Employer denies $27 parking reimbursement, employee makes them pay henceforth with 1st class train rides, costing 3 times more 'as per travel expense policy'

At what point do you follow a process that has become ill-suited for its intended purpose?

When an employer balked at an unusual parking expense, the employee let them have their money, but henceforth ceased their usual cost-cutting efforts, ballooning their travel costs to triple what they were previously, all according to the process their employer had quoted when refusing to pay their parking fee.

Logic and reason be crammed, there is only the process. Trust the process, follow the process, obey the process.

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  • 01
    2806
    via Giulia Squillace
  • 02

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

    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.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 03
    Cheezburger Image 10625165568
    via Getty Images

  • Companies are obsessed with policy and process. To the point where they are followed to the folly of their original purpose, which is almost always cost savings. But every manager knows that as long as the process is followed, boats will remain unrocked, and even if the decision doesn't make any sense, and they are questioned about their decision, they always have that same process to fall back on.

    And it's all in the name of not drawing the watchful, wary, wandering eye of Upper Management. For every manager knows, once Upper Management has fixed its gaze upon your team, you're in for a bad existence. With endless questions and micromanagement, leading to turbulent changes and shifting roadmaps, exhaustive revisions, which eventually result in the departure of key team members, to the tune of falling KPIs.

    But, as long as you can avoid drawing that eye to begin with, all will be right for your team, as others who weren't so fortunate are torn to pieces after something draws that unwanted attention to their team. 

    This employee did exactly that when they ran into a short-sighted process. They usually relied on public transport for work trips, but on one occasion had to drive to the station, drawing a $27 parking fee. When their employer refused to cover their fee, quoting process, the employee avoided resisting the decision and instead decided to follow that same process to the letter and expose the flaws in the system. Doing so qualified them for first-class trips and overnight stays that more than tripled what their previous travel costs had been.

  • 04
    One particular journey, shortly after moving house, 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.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 05
    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
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 06
    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, 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.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 07
    Oh, and as my journey time is longer than 3 hours, as per Travel & Expense policy, I'm 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).
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 08
    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. Costing around £40 (or 10 x what I paid myself for public transport tickets).
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 09
    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.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 10
    3amGreenCoffee We got a new manager who decided to make her mark and impress her own boss by reducing expense reimbursement and enforcing the expense policy to the letter. When we read the policy carefully to avoid violating it, we discovered that our $50 per day meal limit had actually been increased to $75, and nobody had told us.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 11
    I also discovered that although managers were telling people we got lunch if we traveled more than 60 miles to a work site, the threshold was actually one hour. It didn't mention miles. In traffic, a 40 mile trip can usually qualify for lunch. I live about 50 miles from one of my major work areas, so now I get a $75 allowance for lunch every time I work there that I hadn't been claiming, and there are some world class restaurants there.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 12
    That manager couldn't understand how her crackdown had resulted in an increase in expenses. She reviews every report looking for violations, and they simply aren't there.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 13
    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.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 14
    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. Screw them. 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.
    via ConfusionOwn8378
  • 15
    No_... Some time ago my work implemented a "no overtime, no exemptions, no excuses" policy. So a colleague took them at their word. He traveled to a customer meeting and got held up in traffic on the way home. And so at 5:00 pm exactly he pulled off the road into a hotel. And at 9:00 am got back into his car to continue his drive back to work. Didn't claim for 1 hour overtime, but did claim for hotel, meals and overnight allowance....and arrived "late" for work. It took about two days before a n
    via ConfusionOwn8378

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