business travel pay

nacho66

Hi guys

I cannot find information on how is a business travel paid in Ireland. I'm on a standard employment contract (38 hours a week, paid overtime etc). I have a scheduled business trip to a foreign country where I'll spend about 3 days. How exactly should I be paid according to law? Should it be per hour for every hour spend on such trip, including nights etc? Expenses of course will be covered but expenses have nothing to do with the salary itself

Thanks

Paulw

nacho66 wrote: »

How exactly should I be paid according to law?

What does your work contract say? Your contract should set out all such terms in relation to travel. If you're unsure, ask your HR department.

nacho66

I work for a small company which doesn't have it's own HR dep. My contract doesn't say about travels as it has never been a part of this position. That's first and probably last trip ever for that company. When my management scheduled the trip there was mentioning about covering expenses (food, hotels etc) but they were quite surprised when I asked about overtime pay. Hence my question, I want to be sure what's the legal view on this

Paulw

Each company can be different.

Our company pay normal office hours for work done overseas, depending on the work being done.

There is also an allowance for food/living. Travel and accommodation are refunded upon your return and submission of receipts.

nacho66

I read on citizens information page that business travel falls under working hours. So I think I am entitled to overtime pay unless something different is agreed with the management

Paulw

Got a link to that?

As you said yourself, it's down to agreement with management.

blueythebear

nacho66 wrote: »

Hi guys

I cannot find information on how is a business travel paid in Ireland. I'm on a standard employment contract (38 hours a week, paid overtime etc). I have a scheduled business trip to a foreign country where I'll spend about 3 days. How exactly should I be paid according to law? Should it be per hour for every hour spend on such trip, including nights etc? Expenses of course will be covered but expenses have nothing to do with the salary itself

Thanks

The norm would be that you are paid your normal wage plus any reasonable expenses incurred.

It would be ludicrous to demand that you are paid your normal weeks wage plus overtime for every hour spent on the trip. For a 3 day trip, you're talking about overtime for 48 hours (3 day trip with 8 hours per day working, so one day (24hrs) of work) which would be almost two weeks extra pay (presuming overtime is at time and a half).

I can't see any company giving that kind of a deal, even 5 years ago.

If your contract is silent on the matter, then go to your employer and set out the rules before you leave.

BrianD

nacho66 wrote: »

Hi guys

I cannot find information on how is a business travel paid in Ireland. I'm on a standard employment contract (38 hours a week, paid overtime etc). I have a scheduled business trip to a foreign country where I'll spend about 3 days. How exactly should I be paid according to law? Should it be per hour for every hour spend on such trip, including nights etc? Expenses of course will be covered but expenses have nothing to do with the salary itself

Thanks

You wouldn't be paid overtime for working your normal hours no matter where you are. If your travel time is outside of working hours you should be able to claim overtime or time in lieu. What the Citizens Advice means by travelling is that if you have to get a flight at 7am and spend 2 hours travelling to London then this would be classed as work for the purposes of calculating your weekly hours

As somebody else says, you should clarify the situation with your employer before you go.

nacho66

I'm more thinking about hours outside those normal 8 working hours. I'm not sure if citizens info only says about traveling time strictly (eg time spent on a plane) or about the whole time spent away

Paulw

I can't see any company paying you for the time you are not working, even while away.

You also need to be realistic. I don't think the citizen's info agrees with your view, and I can see no foundation for it.

krissovo

Its typically your salary plus travel expenses and also a reasonable daily per Diem rate. A typical rate for per diem is around €50/60 if breakfast is not included in your hotel or €30/40 with breakfast included.

While over time is often seen as an unreasonable request time off in lieu is often provided to factor travel time in your own time. For a mid week trip I would normally take Friday or at least the afternoon and if I am traveling over the weekend then the following Monday if possible.

nacho66

It probably depends on the situation. If you have everyday afterwork duties or any type of situation that requires you to be at home in the evenings, if you are the only person that can manage the duties on the business trip, if you go alone and to a place which has no 'sightseeing' interest for you, especially for few days, then every minute spent away can be considered as work.

Like you guys said it will come down to individual agreement with company's management but wanted to know what is the legal 'minimum' in case

si_guru

I think you're in the wrong job pal.....

MacDonalsds' are probably hiring though.

nacho66

si_guru wrote: »

I think you're in the wrong job pal.....

MacDonalsds' are probably hiring though.

I think you comment on a wrong thread

Bigcheeze

Standard would be that working away is the same as working at home in terms of salary. Obviously you get travel expenses for hotel, meals, flights etc.

I think for the majority of business travellers, travel days are just bloody long days that are part of the job and there's no extra pay.

Nobody is going to pay you overtime for hours you spend sleeping in a hotel room and it's unreasonable to expect it.

If you're putting in extra working hours at the destination and you would normally be paid at home for those hours then it's reasonable to expect the same while away.

If you had to travel on a weekend it's not unreasonable to get time off in-lieu or maybe a few hours of overtime in your case.

If you had to get an early flight that required you to get out of bed early, most people would consider that just as a longer commute rather than something requiring extra pay.

Paulw

nacho66 wrote: »

Like you guys said it will come down to individual agreement with company's management but wanted to know what is the legal 'minimum' in case

I would say the legal minimum would be that you're paid normal time for the hours you work. If you work 9-5 in the foreign country then you're paid 9-5, plus expenses.

Krieg

I don't know if this gives any indication but I'm working for a company through a recruitment agency and I receive only what they are legally obliged to give me (min wage etc.)

I've been sent over seas a couple times and the expenses paid are travel, accommodation and food expenses. As well as my normal week wage despite doing overtime.