Going to work shouldn’t cost you
But for journalists at The Dallas Morning News at Al Día Dallas, it does — and that has to change.
Dallas Morning News and Al Día Dallas journalists have spent thousands of dollars of their own money to accommodate their work-from-home experiences amid the current public health crisis.
Dallas County government reporter Nic Garcia, who had been using his kitchen island for a desk since our remote work began last March, finally broke down and spent $300 for a home office. He hasn’t tried to expense those purchases.
Madi Alexander, a computational journalist at The News, spent $62 on a chair to work from home, $84 on a desk and $22 for a chair pad to help with her chronic back and hip pain. She faced company pushback after requesting a standing desk to help with her health issues.
“The real battle was getting them to cover the cost of a sit/stand desk, even though I was asking for one as an accommodation to a well-documented health condition,” Alexander said. “It took nearly three months for them to agree to pay for a $150 desk riser. Even though I was in significant pain, the first response I got was essentially, ‘Everyone’s back hurts and we can’t afford to get everyone a standing desk. Try putting your monitor on a box.’”
Work-related expenses and mileage allowances are critical pocketbook issues for our journalists. As the Dallas News Guild progresses in negotiations with A.H. Belo, we are highlighting an aspect of our working conditions that requires the company to step up, and sooner rather than later.
Our journalists should not have to spend their hard-earned money to purchase materials to do their jobs, and if they do, they should be reimbursed — for every penny. By footing the bill for purchases that go unreimbursed, we are subsidizing the company and creating barriers to working at The Dallas Morning News and Al Día Dallas that favor those with the money to do so.
We also feel strongly that the company’s rate of paying its employees 38 cents a mile for work-required driving — far below the Internal Revenue Service’s standard of 56 cents a mile for 2021, down from 57.5 cents last year — is too low.
Employers in Texas aren’t required by law to reimburse work expenses like they are in eight states and the District of Columbia. But our journalists have dug deep into their personal funds to buy items needed to work remotely. Some who have tried to get reimbursed have run into resistance. Many haven’t even tried to expense items they’ve purchased for work because they don’t know if they should and the company doesn’t have a clear policy on this.
So why can’t our company do better, especially when so many others are? According to a CNBC report in June 2020, when the pandemic hit, many employers began paying for remote staffers’ work equipment including computers, desks and chairs. Some even helped with Wi-Fi expenses — the latter being another cost our company should give thought to, considering our 11 months and counting of remote work.
Some companies aren’t giving employees a break on out-of-pocket work expenses. In a Nulab survey of 850 remote workers last year, the Society for Human Resource Management reported that employers told 37% of those who had to purchase equipment that they wouldn’t be reimbursed. Those workers — many of whom weren’t allowed to bring equipment home from the office — spent an average of $194 on needed materials.
But A.H. Belo shouldn’t be like those employers. It should set a higher standard by fully reimbursing employees, especially in such challenging times.
When it comes to equipment, many of our journalists would rather use their own because the company’s — from laptops to photography supplies — are of such poor quality.
Longtime reporter Dave Tarrant, who recently retired after 32 years at The News, said he purchased not only a printer for work but also a laptop cooling pad with a fan because his company laptop kept overheating. Stories of the pitiful usability of the company’s laptops are numerous.
There’s also the maddening issue of our journalists paying for parking in the garage on Harwood Street during the pandemic. While we’ve worked remotely, many have made few or no visits to the newsroom, meaning we’ve had no need for the garage. Yet we’ve continued to pay hundreds.
It’s our firm belief that the company should have supported employees by waiving the parking fee during the pandemic. At the Austin American-Statesman, employees don’t pay for parking.
When it comes to mileage reimbursement, many companies pay higher allowances than ours and at least sniff the IRS rate, which has been 51 cents a mile or higher since 2011. Journalists at The Baltimore Sun get the IRS rate and a monthly stipend for auto insurance.
With many of our reporters and photographers covering so much ground in their personal vehicles, a bump from 38 cents a mile would go a long way toward helping cover auto maintenance. For instance, Border-Mexico Correspondent Alfredo Corchado estimates that he puts in an average of 200 miles a month on his beat. Our sports writers, especially those who cover high schools, also log many miles covering games across North Texas.
The journalists of The Dallas Morning News and Al Día Dallas owe it to our readers to provide the best coverage possible and would never give anything less. But they require the full support of A.H. Belo in that pursuit.
The historic Dallas News Guild is the first newsroom in Texas to organize since before the turn of the century. Learn more at our website at www.DallasNewsGuild.org.
#ByDallas#ForDallas
