‘Two can play that game’: Traveling employee triples the cost of their work trips after being denied a £20 expense over petty technicalities

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  • Deny my expenses? Fine you can pay more than triple!

    Young office employee taking the train to work.
  • I'm based in the UK and often have to travel for work via Train to our head office.
  • I typically get public transport to the train station, I live in walking distance to local connections and just pay the nominal
  • amount for public transport tickets myself. One particular journey, shortly after moving
  • I decided to drive to the station and leave the car there. I needed to get back for an appointment when my return train got in and
  • wanted the car there to make it on time. Like a good little employee, I submitted my expenses including the car park receipt
  • (£20) which cost significantly more than the usual public transport ticket. Eagerly awaiting re- imbursement, I was
  • disappointed to get an email advising 'as per Travel & Expense policy' I was unable to claim driving related expense without
  • completing a specific 'Driving for work' attestation and supplying updated Car Insurance proving my car was insured (by
  • me, at cost to me personally) for driving for work (NOT commuting, which essentially this was).
  • Fine, I thought.. you know what, you keep that £20, but if we're going to force compliance with the Travel & Expense
  • policy two can play that game. Suddenly, all the 2 hour 52 minute trains were inconvenient,
  • Man taking the bus on his way to a work conference.
  • and I had to book different slightly longer 3 hour 4 minute trains... Making them, under the Travel & Expense policy, eligible
  • for First Class travel. Oh, and as my journey time is longer than 3 hours, as per Travel & Expense policy, I'm
  • Commuters waiting for a high speed train.
  • now eligible for overnight stays... Which of course mean that I can submit expenses for meals as
  • I'm away from home in a hotel for my evening meal (as per the Travel & Expense policy). And then, of course, reasonable travel
  • expenses (as detailed in the Travel & Expense policy) also cover taxis. for unsociable hours... So unfortunately that 6:00am bus ride is
  • now a 6:30 Uber, and that late night 10:00pm bus ride when I get home is now also a nice, comfortable Uber.
  • Uber driver putting in the home address of a traveling employee.
  • Costing around £40 (or 10 x what I paid myself for public transport tickets). I think I've more than
  • tripled the cost of my having to travel to head office on each trip, purely out of spite over £20, by
  • maliciously complying with the good ol' (yep, you guessed it) Travel & Expense Policy.
  • ProfessionalSea6268 Had this years ago when I was hands on and worked in data centres a lot. I was
  • denied claims for drinks and a chocolate bars from a vending machine (a couple of times a day). They told me snacks were not allowed. But I skipped
  • lunch so I was spending way less (my choice). Still no. So every day after that which I was on site I
  • would have a full lunch to the absolute max of what was allowed and take time out of the day to do so.
  • They spent far far more and lost all my time I was working for free. These idiots know the
  • cost of everything and the value of nothing.

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