Remote Employees - Internet Reimbursement

[EmilyH]

Can anyone share what they're currently doing in the way of Internet Reimbursement for Remote/Work From Home employees?

• Do you utilize a monthly stipened?
• Do you have a max monthly or annual reimbursement amount?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[Jeremy]

At my previous company, they started out reimbursing remote employees for phone/internet/fax up to $125 per month.  As more employees went remote due to office closures, they changed it to $75 per month and a one time $500 "office setup" reimbursment to get whatever was needed (desk, chair, printer, etc.)  After about 5 years, they decided that working remote was a perk and discontinued all reimbursements for home office expenses.  Part of the justification they presented was that employees would have internet service even if they did not work remote (perhaps at a slower speed but they still would have had something in place for personal use.)  

It really depends on the culture and if work from home is considered a perk or a requirement (due to lack of office space). 

[LisaRourke]

We are having a hard time with this same topic. We were paying existing remote employees internet bills in full that they would put in through Concur for reimbursement. However, with everyone working from home now and for the forseable future, we are considering moving to a stipend based plan. It seems to be easier and requires less admin work to approve a monthly/recurring internet expense.

The best stipend plans I have seen are ranges that give a little bit more $ based on the level the employee is at. 

[KevinD]

@LisaRourke Here at SAP Concur we get a set dollar amount we are allowed to submit each month for internet. I think you might find this much easier to manage. We don't offer higher amounts based on the person's title/postion. 

[TeresaE]

We started out reimbursing employees but then switched to a monthly stipend which is provided to each employee.  This was easier, it relieved the added work required of the the audit team to review for duplicate monthly submissions for Internet reimbursements.  the monthly stipend is much easier and removed the added work required from the audit team.

[JessicaL]

Yes, we use a stipend for Mobile Phone/Internet Charges - it is a monthly fixed payment no matter the actual bill amount. It was implemented March 2020 and is still in place currently. 

[Dawn1262]

I am new to the company how do I get started with internet reimbursement?

[KevinD]

@Dawn1262 Here is what I wrote to you one of your colleagues who asked if they qualify for internet reimbursement and how to claim it if they do.

Seeing if you qualify for internet reimbursement is a decision your company will need to make. I recommend speaking with your direct manager to see if you qualify for it. 

If you do qualify, you will log into SAP Concur, click Expense at the top of the screen. On the next screen that appears, click Create New Report. This will open the Report Header screen. Name the report and fill out any fields that are marked as required. They will either have a red bar on the left side of the field or a red asterisk. Click Next when you are done filling out the Header details. This will create an open your new report. On the right side of the screen you should see a list of expense types. There should be one for Internet. Click this. Fill out all the required fields for the entry.

You will need to provide a receipt for the expense. What I do is log into my Internet Service Provider account online, pull up a copy of my bill and screenshot it. You could also download your bill in PDF format. Either way, you need a digital copy of the receipt. Once you have saved the receipt on your computer, click the Attach Receipt button. You will see it at the bottom of the expense details you just filled out. A window will open that allows you to Browse for the receipt image file. Click Browse. Find the file that is the receipt image for the Internet. Click the image, then click Open. Once you do this, click Save. The Save button will be right near the Attach Receipt button.

That will do it. Once done, click Submit in the upper right hand corner. The Submit button is orange. 

Give this a try. 🙂