Hiring magaenrs and applications routinely ask if the applicant has reliable transportation. Likewise, they often require workers to bring protective equipment, tools, clothing, etc. whether they work on-site, or remotely from home. Employers can deny employment or hours to a worker without a computer or without a network connection, based on the essential requirements for BYOB policies.

The computer should be reliable, and the network should be reliable. I’ve seen how satellite connections flake out, freezing with every handoff like distant cell towers . If the tech stack and/or transportation isn’t reliable, then neither is the expectation of productivity.

If employees need reaction times that are reasonable, live teleconference connections on a presentation, then the employer may say that certain precautions are necessary to guarantee reliability up-front.

There are more people doing “digital nomad” work and more American expats in foreign countries. A worker who is a citizen of the USA and employed by a USA firm may be working from South Africa. A digital nomad may be less prepared or less well-informed about the prevailing conditions on the local power grid, network backbone, solar wind and aurora forecast. You name it.

If someone believes that employers are concerned about “throwing away leverage” then that believer is not me, because I have personal lived experience of such employers and such written requirements.