Do You Have a Company Travel Budget Policy?

[robd]

Fire him. If not it is setting a terrible precedent for the rest of your work force...

So frustrating. Grrrrr.....

 

[The Rok]

So frustrating. Grrrrr.....

It's quite possible you should be having an open honest and serious conversation with the MD about.

You say you have spoken to him before but he might not be understanding the gravity of the situation.

Perhaps a discussion including evidence of his expenditure as well as his contribution to the business might be enough for the MD to engage this Rep in a one to one to find out what's going on.

To me it looks like he is using your business to support his and will quit as soon as his own business is large enough to sustain him.

He might even be a member here, ;-)

 

[robd]

Here's my take as a line manager/approver:

1 hour meeting at Crown Melbourne - Valet Parking $50 - DENIED, VALET PARKING NOT COVERED
Flight Mel - Syd (daytime during office hours) - short term car park MEL (the one that you usually just drop off or pick up from) $115 - DENIED TAXI ONLY FOR AIRPORT TRANSFER
Flight Mel - Syd (no checked baggage) $410 (this was about $135 more than best fare) DENIED MUST USE Best Fare Of Day
Car Hire in Sydney (56kms travelled - 1 person only) - SV6 Holden $138 DENIED MUST USE Econo-Rental
Meal on the way home from airport at about 5.30pm at Cafe approx. 15 mins from home $51.80 DENIED MEALS ONLY FOR TRAVEL OUT OF HOME CITY

The airfares and car hire should be signed off prior to the trip to ensure the policy is followed, the taxis and meal policies are just that - policies if they are spent over tough cookies...

Wonder what would happen if you covered the reasonable costs and let him eat the rest....

I noted in his response to the job offer that he definitely wanted the company credit card rather than the reimbursement option. I am currently awaiting the next CC statement as he has recently had a car service. Based on the petrol receipts I am seeing, apparently his company car, a Lancer 2.0ltr SX (only 6 mths old when he got it) uses more petrol than an 3.7ltr Mazda CX-9. Must have a petrol tank leak, which I'm sure will be documented in the service report.

 

[The Rok]

I noted in his response to the job offer that he definitely wanted the company credit card rather than the reimbursement option. I am currently awaiting the next CC statement as he has recently had a car service. Based on the petrol receipts I am seeing, apparently his company car, a Lancer 2.0ltr SX (only 6 mths old when he got it) uses more petrol than an 3.7ltr Mazda CX-9. Must have a petrol tank leak, which I'm sure will be documented in the service report.

We use BP Fuel Cards and I have caught out an employee putting $230 worth of petrol into a diesel car with a 55L tank. Didn't take long to figure out it was his wife's Prado he was filling. Let him go on the spot.

 

[robd]

It's quite possible you should be having an open honest and serious conversation with the MD about.

You say you have spoken to him before but he might not be understanding the gravity of the situation.

Perhaps a discussion including evidence of his expenditure as well as his contribution to the business might be enough for the MD to engage this Rep in a one to one to find out what's going on.

To me it looks like he is using your business to support his and will quit as soon as his own business is large enough to sustain him.

He might even be a member here, ;-)

I am sure he is not a member here, but I suspect the accessory business contact could be - a definite row 4 DYKWIA! I've heard all the stories - WP. Explained to the boss that the "W" in WP represents wanker, and he laughed and agreed.

If it were up to me, this would have been over months ago.

 

[TonyHancock]

We are a relatively small business operating a "best judgement" travel policy. I have one employee who, on trips to China, stays with members of his family. I gave, what I thought were, very clear instructions to take his family out for a "nice" meal........the bill was $20!!!! He is an employee that has never asked for an increase in salary, will often stay back working until after 6:00PM and is highly focused on margin as much as sales. He is also very successful at growing profitable sales.

Sometimes it does work the other way, it is about finding the right attitude. (He has had three pay increases this year, a fully expensed company car, and complete trust from management. He is still a spendthrift with company money and will be doing my job within five years.)

 

[robd]

We use BP Fuel Cards and I have caught out an employee putting $230 worth of petrol into a diesel car with a 55L tank. Didn't take long to figure out it was his wife's Prado he was filling. Let him go on the spot.

Most of the other company vehicles are with Fleet card and you are supposed to give you KM reading when you fill up. There was another employee a while ago, who had a diesel vehicle who wasn't giving his km reading every time he filled up. I spoke to him directly, and he now gives the reading every time. The bill did reduce.

 

[Simo]

We are a relatively small business operating a "best judgement" travel policy. I have one employee who, on trips to China, stays with members of his family. I gave, what I thought were, very clear instructions to take his family out for a "nice" meal........the bill was $20!!!! He is an employee that has never asked for an increase in salary, will often stay back working until after 6:00PM and is highly focused on margin as much as sales. He is also very successful at growing profitable sales.

Sometimes it does work the other way, it is about finding the right attitude. (He has had three pay increases this year, a fully expensed company car, and complete trust from management. He is still a spendthrift with company money and will be doing my job within five years.)

Make sure you keep that staff member.

I have my own business and it is funny when I go away with a staff member who has now left the business would think when I was with them the expenses would blow out. As I had to change where we would eat otherwise as we pay for meals and a reasonable alcohol expense of a few beers never more than $10 to $20. So when in Cairns we use to go to a Leagues club and I would buy the first round or 2 and that was it. When we use to go to the restaurant he would just about skull the beers down and would be wasted that night.

 

[robd]

We are a relatively small business operating a "best judgement" travel policy. I have one employee who, on trips to China, stays with members of his family. I gave, what I thought were, very clear instructions to take his family out for a "nice" meal........the bill was $20!!!! He is an employee that has never asked for an increase in salary, will often stay back working until after 6:00PM and is highly focused on margin as much as sales. He is also very successful at growing profitable sales.

Sometimes it does work the other way, it is about finding the right attitude. (He has had three pay increases this year, a fully expensed company car, and complete trust from management. He is still a spendthrift with company money and will be doing my job within five years.)

We only have eleven employees and six of us have a collective work life with the company of 79 years. We were blessed with having a great boss for many years, who looked after us. He periodically gave us all treats, (apart from the wage reviews), earned our respect leading by example, and to this day, we would do anything he asked of us. He was a great boss and is still, one of the most generous men I have ever met.

I totally agree it is all about attitude. We have been through the really hard times and recently some easier times. The planets seem to be aligning for us this year; a great result for the effort we have put in developing contacts, but unfortunately, some may well be rewarded above what they have contributed purely based on the sales result and the timing of their employment.

 

[amaroo]

I worked for a large family company that had no travel policy, no expenditure limits, no company credit card & never ever rejected any expense claim.

In the early days I never really took advantage of this lax attitude & was commonly asked why I wasn't entertaining like the other account managers - I looked after WOW, their biggest account.

Suffice to say that I was never asked again.......I'm still cashing in points that I earned a few years ago!

 

[anat0l]

Fire him. If not it is setting a terrible precedent for the rest of your work force...

May be difficult to fire him directly, because:

• As mentioned by robd in the post which started this all, the upline management seems to like him, which is odd if the management is also doing the appraisal and performance evaluations.
• I'm guessing robd lacks the power to directly fire him
• Until it's a substantial record and still needs some endorsement from seniority, firing someone on the basis of that alone probably is not as easy as that (and there are laws that can come back to bite, which may be risky for a small business)

Unless your errant man is really pulling his weight - and seems like he is not - then a case should be made to recommend he fall into line (posthaste) or let him go. It's a shame you can't use discrepancies between his travel claims and that of others (including you, or even your boss), otherwise that would be a good basis to demand an explanation (with the endorsement of your superiors). Surely your superiors must have noticed the trend of travel expenses go up... and it would be very unusual for any superior to just let that fact slide, even if increased staff numbers were taken into account.

I can't see why some of those expenses can't be reasonably subject to a "please explain" test. I get that sometimes when I submit claims; it is not that HR / Finance do not trust me per se, but they just want to know for context; frankly I don't see much problem with that at all (in the sense that it is kept fairly amicable and not a Spanish Inquisition).

Also, whilst it's not against the law per se as far as I can tell, misrepresenting qualifications from universities / TAFEs / etc. is fraud in my books. The institution who it was claimed awarded the degree should be very interested to know any cases of misrepresentation (because they do have a reputation to uphold in that regard).

 

[robd]

I worked for a large family company that had no travel policy, no expenditure limits, no company credit card & never ever rejected any expense claim.

In the early days I never really took advantage of this lax attitude & was commonly asked why I wasn't entertaining like the other account managers - I looked after WOW, their biggest account.

Suffice to say that I was never asked again.......I'm still cashing in points that I earned a few years ago!

Hey, as long as it doesn't affect the P&L of the business and reduce the bonuses of everyone who worked towards a positive goal, and you chose to take it in another form, it's all good. If anyone does it for their own benefit, to the detriment of everyone else who has contributed, then <they should desist and go away>.

 

[k_sheep]

Plane travel isn't part of my job (yet). However for getting around different hospitals, we are, if you can believe, expected to pay our own way.

Even when I had to travel to another hospital to run a clinic (which I was not qualified for, but that's another story), I had to pay my own way. As in, I was working, AS A FAVOUR, and nup. I got the b$s (or is it b%s? I can't remember) a few times, and they wouldn't even reimburse that.

 

[robd]

May be difficult to fire him directly, because:

• As mentioned by robd in the post which started this all, the upline management seems to like him, which is odd if the management is also doing the appraisal and performance evaluations.
• I'm guessing robd lacks the power to directly fire him
• Until it's a substantial record and still needs some endorsement from seniority, firing someone on the basis of that alone probably is not as easy as that (and there are laws that can come back to bite, which may be risky for a small business)

Unless your errant man is really pulling his weight - and seems like he is not - then a case should be made to recommend he fall into line (posthaste) or let him go. It's a shame you can't use discrepancies between his travel claims and that of others (including you, or even your boss), otherwise that would be a good basis to demand an explanation (with the endorsement of your superiors). Surely your superiors must have noticed the trend of travel expenses go up... and it would be very unusual for any superior to just let that fact slide, even if increased staff numbers were taken into account.

I can't see why some of those expenses can't be reasonably subject to a "please explain" test. I get that sometimes when I submit claims; it is not that HR / Finance do not trust me per se, but they just want to know for context; frankly I don't see much problem with that at all (in the sense that it is kept fairly amicable and not a Spanish Inquisition).

Also, whilst it's not against the law per se as far as I can tell, misrepresenting qualifications from universities / TAFEs / etc. is fraud in my books. The institution who it was claimed awarded the degree should be very interested to know any cases of misrepresentation (because they do have a reputation to uphold in that regard).

Ah ha. You have nailed this dilemma.

Point 1. He has sucked up to the boss to the point where I don't know where the boss starts and the employee ends.

Point 2. I'm am 2 IC. The boss could do it directly, but refer above point. There is also a Board of Directors, but I am not prepared to go over my bosses head (yet).

Referring to the degree aspect, whilst it is listed on his Linked In profile, and he has declared it to other employees, it was not on his resume. Guessing he could quite easily backtrack saying he studied, but did not complete.

 

[robd]

Plane travel isn't part of my job (yet). However for getting around different hospitals, we are, if you can believe, expected to pay our own way.

Even when I had to travel to another hospital to run a clinic (which I was not qualified for, but that's another story), I had to pay my own way. As in, I was working, AS A FAVOUR, and nup. I got the b$s (or is it b%s? I can't remember) a few times, and they wouldn't even reimburse that.

But you can claim this on your tax.

 

[robd]

Plane travel isn't part of my job (yet). However for getting around different hospitals, we are, if you can believe, expected to pay our own way.

Even when I had to travel to another hospital to run a clinic (which I was not qualified for, but that's another story), I had to pay my own way. As in, I was working, AS A FAVOUR, and nup. I got the b$s (or is it b%s? I can't remember) a few times, and they wouldn't even reimburse that.

Sorry, my last response seemed very short and dismissive. So you are an Intern doc or nurse??? Public or Private system?

I think what I am trying to say is, if you can find a job that you enjoy, and get recognised for your efforts, then you need to find contentment doing that job or find another vocation. If someone comes along, sprouting themselves as the best thing since sliced bread, and gets the same rewards, then its really easy to feel resentment.

In any event, you should keep a log book of your work requirements for tax purposes.

 

[amaroo]

Point 1. He has sucked up to the boss to the point where I don't know where the boss starts and the employee ends.

Point 2. I'm am 2 IC. The boss could do it directly, but refer above point. There is also a Board of Directors, but I am not prepared to go over my bosses head (yet).

Speaking from experience......the person that brings the dollars into the company will always get access to senior level management.

It's all about the dollar.....potential or real:!:

 

[robd]

Speaking from experience......the person that brings the dollars into the company will always get access to senior level management.

It's all about the dollar.....potential or real:!:

Agree. Time will tell and I'm betting it aint gonna happen with this guy.

 

[anat0l]

Referring to the degree aspect, whilst it is listed on his Linked In profile, and he has declared it to other employees, it was not on his resume. Guessing he could quite easily backtrack saying he studied, but did not complete.

"Studied but did not complete" is not the same as a qualification and is not a formal endorsement that one knows the content of said degree.

That said, if it wasn't on the resume and you (viz. the company) still hired him, well then obviously it wasn't a big deal, so no point bringing it up now unless he's pressing it to malicious advantage (e.g. for increment).

 

[The Rok]

If it was not on his résumé then it sounds like he didn't misrepresent him self to the company. Nothing you can do about that!