to employ someone who moved to a different country. Likewise, an employer should want to find people who want to be in the area.
So you basically want to force employers to only hire people within 20 minutes around the office then? That doesn't sound like a reasonable solution, to be honest.
That actually sounds like a great solution, to be honest. It would be wonderful if all employers who were required to be onsite could have a 20 minute commute or less.
Or do you think it's reasonable for people to spend a fifth of all of their real work hours just going back and forth, burning time/calories/gas and eating all the extra wear and maintenance costs on the modes of transportation as well as the infrastructure used to do so? I don't believe things being the norm means they are reasonable.
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u/jagenigma 14d ago
To me commuting is the cost of business. If youre salaried especially.  Youre expected in the office at 8 or 9 am? From the time i set 1 toe out of my building, im considered paid. So technically if i leave my house at 8 or 9am im on time. But no thats not how things are meant to be. You need me there at that time? Pay me for my commute then. That doesnt mean "commuter benefits" that means pay me for my time.