It's a proven fact that those who work from home can save more from gas bill, clothing, and other expenses that people who commute to work incur.

But do you know how others justify why home workers or telecommuters earn more than their office worker counterparts?

Are employers intentionally offering slightly bigger salaries to telecommuters?

Apparently not, says one of the study's authors, Bonnie Sue Gariety, an economist at Oregon's employment department.

While she admits not being able to "untie the data from the reality" and identify exactly why telecommuters take home more money, she and other telecommuting experts have a few hunches about the pay gap.

For one thing, people who work at home may simply be better workers than their office-bound counterparts. "Better workers get better benefits," says Gariety.

"If someone is teleworking they have probably proven themselves a good worker," says Rita Mace Walston, executive director of Telework Consortium, a Leesburg, Va.-based agency that assists organizations in planning and implementing telework programs. "The better workers may be given the telework option."

Chuck Wilsker, president and CEO of the Telework Coalition, a telecommuting advocacy group headquartered in Washington, agrees. "I have a hard time believing people are making more money working from home because they are working from home. Maybe the people working from home are working more hours."

The pay gap between commuters and telecommuters -- however slight -- could ruffle a few commuters' feathers. With that in mind, here are a few strategies courtesy of Gariety, Wilsker and Walston:

* Inventory the company's commuters' and telecommuters' salaries. Is there a gap? If so, can it be explained by performance? And when did the telecommuters' salaries rise above the commuters'?

"Were they making a dime an hour more before they began working from home?" asks Wilsker.

* Review time sheets, if applicable. With their commute reduced to about 30 seconds, many commuters simply devote more time to their work.

* Analyze the company's performance reviews to ensure that telecommuting per se does not factor in to the equation.

"HR should make sure performance reviews are based on tasks completed rather than 'I see you, so you must be working,'" says Walston. "Base the review on deadlines and milestones."

via HRE Online