Company card late fee, employer won't reimburse

machaseh

I went on a business trip for my employer with the company card. Company has a 15 day deadline to submit expenses no exceptions policy (that is pretty common to cover themselves).

Right after the business trip I went on PTO and could not submit my receipts

When I came back I submitted everything but a late fee of 15 euros was charged

I mailed asking if I can get an exception and they said yes ( I have that mail !)

But finance still keeps rejecting it and tells me to submit personal expense

Now late fee has doubled. If I knew before there would be no exceptions then why did they send that email? I would have just paid it right away

Can a company even force me to pay for them?

If there's morality comments like ' you should pay it because that's the right thing to do' I will report them I am only interested in what the IRISH law says about this not your morality.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058264304/company-card-late-fee-employer-wont-reimburse

If you have an email re being reimbursed - that's all you need. But, for €15 I'd probably leave it. You took paid time off during the 15 days. What's the precedent re expense claims in such a scenario? You were given the time off by the company. There is a deadline to submit. Does this extend the time?

machaseh

To avoid it going up even more I think I am just going to pay it now but would it be harder to get back then

You’re taking on city hall here- ask your manager to escalate - you’ll likely get your 15 euro back at some stage but you’re likely dealing with support staff who can just say “ computer says no”- I wouldn’t go quoting Irish Law to them - don’t think it will do you any good- if this is how you are over a 15 euro penalty that’s clearly stated, well…..

"But finance still keeps rejecting it and tells me to submit personal expense"

Erm. They're telling you how to claim it back...

dennyk

But finance still keeps rejecting it and tells me to submit personal expense

What did they say when you submitted it as a personal expense?

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646026#Comment_119646026

No I have to pay it back to the bank issuing the corporate credit card.

It's fine I will just start looking for another job if I have to deal with this kind of stuff at least I want to earn more money for it. They are cutting down on travel and expense policy currently so no way I am going to be able to claim it back without resorting to legal which would cost way more in the end.

Degag

It seems slightly odd to me to think about changing jobs over €15. Understand that it's not necessarily the money, rather the policy, but still......

the_pen_turner

im confused.

you went on the trip adn used their card to pay for everything. so your not out of pocket and trying to get your money back .

they want 15 euro from you. tell them no. your time off should not include work activities. they cannot take the money off you surely. so hang tough.

Etc

Would you not just organise a f2f meeting with finance and trash it out. It would probably be easier.

whomitconcerns

If I understand correctly the op pays the cc company directly and is paying late hence the 15 charge. Ie they were waiting on their company to give them the money before paying the bill?

Dr Turk Turkelton

Personally I think you should pay it because that is the right thing to do.

I'd also submit it as a business expense.

iwillhtfu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119658853#Comment_119658853

They're not looking for money off of him though. It's an automated charge they have no control over and are telling OP to claim the charges back if it's €15 or whatever it is now. I'm guessing OP is new to expenses claims, I don't see any issue here.

dennyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119655359#Comment_119655359

The way I'm reading it from how you described it, you're asking the company to pay the late fee directly, and they're saying they can't do that, you need to pay it off yourself and then submit a personal expense reimbursement request to get the late fee money reimbursed. That's maybe a little overly bureaucratic, but it's not entirely unreasonable if that's how their policy works. Wouldn't it be easier to just do that instead of arguing with them about it?

Even if you wanted to take the nuclear option of making a legal claim against your company, there's usually a duty to mitigate losses in such a case, meaning you would be expected to take reasonable steps to minimise the damages arising from the other party's actions, i.e. by paying off the balance owed as soon as possible, or at least paying the minimum payment to avoid further late fees accruing. Even if you brought the case to court, you might find that if you took no steps to avoid further late fees, you might be held responsible for those additional fees yourself.

Count Dracula

The late fee could only be getting charged by your finance team. It is their responsibility to operate the treasury function, not yours. I can only imagine the 15 quid is a whip they use to make sure staff get their spends in on time. Companies will chance their arm fining staff with this kind of bullshight, but believe me it is completely unenforceable.

Out of interest ( pardon the pun ), how did the company dock you the € 15?

MakersMark

Pay the fee yourself.

Expense the fee back to your employer as apersonal expense.

No morality clauses violated.

BattleCorp

Leaving a job over having to pay €15 that you can claim back as a personal expense???

I hope you don't have to make any sound judgement calls in your job.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119655359#Comment_119655359

I'm sure that someone in finance branch will help you to clear out your desk.

Slava_Ukraine

..

Pissy Missy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119663516#Comment_119663516

It reminds me of the documentary where people love money and hate spending it and one guy contemplates selling an organ of his for science so he can make an extra fee quid

witchgirl26

OP it sounds like finance cannot directly pay the late fee but is saying to pay it yourself & submit a personal expense for it after the fact. Therefore you do get it back. They may not have the mechanisms to pay a late fee directly due to the contract/policy they have with the card issuer.

One question though - if it was a business trip, why didn't you submit all the expenses prior to coming home? I've worked in a place with a similar policy & went on a 3 week holiday after a week long business trip. Before I left to go to the airport, I submitted all my expenses (I knew I didn't have any that would be in the airport) so that it was done & dusted before I went away. Point is that you knew you were going to be away & that was going to be breaching the policy for timeline to submit expenses but you didn't seem to do anything in advance that could have helped yourself with it.

And you'll find most places are cutting down the travel & expense policy at the moment as Covid has shown that you don't always have to travel to get business done. In fact most businesses don't give you a company credit card anymore - most are that you cover it yourself & claim it back after the fact.

jahalpin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058264304/company-card-late-fee-employer-wont-reimburse

You obviously knew the policy in relation to expense processing before you took your holidays, so you are liable for the late fee that has been charged to the account as the credit card bill was not paid as the expenses were not approved on time to make the payment to the credit card company , there would also be interest charged on the outstanding balance, you would also be liable for this

Donald Trump

You'll need to stand up for yourself and roll out the big guns.

I suggest you get a team of solicitors working on the case immediately. Have them hire the best SC that money can buy along with two JCs. Make some calls first thing in the morning and make sure you highlight the emergency nature of the issue so that they can pull everyone into the office immediately to get things going.

It's the only hope you have of saving your 15 Euro....... Well apart from doing what they told you to do and just submitting it as an expense. But that sounds like far more complicated a solution.

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119665472#Comment_119665472

No did not get the money back. I had to pay it myself.

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119749354#Comment_119749354

' You obviously knew the policy in relation to expense processing before you took your holidays,'

My holidays were booked way before the company sent me on a travel mission. So no, I did not know the policy in relation to expenses before taking my holidays, as I was not going on a business trip before taking my holidays.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119921695#Comment_119921695

So the policy was changed without you being informed of the changes when you were on the trip or on holidays?

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119921695#Comment_119921695

That's not what I meant. I meant that you knew the expense policy, you knew you were going on holidays & not going to be able to submit within the appropriate time frame so what did you do to mitigate the late fee? Or did you just presume that work would pay it for you?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119921671#Comment_119921671

I know my old company (where we had a credit card - current one is pay & claim) had a clause in the policy that stated all late fees and charges were the responsibility of the individual & not the company. Might be similar. I just meant that from the way you originally worded it, it sounded like they were willing to let you claim it.

"But finance still keeps rejecting it and tells me to submit personal expense" i.e my reading of that would be that you pay it yourself & submit it as an expense through the system.

Well, you've only got 6 weeks or so to get your €15 back before your company shuts... best be quick.

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119921849#Comment_119921849

It was my first business trip for the company. I couldnt really refuse it.

I am never getting that money back so as far as I'm concerned topic can be closed.