Work colleagues

[sparky88]

I suspect we are heading towards hybrid WFH/ office working, so maybe two days of office time a week. I strongly suspect the days in the office will become full of useless meetings and be the least productive times of the week. 

[NotThePars]

I'm going to start filing T&S expenses for days I have to go to a physical office and try and get all my workmates to do the same

We’ve got people who received home working allowances before Covid as they did 3-4 days at home and it’s so obvious that once we fully transition to 20% office working which is the agreed rate that we’re going to be bombarded with requests for the same which is totally justifiable and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond as the policy folk are none the wiser.

[bishopburn boy]

3 hours ago, TAFKAM said:

I'm going to start filing T&S expenses for days I have to go to a physical office and try and get all my workmates to do the same

Beware the taxman on that one , no relief for travel to work , if they pay you an expense it will be seen as taxable income 

[V.Aye.R]

We’ve got people who received home working allowances before Covid as they did 3-4 days at home and it’s so obvious that once we fully transition to 20% office working which is the agreed rate that we’re going to be bombarded with requests for the same which is totally justifiable and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond as the policy folk are none the wiser.

Not defending the employer, but what are the expenses exactly?

Jusy speaking personally I'm 250mi better off not driving, it would feel ridiculous to claim for about £6/month electricity for example. Which I've taken in tax relief in any case.

[NotThePars]

2 minutes ago, V.Aye.R said:

Not defending the employer, but what are the expenses exactly?

Jusy speaking personally I'm 250mi better off not driving, it would feel ridiculous to claim for about £6/month electricity for example. Which I've taken in tax relief in any case.

It's just a flat rate of like 30 quid a month which was initially paid to those on home working contracts but was extended to everyone last year. It's going to end roughly when the Tories lift the majority of restrictions but since we're going to still allow for the vast majority of people's working hours to be done at home it's understandable that folk are going to ask why some people can continue to get extra dosh and the rest can't. Tbf, it'll probably be justified on legacy grounds or the specific wording of people's contracts but given we've already caved on office working and maybe even on a functional dress code for the office I can see enough pressure leading to another caving. Would be class if so!

It's going to be an interesting time across the board as I don't think employers really have any idea about what to do going forward because the landscape has changed both because of the pandemic bringing its own necessary changes and hastening a lot of planned adaptations to the workplace that have been in the works for years. Was thinking earlier specifically re Covid over what happens when the govt declares the crisis to be over and people continue to test positive. Will there be forced closures and deep cleans for offices and the requirement to self-isolate or will they just be content to let it move through an office and trust the vaccines will prevent any serious issues?

 

[hk blues]

20 hours ago, NotThePars said:

 

We’ve got people who received home working allowances before Covid as they did 3-4 days at home and it’s so obvious that once we fully transition to 20% office working which is the agreed rate that we’re going to be bombarded with requests for the same which is totally justifiable and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond as the policy folk are none the wiser.

 

 

18 hours ago, bishopburn boy said:

Beware the taxman on that one , no relief for travel to work , if they pay you an expense it will be seen as taxable income 

One of my previous companies in the UK had WFH 20 years ago.  The staff absolutely ripped the piss out of it, claiming all electricity bills, phone bills etc.  That said, they ripped the piss out of all expenses (babysitting fees/luggage for business trip/dress for event/car wash/dinner for partner as they'd been on a trip and had missed them/lunches and dinners/passport renewal fees etc etc etc...).  I was the HR Manager and the 1st time I was asked to look over the expense reports - I was shocked.  I took it up with the Company Accountant  who pretty much said don't worry, it's cool, let it go - I said OK, but it's no longer my task to review the expense reports.  I was always hoping the Inland Revenue would pay a visit and set the cat amongst the pigeons but they never did.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for folk pushing the limits but they were absolutely OTT with a huge sense of entitlement. 

[NotThePars]

1 minute ago, hk blues said:

 

One of my previous companies in the UK had WFH 20 years ago.  The staff absolutely ripped the piss out of it, claiming all electricity bills, phone bills etc.  That said, they ripped the piss out of all expenses (babysitting fees/luggage for business trip/dress for event/car wash/dinner for partner as they'd been on a trip and had missed them/lunches and dinners/passport renewal fees etc etc etc...).  I was the HR Manager and the 1st time I was asked to look over the expense reports - I was shocked.  I took it up with the Company Accountant  who pretty much said don't worry, it's cool, let it go - I said OK, but it's no longer my task to review the expense reports.  I was always hoping the Inland Revenue would pay a visit and set the cat amongst the pigeons but they never did.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for folk pushing the limits but they were absolutely OTT with a huge sense of entitlement. 

I'm a fundamentalist on ripping the piss, I fully believe commute should be factored into working time and that employers should be liable to pick up at least some of the cost of commuting.

[ICTChris]

Someone in a former workplace went on a business trip to Eastern Europe and while there visited a local brothel.  Next day two large gentlement turned up at his hotel and demanded he pay $2000 as he'd underpaid for his evening in the knocking shop.  He withdrew the cash from his company Amex and didn't get sacked.

[SANTAN]

9 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

Someone in a former workplace went on a business trip to Eastern Europe and while there visited a local brothel.  Next day two large gentlement turned up at his hotel and demanded he pay $2000 as he'd underpaid for his evening in the knocking shop.  He withdrew the cash from his company Amex and didn't get sacked.

That is a wonderful brass neck. Was the 2 men verified at all or did he just sacrifice a shred of dignity for a foreign sesh? 

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

16 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

Someone in a former workplace went on a business trip to Eastern Europe and while there visited a local brothel.  Next day two large gentlement turned up at his hotel and demanded he pay $2000 as he'd underpaid for his evening in the knocking shop.  He withdrew the cash from his company Amex and didn't get sacked.

He left two deposits then.

[Derry Alli]

48 minutes ago, NotThePars said:

I'm a fundamentalist on ripping the piss, I fully believe commute should be factored into working time and that employers should be liable to pick up at least some of the cost of commuting.

Along the lines of this, I start a new job on Monday. The basic pay is better as is and in a few years once I pick it up and pass certain certification it far outstrips my current and potential ever salary so the travel time isn't really a problem. 

Imagine my raging boner when on the time sheets I was sent last night to be filled in every week I have to write down the time I leave my house as they're paying me travel time too, on top of the already higher wage. 

I've fallen off a bridge and went upwards. 

[NotThePars]

1 hour ago, Mr. Alli said:

Along the lines of this, I start a new job on Monday. The basic pay is better as is and in a few years once I pick it up and pass certain certification it far outstrips my current and potential ever salary so the travel time isn't really a problem. 

Imagine my raging boner when on the time sheets I was sent last night to be filled in every week I have to write down the time I leave my house as they're paying me travel time too, on top of the already higher wage. 

I've fallen off a bridge and went upwards. 

Legends. Would be class if that began to become the norm at some point. Not confident given the weird odes to the commute we were being assaulted with last summer.

[101]

2 hours ago, Mr. Alli said:

Along the lines of this, I start a new job on Monday. The basic pay is better as is and in a few years once I pick it up and pass certain certification it far outstrips my current and potential ever salary so the travel time isn't really a problem. 

Imagine my raging boner when on the time sheets I was sent last night to be filled in every week I have to write down the time I leave my house as they're paying me travel time too, on top of the already higher wage. 

I've fallen off a bridge and went upwards. 

Brilliant! Best of luck with the new job.

We get paid door to door if it's outside normal working hours, which is still fairly good.

[Thistle_do_nicely]

11 hours ago, NotThePars said:

I'm a fundamentalist on ripping the piss, I fully believe commute should be factored into working time and that employers should be liable to pick up at least some of the cost of commuting.

This gets my vote yeah. In a similar sorta vein at my last job there was one of those shitty "oh we expect you to be working bang on your shift start time" practices, problem there being that the machines took fucking ages to be fully loaded up and ready for use once you got logged in (background programs loading up, logged onto the systems that also took time to load etc). Ended up hissed at once or twice for not "doing work" despite having been in and at my desk a good 5 - 10 minutes before my shift started proper. Pile of shite, but at least i ripped the c**t out of it a bit during the lockdown to make up for it.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Thistle_do_nicely

[hk blues]

18 hours ago, NotThePars said:

I'm a fundamentalist on ripping the piss, I fully believe commute should be factored into working time and that employers should be liable to pick up at least some of the cost of commuting.

Count me in on that too.  Saying that, I work from home so the extra 1 minute a day wouldn't be life-changing!

Again,  I'm not against folk stretching things on expenses, it's a game of cat and mouse, but the guys I'm talking about had that element of entitlement to them.  An example - One of the sales guys said he was claiming his company car valeting fee on expenses but, of course,  I wouldn't be justified in doing so because I was an office guy!    

[TheScarf]

See, I go the other way and under claim on expenses as I don't want to be hauled in front of (well a Teams video call at the moment of course) my line manager and payroll to itemise my expenses for the month.

I only every need to go somewhere maybe once or twice a month.  Fuel of course, 2 £3.50 meal deals a month? Nah.

[ICTChris]

Making employers liable for the cost of commuting would be an interesting exercise in unintended consequences.  A lot of employers aren't based in areas that are amenable to public transport.  If my company were to pay for a train pass for me then my commute would be much longer, I'd have to get a bus to the train staation then another bus from the destination to my office.  Considering I'll still need a car then I'd probably rather just drive in, especially if I'm working a couple of days a week.  If I worked in the centre of Edinburgh it'd be different but only maniacs drive into Edinburgh for work.

If you made companies pay or contribute to petrol costs then they'd be vulnerable to rises in the prices.  On the plus side it could be factored into encouraging people to choose more fuel efficient or electric cars and I bet companies would prefer staff to get trains or buses than be liable for fuel costs.  I do think you'd end up with sutations where a lot of companies, particularly smaller ones, would just not recruit people who lived any distance away from their main workplace.  Most of the places I've worked some people have had ridiculous commutes - guys driving into Edinburgh from South Ayrshire or to Inverness from Elgin  I once worked with a guy who lived on the Black Isle but worked in Edinburgh, he'd drive down on Monday morning, stay in a B&B until Thursday and drive back up on Friday.  Doubt the company would've fancied picking up his petrol costs.

A lot of this is predicated on the fact that many offices are out of town or in out of the way places designed for car travel - for example, Livingston.  Perhaps int eh post-pandemic, post retail collapse economy we'll start to see a move back to city centres as companies move towards having staff working from home and maybe touching down in a smaller space a couple of days a week.  To attract the young 'uns you have to have an attractive destination a lot of the time and somewhere in a city centre is a lot more attractive than a giant car park off the M8.

[ICTChris]

12 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

See, I go the other way and under claim on expenses as I don't want to be hauled in front of (well a Teams video call at the moment of course) my line manager and payroll to itemise my expenses for the month.

I only every need to go somewhere maybe once or twice a month.  Fuel of course, 2 £3.50 meal deals a month? Nah.

If I'm away for work it's usually a few days or a week and I claim for things that aren't my everyday expenses.,  So I don't claim for lunches as I'd be buying my lunch anyway.  I do always get taxis or Ubers everywhere and claim it.  A few years ago I went abroad for work and my taxi bills to and from the airport cost more than the flights.

[TheScarf]

2 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

If I'm away for work it's usually a few days or a week and I claim for things that aren't my everyday expenses.,  So I don't claim for lunches as I'd be buying my lunch anyway.  I do always get taxis or Ubers everywhere and claim it.  A few years ago I went abroad for work and my taxi bills to and from the airport cost more than the flights.

Yep exactly, I don't claim for stuff I'd be buying anyway.  Aye taxis and fuel for your own vehicle definitely.

[ICTChris]

I work with a guy who doesn't claim any expenses if he's away for work.  He pays for the flights himself and all the meals.  I'm pretty sure the hotels are paid for by the company (the hotels we stay in in London are insanely expensive) but he says he can't be bothered filling out the forms.  He's a maniac though, he works about 25 hours of unpaid overtime a week.