Payment of expenses

AlanNolan20

Hi everyone,

I recently started a job and am still on probation. My employer has asked me to take a long haul flight to attend the company HQ for a few days, but I must pay all the flights,hotel and other costs in advance before being reimbursed after the trip. The total will be a lot more than my monthly salary. Is this normal ? I will have to get loan for this and I'm worried about speaking up about it due to being on probation.

I am not overly keen about traveling right now due to the ongoing airport chaos as Covid concerns,

Would very much appreciate any advise/comments about how to handle this.

Thanks

andrew1977

Hi ,

Very unusual and unfair of them to expect you to pay the flight costs , any place I’ve worked and had to travel abroad it’s a business given they would book the flights for me .

Hotel costs also booked and paid for in advance , any meals / taxis / day to day spending when in business I would settle and they would reimburse me when I came back .

if I was me , I’d be telling them you can’t afford it and would expect they would cover the main large expenses .

Allinall

I would absolutely refuse.

To be expected to stump up thousands for work expenses is not on.

best case is if you have a credit card and use that, but I would be insisting on getting reimbursed before the card payment is due.

Can you ask anyone else in the company if this is normal procedure? I could understand if it was small mileage amounts, or lunches etc., but long haul air travel? Absolutely not.

AlanNolan20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119308458#Comment_119308458

Thanks. It appears that a new expenses policy was recently enacted. Apparently this is normal procedure now. I dont have a credit card.

I dont feel its right that I have to explain any personal financial circumstances to my employer. I simply cannot afford this. I only got 4 weeks notice, so this travel is during peak season.

ibarelycare

OP you're putting yourself in a bad position if you refuse to explain to your employer that you can't afford it. You'll lose out financially by taking out a loan or a credit card as you'll have to pay interest. The VAST majority of people do not have the means to pay upfront that level of money and wait to be reimbursed by an employer. I've worked in payroll for over 15 years and deal with expenses a lot, and I've never seen a reimbursement go through for that level, except in the case of non-executive directors. Employers should 100% pay up front for flights/hotel/car rental or any other significant cost. You need to be honest, and you should not be embarrassed. There's no way that you are the only one who can't afford this. And you should consider if this is the type of company you even want to work for, if they think it's ok to put this type of burden on employees, especially in the current economy.

Sleepy

Simply explain to your boss that you don't have a credit card and ask if there's a company card you can use to book the flights.

AlanNolan20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119308580#Comment_119308580

Thanks, great insight. I fully agree about considering if this is the type of company I really want to work for.

I will tell my manager this is unreasonable and let them propose a solution.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058253634/payment-of-expenses

This is very unfair for a new employee. The company should pay the flights at a minimum.

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119308479#Comment_119308479

Just check that the new expenses procedure implies refund after the trip. It may be possible to seek refund of the flights after payment etc, which would at least break up the expenses.

Such a policy for flights is unreasonable, unless your job is at a level where it should not be a problem. And if people are generally going to a corporate HQ you'd expect them to have a deal with an hotel there where the employee would not be liable for the bill but it would be billed to HQ.

Mrs OBumble

I'd be jobhunting.

If this is a new policy, it probably means the company is in trouble financially.

I've had to pay for accommodation up front as an agency worker with a multinational. But never flights.

covidcustomer

Have you your contract of employment? Is there any reference to this there?

dennyk

That is absolutely unreasonable. Handling miscellaneous day to day expenses (food, taxis, etc.) via reimbursement is normal, but your employer should be paying for things like flights and hotel bookings up front, not expecting employees to shoulder those costs.

Out of curiosity, is it an American company you're working for?

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058253634/payment-of-expenses

Hotels and flights should be paid first by employer. Other expenses can be reimbursed as they accrue.

SeeMoreBut

Unfair especially on flights. Did they state on how you should travel. Cheapest way or what suits? Can you sit front of plane or down in cattle?

Lavdogg

OP, does your company not use any expenses software such as tripactions so employees can look up/book flights? These are usually at discounted rates with preferred vendors

This is an area I work in and it is totally mad to ask an employee to stump up so much cash for a work trip - you are already giving up some of your personal time

Have no qualms about flagging this to your manager especially in this day and age of rising costs everywhere!

witchgirl26

OP to some degree it's normal in that in my current role, I'm expected to pay and claim on all my expenses, including flights. However I don't have to fly very far (Europe mostly) so it's never mad expensive flights.

That said, as you're only new in and you don't have a credit card, I would ask them if there is a way that they could book your flights (while individual employees might not have corporate cards, there still may be a corporate card available) and claim back for the other items as you don't have a credit card. It's a lot to put on an employee who's just started though.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119308999#Comment_119308999

Oh would you cop on! In trouble financially because they changed their policy? What a load of rubbish. Most likely there were problems with employees and corporate credit cards being abused hence the new policy to remove that as that would have led to problems for the company. In fact most companies now have moved away from corporate cards and operate on a pay and claim basis.

kennethsmyth

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119327483#Comment_119327483

"Oh would you cop on". Rarely do I agree with Mrs OBumble but I do here. Any company that asks employees to essentially pay a large company expense upfront to do what they have asked them to do has issues.

As to "Change of policy" absolute bull no employee would agree to this and if they do need to have their head examined. Employees are employees not extra financing for the employer. If the employer requires the travel they need to pay and upfront. OBumble is correct there are issues here and red flag.