oz_mark said:
From Perth I generally get to travel on Sundays when travelling to the Eastern states. Sundays I generally regard as my time. If my employer was to suddenly say that the FF points were theres, and I would receive no compensation whatsoever for giving up a chunk of my weekend, I would suddenly become a less mobile worker.
I think this topic has just about been done to death, but I think that there a couple of important points to make.
A lot of the members of this forum (myself included) get paid well above anything resembling "award" wages. It is therefore reasonable to expect work demands to occasionally infringe upon home life. For example, catching a flight at sparrows'-fart and getting home long after the kids are in bed, so that a full days' work can be achieved on an interstate visit. In recognition of the impact of such travel, my employer pays for lounge access (which I decline) and makes no demands upon the accrued FF points. They do expect me to comply with their BFOD policy, but that's another issue that has been discussed elsewhere.
For members who are in government employ (and often under an award agreement) the issue of public money and fringe benefits comes to the fore. People who travel frequently perhaps have a less romantic view of air-travel and would not begrudge public servants getting something back, but there are many (even fellow employees) who take a different view.
So how to get a reasonable outcome? I think you just have to state your case, and if given a knock-back then accept their decision .... and then match your travel rules to theirs.
E.g. They enforce BFOD and no FF points, so you enforce a "no-loss" policy. Which means :-
You would normally leave home at 08:30 to arrive at work at 09:00, so that's the time that you book the taxi for. You should then allow adequate time to get to the airport and check in, so it is unlikely you should book a flight that leaves before 10:30. At the other end you will spend some time getting to your destination (oh dear ... what a long way it is from Avalon to the CBD!). Should be there by lunchtime, so after the statuary 45 minutes you can finally meet with your customer. It will have to be a tight agenda though, as the taxi back to the airport leaves in 90 minutes. Barring delays that should get you home at the usual time of 5:30.
Or maybe they could sacrifice the "benefit" (worth 5% or less I would say) and easily double their staffs' productivity when travelling. I would have thought that this was right up the Howard manifesto on work contracts.
Cheers,
Andrew
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