This company has a new remote work rule: Pay up to stay home; what is it?

A Japanese company has a new work-from-home rule. Those who decide to work remotely pay a part of their salary to the colleagues coming to office. 

Disco Corp, a Japanese semiconductor equipment maker, in a novel approach, has used an internal currency called "Will" to form a micro-economy where sales teams pay factory workers who brave the commute to turn up in the office. 

Under the said mechanism, sales teams pay plant workers to produce goods, who in turn pay engineers to design products. 

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Even meeting rooms, office desks, and PCs have a price. When a sale is realised, the coin percolates back through the supply chain. 

The remaining balances are paid in yen towards the end of each quarter as bonuses, Bloomberg reported. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Disco did not have the choice of allowing all its employees to work from home. 

Someone had to turn up to keep the factories up and running. Thus, the company created a mechanism whereby those working remotely paid a specific amount of 'Will' to be divided among employees who showed up in the office.

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"Ordering some people to go in while others stay home is unfair," Disco chief executive officer Kazuma Sekiya told the news agency. "The company currency offers behavioural incentives and the choice is up to you. That's the power of Will," he added.

Sekiya, motivated by video games, introduced the system in 2011. Disco credits Will with reducing overtime and curtailing unnecessary meetings.