Your Complete Guide to Nailing Stipends for Remote Employees

Working from home is the preferred normal. Many leaders see this new setup as an opportunity to cut costs—no office rent, no office furniture, no office bills. You get the jist.

But does this mean remote work is entirely free? Absolutely not. At least not if you want to retain your workforce in this candidate-driven job marketplace.

Offering a stipend for remote employees is the perfect solution to acknowledge the hidden costs of remote working and shoulder the financial burden alongside your remote team.

What Is a Stipend? 

A stipend is a fixed sum of money paid to an employee, intern, trainee, researcher, or recent graduate to pay for fringe benefits or help offset expenses.

What is a stipend for remote employees? A stipend is a fixed sum of money paid to an employee. Also known as a remote work allowance, it’s given in addition to a base salary so that employees can access certain perks and cover the extra costs incurred by working from home.

Why Should You Offer a Remote Work Stipend?

At Hoppier, the #1 stipend management software company, we’ve seen a rise in employers and HR leaders exploring the idea of offering partial—or their entire perk stack to employees—via stipends. 

This makes sense considering offering work perks to employees via a stipend management software reduces the administrative burden by pre-approving individual budgets to achieve the same goal for all employees, in-office or remote alike.

Why Should You Offer a Remote Work Stipend to Your Remote Team?

Stipends for remote employees are highly recommended. A survey found 42% of employers have already enhanced or are actively considering enhancing allowances and reimbursement policy policies for remote employees in response to the pandemic. This includes internet, cellphone, and home office expenses.

Offering remote working stipends gives your business the chance to gain an edge over your competition and ensure your employees are satisfied and motivated to give their best at work, regardless of the new location.

Benefits of a Remote Work Stipend

The far-ranging positive impacts of offering a remote work stipend include:

• Higher Productivity: Remote stipends give each employee the chance to set up their home offices adequately and comfortably. This helps them focus on doing their best at work, positively impacting the company’s productivity.
• Improved Employee Engagement: Getting extra money apart from their salaries makes remote employees feel more valued and appreciated by their employers, leading to a highly engaged and loyal task force. They are also more at peace of mind knowing they aren’t missing out on the traditional benefits and perks associated with an in-office setup.
• Greater Appeal to Potential Job Candidates: Candidates are more likely to choose companies that offer a comprehensive remote work benefits package to offset expenses like internet and office equipment. So if you want access to top-level talent in your industry, offering stipends is a no-brainer.

What Do Work-From-Home Stipends Include?

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Remote stipends don’t always have to be about cold, hard cash. Instead, you can offer your employees experiences and perks that facilitate their personal or professional development.

Below, we’ve compiled a list of ideas to help you get going.

Wellness Stipend

Help your employees cultivate a healthy mind and body by giving them free monthly subscriptions to wellness apps like MyFitnessPal, Headspace, and Calm.

Achievement Stipend

Show your appreciation for a job well done or commemorate work anniversaries. Use Hoppier’s virtual cards to let the employer choose something they like from millions of vendors — without exceeding your budget.

Lunch Stipend

Ensure your employees connect and communicate over delicious and energizing lunch every week. Let them order their favorite food from UberEats, Doordash, or HelloFresh to boost employee engagement throughout the day.

Work From Home Stipend

Give your employees the chance to set up a comfortable home office, customized to their needs and preferences. Let them go wild and get their favorite work items from IKEA, Wayfair, and Office Depot.

Personal Productivity Stipend

Subscriptions to Evernote, Todoist, and Superhuman are virtual gift ideas that will help your team save time and focus on the opportunities that matter most.

Charity Stipend

Have your employees give back to society by letting them donate to charities of their choice. This is a creative employee gift idea that keeps on giving.

Professional Growth Stipend

Encourage your employees to learn new skills and get inspired by field experts. Give them free subscriptions to world-class professional courses from Udemy, Audible, and Udacity. Hoppier also has partnerships with language learning apps and online learning communities like Skillshare to take upskilling to the next level.

Onboarding Stipend

Want to give a corporate gift that stands out? Help new employees have a solid start at your company. Give them a small allowance to buy necessary equipment from Apple and Amazon to set them up for success.

Birthday Stipend

Make your employees feel important on their special day by sending them affordable gifts. 

Personalize Stipends for Your Remote Team With Hoppier

Your competition is already offering your employees remote stipends to pay for their home offices, professional development, and additional expenses. If you want to attract top-performing talent — and retain your existing talent — you have to implement and manage a remote work stipend for your team right away.

Hoppier allows you to customize work from home stipends like never before. Offer your employees breakfast experiences, professional growth courses, and onboarding benefits, among many other gift ideas.

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What’s more, sending remote stipends couldn’t have been easier. Choose the perks employees love, then assign and manage budgets for each stipend. Gift your remote team a customized virtual Hoppier card to enjoy the perks right from the comfort of their home.

Takeaway Thoughts

If it's possible for your employees to get their job done from home, there’s a high likelihood they'll have the option to work from home for the foreseeable future. As a result of this, the landscape for how we offer perks and what perks we offer will be changing as well. 

Make remote work an easy and productive experience. Use a stipend management software like Hoppier to keep your employees motivated, productive, and happy while making the whole experience efficient and pleasant.

Book some time with one of our program specialists to get a free demo of Hoppier and see it in action today.