So you can still work from home. First of all, you're lucky. Second, it obviously comes with a lot of freedom. But what happens when your “work from home” situation becomes a “work from anywhere” situation? That is, you still work normal hours, but your “home” is now a hotel room, or an Airbnb, or a hostel, or whatever type of vacation accommodation you prefer, regardless of where you're going. vacation you prefer.
Do you have to tell your employer that you now work in a totally different city/country/continent and in a totally different “home”?
Like most things, it really depends on who you work for.
“I have an employee who had to return to Türkiye for two months for family reasons over the summer, and that suited me just fine,” says Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who directs the FMH research and survey on working methods and attitudesa joint project between Stanford, the University of Chicago, MIT and ITAM. “He’s a fantastic artist and I’ve kept in touch with him via Zoom. Everything went well and it turned out to be a great solution.
Bloom, of course, isn't the only one who feels this way. There are a number of managers like him, who don't care where their remote employees are, as long as the work gets done. But what about when your manager isn't so nice?
A Reddit thread dedicated to the question pleads to keep your mouth shut, as a few Redditors have shared stories of colleagues finding out about their trips and becoming jealous, going so far as to complain to their managers. Meanwhile, on the management side of the equation, user Coppermill_98516 explained: “As a manager, I really don't want to know. This saves me some bureaucracy and gives me plausible deniability if necessary.
That said, if you take the quiet route, you may face some legal issues, including tax laws. According to ADP“In many states, a nonresident employee's wages are subject to income tax on the first day of travel into the state for business purposes. »
“A week isn't really a big deal, but some states will want you to pay taxes there if you work there for a certain period of time,” explains Redditor Spacebier. “Often only 30 days. Will they catch you? Probably not, but if you do, have fun with your new accountant. Also, another reason not to mention it is that your employer might also have to pay taxes in that state. (Things could get even murkier if you go international, although many countries have tax treaties that help avoid double taxation.)
“The other tricky issue is that employers have regional pay policies,” Bloom tells me. “I generally advise employers to have a salary policy per country to avoid this type of problem. But I'm aware that many remote employees are paid a local rate (e.g. it varies by state), which makes this complex and cumbersome.
Whether or not you should disclose your travel plans to your employer also depends on the nature of your job. “If you use health or defense data protected by U.S. laws, you may be legally required to be in the United States. Or if you work with sensitive scientific information or embargoed services, certain locations or countries may not be secure,” Bloom said. “On the other hand, if you're coding, say, the home screen of a retail website, as long as you perform your job efficiently and meet the appropriate tax and regulatory thresholds, then I think the location is flexible.”
Also be careful, you can denounce yourself without ever opening your mouth. “Some employers have computer software that tracks your location,” says Redditor Shon_t. “This can be true either through software installed on your computer or through a VPN portal that you need to connect through.”
But what if you only have a simple job, the place you're traveling to doesn't have complicated tax implications, and your manager is super cool? Bloom says checking ahead of time is always best practice. “If your employer rejects the request, then you can potentially challenge it if the decision seems unreasonable,” he explains. “If they’re flexible, then you’re totally covered.”
