Company says employees can work from home… for a 20 per cent pay cut

Employees at a U.K. law firm will make substantially less money than their colleagues if they don't agree to return to the office for at least a few days per week.

A U.K. company says it’s fine if their employees want to work exclusively from home… so long as they’re willing to accept a 20 per cent pay cut.

Some staff at Stephenson Harwood LLP, a London-based law firm, were told that post-pandemic work-from-home requests would come with a sizable pay decrease, reports The Guardian.

According to the newspaper, the new salary rules come for existing employees requesting a full-time remote position. Staff already have the ability to work from home two days per week as part of the company’s hybrid work policy.

An employee at the firm told Law.com that during the pandemic, Stephenson Harwood hired lawyers who were based in other locations in the U.K. for resourcing reasons. Those people, according to the source, were hired at a lower pay rate than London employees, as they did not have to contend with the costs of commuting to London.

“Like so many firms, we see value in being in the office together regularly, while also being able to offer our people flexibility,” a firm spokesperson told law website Legalcheek.com. “For the vast majority of our people — and the candidates we speak to — our hybrid working policy works well.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there’s been much debate over the pros and cons of working from home.

Some say they’re more productive at home and love the lack of commute, which allows them to start earlier and stay later.

Others struggle with remaining focused in a home office and miss in-person interaction with their colleagues.