Set your remote people up for success.
Equipment stipends, also known as technology stipends, have been around for a while as they're the predominant way to help your people get the best equipment they need to do their best work.
However, with our swift transition to working from home due to COVID-19, many people are now leveraging their power to make sure their people have the proper infrastructure and equipment at home to work productively and comfortably.
We developed this guide to give you everything you need to know about equipment stipends.
Here's what is covered in this guide:
First, a definition:
An equipment stipend is a sum of money given to employees for them to use to purchase equipment to make working easier and more productive.
These are not to be confused with remote work stipends which are another form of allowance for employees.
Further details on what they are:
Below are a few examples highlighting the unique approaches.
Shopify gave their people $1,000 at the beginning of COVID to buy office supplies to help ease the transition of working remote amid the coronavirus outbreak.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have given each employee $500 to expense items to get their work-from-home office/desks set up.
Employees can spend up to $200 on pre-approved equipment to improve their WFH setup.
Located in SF, their WFH equipment and tech stipend was at $300 from March 2020 to beginning of May, but it was recently bumped up to $500.
Summit CPA Group gives new team members a $3,000 technology stipend that’s put on a prepaid business card, and then they provide a $2,000 a year afterward. These funds are used to cover any broken equipment or equipment which needs to be updated.
Lastly, there are many many more examples of companies doing this successfully. If you want to hear what our customers are doing, we’re happy to advise. Click here to talk with a perk stipend expert.
[If you're looking for the type of stipend to support your people who work from home on an ongoing basis, you might be looking for a remote work stipend.
Remote work stipends can be set up to support people on a regular basis to cover the costs of working remotely which they wouldn't have to worry about if they were working in an office (high-speed wifi, coffee, or a coworking pass).
And a general perk stipend can be created if you wish to support your people with personalized perks regardless of where they work. These can include a singular category of spending like food, or a bucketed approach which includes more like food, family, tech, continuous learning, health & wellness, and student loan repayments.]
Your people will purchase the items they genuinely need to ake their remote work life easier and more comfortable. When people's backs aren't hurting from sitting in their dining room chair for eight hours, they can better focus on their work.
When you give your people an equipment stipend, it shows you trust them to do what's best for them and the company. Many companies find that their employees appreciate the program and very few take advantage.
When you roll out an equipment stipend to your people, you aren't picking and choosing a few people to support (the squeaky wheels), you're supporting your people in a fair, equitable, and inclusive way.
If you use a software for managing your equipment stipends, you set up a scalable solution that won't bog down HR, finance and IT. The right software can help you increase your team's efficiency.
Download the free eBook to find out why perk stipends and lifestyle spending accounts have become the most common new perk.
Look to the examples above if you need inspiration.
Most common options include:
If you choose this option, be prepared to set up a process to track purchases, receipts, balances, approval and paid-out perks, as well as rejections or ones which need further review. Consider using Google forms to track submissions, excel or Google sheets to track progress, and be sure to create a process to track the nontaxable vs taxable (for IRS compliance).
2. Select an expense software to manage it.
Expense software solutions like Expensify and Concur are largely meant for business expenses like this and can be very helpful for an equipment stipend.
If using this option, make sure every employee has access to your company's expense software option.
This is the ideal option if your IT team is managing the process.
3. Select a perk expense software to manage it.
Perk stipend solutions have become more common over the past few years and now essential as companies extend their remote work options into the foreseeable future.
This kind of software can be especially helpful if it communicates your program to your team members, track their balances and spending.
This option is helpful if your organization is planning to work remotely for an extended period of time and you consider bringing your on-site perks online so you can continue to support and serve the needs of your people.
There are more stipends than just a tech stipend. Do a Google search for “top perks” and tucked inside almost every single list in plain sight are a surprising number of perk stipends.
So what are the other types of stipends or allowances?
In addition to equipment and tech stipends, there are other types of stipends that companies offer their people. These types types of stipends or allowances make it possible for companies to offer more perks, with less money and ensure that they're personalized to meet the needs of their people.
Let's connect to see how an equipment stipend would work at your company, and how it can help your company achieve even greater success.