Like most other large insurance companies do for their employees that were forced to move to work from home Allstate needs to give each employee a monthly utility allowance until a full return to office is done. Our power and water bills have gone up noticeably since starting to work from home. Grocery bills have increased also. Working from home has become a financial liability for many employees and Allstate should be obligated to make us whole for these increases in expense. Just $100 per home working employee per month would make a big difference, show appreciation for our increased costs, and would help our home budgets. It wouldn't scratch the surface of company profits and is a cost the company can certainly afford. Once mandatory work from home is lifted then the utility allowance can be lifted as then it would be either a mandatory back to the office or a voluntary work from home which would then put the increased utility costs back on us by choice. In fact there should be a back pay per month back to at least April 2020 when work from home became wholly mandatory. Do the right thing Allstate like your competitors do for their employees!
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I’ve been around since Allstate was under Sears Roebuck, in fact I started In the catalog department before I transferred over to Insurance. I can tell you Allstate is horrible now and I and ready to retire and be done.
I'm on board with this totally. We have electric heat and electric cooling. When in the office for 10 hours a day the thermostats were set accordingly. Now home all the time cooling during summer and heating during winter was a substantial increase. Plus running appliances more during the day. All this resulted in about $50-75 more per month from when working in the office. My water bill also went up over $30 per month with usage increases from when working in the office.
Unlike others my food bills weren't affected. I don't quite get that one. In fact I wasn't eating out as much working from home.
However all this is just a pipedream as much as I think Allstate should do this. It would show just a teeny bit of caring about us. I mean our wages are pretty pathetic.
Just to be clear .. Two extra flushes per day impacted your budget..
Our pay is already junk. Without having to eat these added costs at home. This is the least they could do.
I agree with some of the prior posters. Many of our competitors have provided such allowances to their employees for the additional costs being incurred at home. A former Allstater friend that is now with Progressive has been getting this additional allowance pay since last summer and there were articles online about Geico and others doing this. When you add up 8-10 hours per day of electric usage, water usage, additional heating and cooling costs, and meals at home this is an expense concern for the employees that needs addressed. My total living expenses have increased well over $100 per month since being relocated to working from home and there had been zero consideration from Allstate for relief.
The office provides a physical location, paid utilities, internet, a cleaning service, paper/office products/printers, coffee etc. talk about someone else footing the bills employees are taking a pay cut by working remotely at this point in addition to not getting raises, having their workloads double and in some cases triple and having the Damocles’ sword of layoffs hanging over their heads. GTFO of here previous poster with your minimizing of these circumstances.
Settle down Glenn!
What a joke. Food? So you eat more because you are home and you are saying you never ate lunch at work. Food makes absolutely zero sense. You eat at home you eat at work, what the heck is the difference, either way you are paying for it. Water? Really, so the two extra times you need to use the restroom because you are at home instead of at the office. What a bunch of cry babies. I sure hope no one else is using your internet at home to do homework, surf the web or watch movies. I hope no one else is using the water during your work hours. If you want someone else to flip the bill it damn well better be only used for work during work and for nothing else. How about they make it really easy for you and you just go find a job elsewhere that will accommodate your outrageous needs. Let me guess, it’s always someone else’s fault, someone else always owes the bill, never you. Stop asking for everyone else to take care of you and just do your god damn job. What a joke
@1uqb Thanks Captain Obvious but we are talking about the increases in water and power bills that were forced into us by having to work from home. I get why the company had to do it but the increases should have some relief provided by to us by the company.
allstate pays reimbursement for internet usage and phone usage
Yes I agree that the costs to upgrade internet at my home for a work from home I was forced into cost a lot more than my budget per month. Allstate was awfully quick to demand this added internet package cost but did not offer any compensation which I feel they should be required to. I had no issues staying in the office during the illness.
My drive was not far so the savings of gas and upkeep on my vehicle was of little importance to me. This higher cost internet and increases in my power, water, and food should be compensated in part especially since this was forced on us.
Compensation should be factored on a case by case situation. My commute to the MCO is about 10 to 15 minutes, very little traffic. Upgrading my home internet service was not cheap, I think some compensation may be warranted. When all the offices close in the future this company will be saving millions. There was a time before high speed service Allstate paid for a second phone line at your home.
Saving on gas and my insane commute is more valuable to me.. I can’t get my time back.
If they decide to send us back, I’m job hunting
For the last 25 years Allstate has not lived up to the industry standards on pay or benefits. Don’t expect them to now. This is a situation they are taking advantage of. At the expense of the worker. Live with it or quit.
The amount of money and time saved from less gas used, no time traveling and less vehicle depreciation more than make up for any additional electricity used. Quit complaining
I prefer to work from home, it’s 420 all day & only do the bare minimum! That’s all the Chicago Scumbags get.....
I see Mr. Shapiro has joined the thread. How was your weekend Glenn? Douche....
S— it up. Be happy you have a job at all and have the privilege of working from home during a pandemic. I never want to go back to an office setting. Don’t miss the commute, getting up early or the stress of trying to get home in horrible traffic. I am more than willing to pay slightly higher utilities in order to save time and gas on the road. S— it up and work
I understand that, however that in no way offsets the financial impact and burden working from home has created. The leases in these offices are a horrendous bill. Allstate has gained governmental offsets along with many added pluses by this covid.
The original poster of this topic is spot on. It’s great to save a commute but a commute is a benefit for some. Allows the time to decompress after a long stressful day. Now the claims are with us morning noon and night. Many have worked 12-14 hour days in this work from home environment with no recognition. The least Allstate could do is pay us a portion for our utilities.
I understand what you are saying, but I am saving way more gas money compared to any utility increase, and I no longer have a 45 minute commute each way. I get my hours in, and I have more time at home with family.