How does your employer handle travel expenses?

[yh125d]

History:
For about four years prior to our company getting bought by a larger company last year, travel was a flat $175/day per diem for everything, and the standard mileage rate for personal vehicles. All our travel was local in the OK/AR/TX area.

Since the buyout, there's been a lot more "standard" type of business travel (flying to wherever for meetings/whatnot). Now, our company pays for all the flights and lodging upfront, and we submit expenses for all meals, taxis, etc. When we were bought out we were told for meals we'd get the flat $XX/day rate from the IRS or wherever

I traveled to Pittsburgh for a week recently, and as I was expecting to get the $71/day allowance for meals, I both ate well ($71 buys plenty of good food, why not) and didn't keep but about 1/3 of my receipts.

When I got back and put down the allowance on my report, it was denied and they told me now it's just reimbursement for claimed receipts.


For a little more background on when we got a flat $175/day, $50-70 can get you a decent motel in this area, plus some for food and still pocket $75-100/day. Our boss knew this was the case and everyone involved just viewed it basically as an incentive bonus for spending a week in a motel away from your home and family. Also, those type of trips always allowed us to get plenty of overtime as an added bonus.


Now though, we can at best break even if we keep every single receipt, which is a pain, and while we can still get some overtime, it's not much.


Basically there's now zero incentive for myself and others to travel for our company. We are all hourly workers who have nothing in our job descriptions that suggest any travel at all, so it's not like we signed up for this and are now unhappy. Another topping on this shit-cake, myself and a couple of the other guys are being asked to be doing things that are several years and dollars above our experience, rate, and position. One guy in particular was in Pittsburgh 3 separate weeks the last 2 months, is going to Houston next week, then Columbus with me 2 weeks after that, so he's got it way worse than me even.

There's been grumbling amongst the troops for awhile now about all this, we are considering forming a unified front and taking our case to management to change these policies. FWIW, our management does seem to be pretty reasonable and receptive, and some of the subsidiary offices do at least cover the govt. set allowances


Cliffs:
Used to be able to profit from business travel
Now we can at best break even
No incentive to travel
No obligation to travel
Given duties/responsibilities well above our pay grade for no extra $/promotion
Thinking about joining together and taking our case to management


Has anyone had any experience taking concerns like this to management, and if so, some tips?


We're mostly younger guys too, so any elder wisdom from the corporate world would be greatly appreciated

 

[Tweak155]

I was given a corporate card but still had to scan receipts over $xx amount.

 

[PenguinPower]

I'm sure your JD says, "And other duties as assigned," or something to that affect.

You're being paid for travel time within normal working hours? Being compensated for verifiable business expenses as outlined in policy? Nothing wrong. You shouldn't profit from reimbursements. If you feel you deserve more because of travel, ask for it.

You're free to join together and raise your concerns without fear of legal retaliation, but it sounds like you should just find a new job.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I get roughly $40 a day for food. No general per diem for incidentals or entertainment. That stuff comes out of pocket. Receipts for everything or I don't get reimbursed. No corporate card at the moment, but those that have one still have to keep receipts. Otherwise the unapproved charges have to be paid back, either by check or payroll deduction.

They aren't too strict about hotel or flight arrangements so I can pick convenient travel times usually. I've had my itinerary questioned by management before so they do keep tabs to make sure people aren't traveling to customer sites at like 3pm, basically wasting the entire work day.

 

[Ns1]

When I got back and put down the allowance on my report, it was denied and they told me now it's just reimbursement for claimed receipts.

This is how it's done for my company, except I have to front the hotel bill too.

 

[Anubis]

corporate card
scan all receipts
submit report
get reimbursed
pay bill

 

[DCal430]

It depends, most things have full reimbursement up to a certain dollar amount you basically pay everything your self and submit a claim for reimbursement.

The only exception is travel for training, if the training includes an examination, grade, or pass fail type thing if any kind, their is ZERO reimbursement. All expenses must be bore by you.

 

[Jumpem]

It is handled the same as you describe your new process. Their is no additional profit involved with travel.

 

[yh125d]

For you guys, are you salaried or have in your JD where there would be some travel?

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Salaried. I don't get one extra cent for traveling early, late, or, worse... weekends.

 

[Ns1]

For you guys, are you salaried or have in your JD where there would be some travel?

Both - I was hourly and it wasn't in my JD before. I'm salary now and it is in my JD.


You get paid for travel time right?

 

[emeeks]

We pay all of our employees pretty much the same way everyone else does.

Bring me a receipt, and you'll get reimbursed on the next payroll. We also pay for mileage (depending on the drive, of course).

 

[yh125d]

We do get paid our hourly rate, but technically the way the policies are written, we're not supposed to charge time for travel. But we do, management knows we do and they're fine with it. I think it's only written that way because our parent company basically inherited a bunch of their policies from another company they bought, and in that company pretty much everyone is salaried, so for them I believe it was intended as "Your negotiated salary included some travel, so you don't get to charge extra hourly for travel time", rather than "We need you to travel 6+ hours both ways, but we're not gonna pay you your normal hourly rate for it"

 

[Anubis]

For you guys, are you salaried or have in your JD where there would be some travel?

exempt so i get OT, current job has lots of travel, like nearly every other week

new job has zero travel - start in under a month

woot woot

 

[Turin39789]

Paid with receipts. A travel day is 8 hours of pay.

 

[yh125d]

As another side note, the travel we had at the old company wasn't really business travel, but field work. Instead of the current boring meetings I'm going to, it was working onsite on the stuff we build (natural gas processing), getting very valuable experience that in and of itself was highly valuable to us careerwise

Maybe I'm just bummed that we went from getting paid extra to do something fun and valuable, to breaking even at best doing something boring with little worth while hoping our bosses take notice. Our management is pretty reasonable, but take no initiative, so I'm not expecting anything anytime soon.

 

[olds]

They pay for flights, rental cars and parking. Mileage for driving my personal vehicle is $.565 mile.
They reimburse up to $84 + tax each day for hotel. (very hard to get a room for that)
$6 breakfast
$10 lunch
$18 dinner
$6 a day for incidentals after the first day.

 

[Jeff7]

- Paid for any time we're not in the hotel. Discretion is expected here - no sleeping in the car to get a fat paycheck. I don't remember if time spent on getting meals counts or not.
- Keep receipts for everything. Costs for hotel reservations and air fare are typically made on a corporate card, prior to leaving. Everything else is paid by the employee, and is then reimbursed later.
- The unwritten expectation is that you will not spend a lot on food, hotels, or transportation.

They pay for flights, rental cars and parking. Mileage for driving my personal vehicle is $.565 mile.
They reimburse up to $84 + tax each day for hotel. (very hard to get a room for that)
$6 breakfast
$10 lunch
$18 dinner
$6 a day for incidentals after the first day.

Nah, there are plenty of hotels for that price, especially in the big cities.
The roaches can be eaten right there in your room for a convenient breakfast, and the hepatitis from the toilet seat is yours to keep.

 

[silverpig]

corporate card
scan all receipts
submit report
get reimbursed
pay bill

Pretty much. We don't scan the receipts though. We get the personal points on the corporate card so that's an added perk.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Salaried. Flights, hotel, rental, and gas (and parking, etc..) are all reimbursed. Some $XX is reimbursed per day for meals (no fun drinks), though I forget what it is. Receipts required for everything. Anything else is out of pocket. I rarely ever get to travel for work anyway. :\

 

[RockinZ28]

Buy flights, rental cars, gas, equipment etc. with company cc.
Get $112 tax free from day I leave through day I return for food/hotel/hookers/blow.

I might refuse to go if I just got reimbursed. But if I did still go, I would certainly know the absolute limit I could spend on food/hotels etc. and take full advantage of that, instead of saving a couple hundred from the per diem.

At least you get free meals for the extent of your trip, you'd be spending money to feed yourself at home. I enjoy much better meals on trips since it's paid for without using my regular paycheck.

Hopefully you get the airline miles. I'll be at A-List for Southwest after my next trip, good through end of 2014. Also racked up enough points for a round trip to probably anywhere in the mainland US, or a few hundred in Amazon gift cards. Not much, but I try to capitalize on my situation.

 

[slag]

I'm sure your JD says, "And other duties as assigned," or something to that affect.

You're being paid for travel time within normal working hours? Being compensated for verifiable business expenses as outlined in policy? Nothing wrong. You shouldn't profit from reimbursements. If you feel you deserve more because of travel, ask for it.

You're free to join together and raise your concerns without fear of legal retaliation, but it sounds like you should just find a new job.

I can't argue with this logic. You had it better than most for awhile and now that the company is coming in line with standard business practices it doesn't seem fair to you but in reality it is. I travel for work only a couple times a year but get reimbursed for mileage if I drive, or actual expenses if I fly, including lodging and food. I have to submit all receipts and don't get a per diem.

I'm not faulting you or saying you are whining about it as you have a legitimate gripe, but be prepared to be told that is policy and thats all she wrote.

 

[kranky]

Salaried. Company prepays for flights, I use an Amex corporate card for everything else. Submit receipts, get reimbursed in next paycheck before credit card bill comes.

I caution you to not complain that you can't "profit" from travel. You had a sweet deal while it lasted but it's the norm to get reimbursed based on receipts. Those "profits" weren't reported as wages and you didn't get taxed on them, right? Be careful what you ask for.

But if you are hourly, you should get overtime when traveling based on your company policy (some do it for > 8 hours per day, some for > 40 hours/week). If you travel on a weekend, you should get a full day's pay (overtime if applicable). If you travel during the week, you should get paid from when you leave your house until you reach your destination (or vice versa) unless company policy dictates otherwise.

That is a much more defensible stand than not being able to "profit" from being out of town. That position is a non-starter.

If you are doing work above your grade, I would talk to my boss (one on one, not as a group) if I could make a strong case for a promotion based on what I'm doing. If I lose the argument, at least I would leave the meeting knowing what I would have to do to get the promotion, then work on those things.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Corporate AMEX card. I book my own flights and hotels. Anything costing more than $25 needs a receipt. We are told to keep meals to under $25 per if we are on our own (which is usually only breakfast).

 

[exdeath]

Everything paid for up front, its all taken care of. They pretty much tell me what flight, where to pick up rental car, and what hotel to check in to, and a card for meals and personal expenses. Its pretty painless and care free.

Only change for me from a regular work day is driving to the airport instead of the office.

I enjoy being paid full work days to sit around at airports and sleep in on the plane for several hours. Twice. Its quite relaxing, plus get to see new places and find and experiment for tasty food.