'Two petty victories over Finance Karen': Employee finds loophole in company's travel reimbursement policy, goes over HR's head to get approved

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    Product - "Two petty victories over Finance Karen". Un (Ok
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    Font - Two petty victories over Finance Karen S OC My former employer's rulebook says they would reimburse 45p per mile if somebody with a petrol/gasoline car needs to drive to the office, but only 11p per mile to EV drivers (even though you could argue that running costs are comparable if you factor in the higher price of an EV).
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    Font - So petrol car ownership is a money spinner as most cost far less than 45p per mile to run, but with the recent increase in electricity prices, my EV now costs about 13p per mile to run if I charge it at home, or almost 25p per mile if I use a public charger (they've all been bought by oil companies who now fix the price so it's no cheaper than petrol). So no grifting profit for me.
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    Font - Finance Karen told me that's government rules, and to look it up if I didn't like it. So I did. And I found that technically my car is a hybrid, as (even though it's all-electric to the wheels) it has a generator which I could fill with 8 litres of petrol to recharge the battery and extend the electric range. I rarely use it, but it's a loophole I'm willing to exploit, since company rules don't mention hybrids but the holier- than-thou government rules say it's counted as a petrol car for
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    Font - So I could drive to work for 13p per mile using only electric, but they'd have to reimburse me 45p per mile as if it were a petrol car. Government rules! THERE'S MORE! When I pointed this out, Finance Karen said that because I live less than an hour from the office, I don't qualify for the reimbursement at all.
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    Font - And she was right. If I was travelling to work at the time of day that she googled my address, it would take less than an hour. But if they wanted me to commute at rush hour, it would be 5 minutes over the threshold.
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    Font - Finance Karen rejected my expenses claim, of course. I talked through all of this with my manager with the help of Google maps, and he went over her head and approved it, saying they're either rules or they're not. Karen can't just bend them to suit her. So I won. A petty victory!
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    Font - +22 hr. ago Excellent MC. To be clear, this is not petty. This seems like a rogue DaBooba employee trying to weasel out of financial obligations that you are rightly entitled to. Just used her rules against her.
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    Font - nc130295 5 min. ago it's always crazy to me when employees do that. It's not like it's coming from their paycheck. I'm an accountant and companies spend way more money on dumber than mileage reimbursement. Gotta power trip where you can I guess
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    Jaw - iStabs 2 hr. ago You were technically correct. The best kind of correct.
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    Font - latents +359 min. ago Your victory over her could be even more enjoyable if you shared your knowledge with all of your coworkers.
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    Font - usernamefieldistoos. 38 min. ago I suspect the number of people driving the BMW i3 at one company is relatively small.
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    Font - Dodohobo 31 min. ago Can't believe the BMW i3 is the only hybrid available. You're probably correct.......
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    Font - Tripp TrappTrinn +15 min. ago The i3 is not really a hybrid. It has a range extender which is an option. I believe most i3s are sold without it.
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    Font - TopCheesecakeGirl 42 min. ago It's so amusing when Karens like her act like the money being reimbursed is coming out of HER pocket. It's purely a power play. In France they call this type of person a Little Napoleon.
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    Font - Technoght 33 min. ago +2. Technically you could use this to justify sleeping in late to drive to work during low peak traffic and save the company a few p.

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