The Workplace Discount Program (formerly Home Use Program) offers 30% discounts on Microsoft 365 to employees of many organizations and government agencies. Here’s how the Workplace Discount Program (WDP) works, the tricks and traps.
What is the Workplace Discount Program – WDP?
Organizations (companies, governments etc.) that have Microsoft 365 volume licenses can get Software Assurance (SAM) for extra cost. One of the SAM benefits is discounted Microsoft 365 Family or Personal for employees called the Workplace Discount Program (WDP).
The program has been around for many years under the name Home Use Program (HUP). The old HUP was very complicated and many organizations didn’t bother or misunderstood the minimal requirements. These days, the Workplace Discount Program is very easy for both organizations and their employees.
Do I qualify for Workplace Discounts?
All you need to do is go to the Microsoft WDP page and enter your work email address. If you qualify. Microsoft will send a verification email. If not, nothing is sent.
The verification link lets you connect your personal Microsoft account to get Workplace Discount pricing.
Microsoft 365 plans with Workplace Discount Program
Both retail Microsoft 365 plans are available at the 30% discount under the Home Use Program.
Microsoft 365 Family (was Home) (6 users each with 5 Office logins)
Microsoft 365 Personal (1 user with 5 Office logins)
Each user also gets the other Microsoft 365 features most importantly, 1 Terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage and 60 minutes of Skype calls to regular phones.
“Same, same but cheaper”
The Workplace Discount Program is a discounted Microsoft 365 price but otherwise the same software and benefits. Microsoft 365 Family or Personal for WDP is exactly the same features and rules as sold to the general public.
As they say in Thailand “Same, same …”.
Microsoft 365 prices with Workplace Discount
With help from some Office Watch readers, we can confirm the discounted prices in various regions. All the prices we’ve seen are exactly 30% off the retail prices.
USA
For US customers the Workplace Discount Program 30% discount works out to:
Microsoft 365 Family usually $99.99 Workplace Discount Program price. $69.95
Microsoft 365 Personal $69.99 WDP price . $48.99
PLUS state and other taxes.
Canada
For Canadian customers the Workplace Discount Program prices are:
Microsoft 365 Family usually $109 Workplace Discount Program price. $76.30
Microsoft 365 Personal $79 WDP price. $55.30
UK
Microsoft 365 Family usually £79.99 Workplace Discount Program price approx.. £55.99
Microsoft 365 Personal £59.99 WDP price approx. £41.99
Europe
The EU/Europe 30% Workplace Discount Program discount prices are:
Microsoft 365 Family €99 WDP Program price €69.30
Microsoft 365 Personal €69 WDP price €48.30
Australia
Microsoft 365 Family $139 WDP Program price $97.30
Microsoft 365 Personal $109 WDP price $76.30
Thanks! to Dan, Sarah, Geoffrey, Franklin, Bill, Doug, Rob and Anthony – the Office Watchers who provided us with intel and screen shots so we could confirm the details of the Workplace Discount Program.
Copilot and the Workplace Discount Program
Copilot is a separate add-on to Microsoft 365. For consumer plans, Copilot Pro costs US$30 a month, per user.
There’s NO discount on Copilot Pro under the Workplace Discount Program.
Is the Workplace Discount Program worth it?
Overall, the Workplace Discount Program offers excellent year-round discounts on Microsoft 365 plans.
A 30% discount on Microsoft 365 Family is a good year-round price. These days M365 Family is rarely discounted down to the WDP price.
Microsoft 365 Personal isn’t usually discounted by much and rarely, if ever, by 30%. So take the WDP discount.
The Microsoft 365 plan discounts continue even after you leave the qualifying employment.
Discount after leaving employment
In the past, leaving the job meant you were supposed to stop using the HUP/WDP Office software. If the organization stopped paying for Software Assurance, they had to tell their staff to stop using the discounted Office software (though this wasn’t enforced).
It’s very interesting, if not downright strange, part of the latest Workplace Discount Program.
Staff who have the WDP discounted Microsoft 365 can get it for the foreseeable future, whether they still work for that organization or not. Even if the company drops Software Assurance (SAM), the already signed-up employees still get their WDP discount.
To keep getting the WDP discounted price all you have to do is:
- Keep automatic Microsoft 365 renewal ON
- Use the same personal Microsoft account.
Why this unexpected largesse from Microsoft?
One of the points of the old Home Use Program was to encourage staff loyalty, so the new terms go against that from an employer’s point-of-view. The ongoing WDP discount is denying Microsoft money from more expensive renewals once someone leaves employment. It’s not like Microsoft to ‘leave money on the table’.
Add to current Microsoft/Office 365 plan
The Workplace Discount Program is linked to your personal account, not a work email.
When you first sign up, via the Microsoft WDP page, a verification link is sent to your work email address. Use that link to setup your personal Microsoft account for the discounted prices.
If you already have Microsoft 365 Family or Microsoft 365 Personal, you can extend your current Microsoft 365 plan with a Workplace Discount Program discounted year. As long as you use the same personal Microsoft account.
Once purchased, an additional discounted year is added to your existing subscription. The WDP discounted rate will apply at the annual renewal date, though we’d suggest checking very carefully that the WDP discount is used on renewal.
Buying multiple years at once
It’s possible to buy Microsoft 365 Family or Personal retail for up to five years ahead. Some people do that if they find a very good, but still legal, retail price.
Can a WDP purchaser can buy multiple years at once?
In other words, if someone qualifies for Workplace Discount Program discount, can they buy more than one year’s worth of Microsoft 365? Doing that would lock-in the WDP discount regardless of any future changes to Microsoft 365 and the Workplace Discount Program
If leaving a job and have the funds, it might be prudent to buy up to five years of Microsoft 365 at the WDP discounted price, just to make sure the discount is confirmed.
We’d be interested to hear from any reader to tries to buy two or more WDP discounted years of Microsoft 365 at the one time (or one year, then another a little time later). Will Microsoft’s system let you buy many years?
Visio and Project discounts
Both Visio and Project are available under the Workplace Discount Program but only some employees qualify.
The organization must have licences for Visio or Project and then specifically allow an employee to buy at the WDP discount.
If Visio or Project doesn’t show up on your Workplace Discount Program page, ask your IT or HR departments.
The Microsoft 365 price trap
As with all Microsoft 365 plans, there’s no price guarantee for future years. Workplace Discount Program discounts and rules on Microsoft 365 are also subject to change.
At any time, Microsoft can change the Microsoft 365 prices or what you get on each plan. They’ve already made both price and benefit changes to Microsoft 365.
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