August 29, 2017 at 1:33 pm
I worked for a company that checked your mileage using Google maps to verify your mileage even though we had to travel around once we were there extensively. Just there and back is all they paid. I was also a manager there and I took members of my team out to lunch bi-weekly, they would not reimburse me for this even though they originally did. This all occurred after we hired a new Finance/HR person. This was a technology company. I have to say now compared to my previous employer in the 80's and 90's it is black and white. I think the times are changing. Should I ever start my own company I will treat people the way they deserve. After all, the mind is the intellectual property that turns the gears to make the company succeed.
August 29, 2017 at 2:22 pm
I have reimbursement for food or travel for some occasion is always an issue (at least most of the companies) it may not be the policy of a company but bosses or HR will try to show the reduction in expenditure or just be bossy.
In fact I know one of the company where if a developer's code has an issue which is caught in prod, they may have to fix it on the weekends and will not get reimbursement for food or travel
August 29, 2017 at 2:36 pm
ZZartin - Tuesday, August 29, 2017 9:51 AMI would not put up my personal money for anything outside of maybe incidental costs like food, anything like hotels, plane tickets, software trials etc..... should be put on a company card.Now expecting tech workers to be held personally liable for any bugs in their code seems like an incredibly slippery slope. First it's not like a waiter dropping a stack of plates which has a very clear cause and a very fixed cost, a lot of technical issues have a much harder to quantify a dollar impact(and would likely bankrupt the average worker if one person was held accountable for it). Second most of us work in some kind of collaborative environment so who gets the blame whoever came up with the requirements, the QA team that didn't test properly, the manager who ignored the results from QA, the developer who put a decimal in the wrong place?
Heh...or the manager who set the unrealistic deadline? Perhaps the QA group (if you even have such a group) or people who signed off on testing saying that it was good should get hauled into the mix? Then again, it could have come from above that "the product shall ship on date X" and the mid-level manager made it happen, no matter what state the product was in. It's more about working with the developers instead of against them.
Developing software that's accurate, reliable and performant can be a challenge when others set unrealistic or ambiguous expectations. When the people doing the work don't have the experience and aren't given the time to do things right, then beating them or charging them for it does very little good for anyone. I've seen people who could have worked 150 hours a week and would have had no prayer of getting the task done because they didn't understand what was required and the manager wouldn't explain it clearly.
Don't get me wrong...I think negligence is inexcusable. The political blame game is just as inexcusable and is also unproductive.
August 29, 2017 at 4:20 pm
This is an interesting topic, as laws and regulations can be different between jurisdictions.
For expense claims you'd generally need to get approval - preferably in writing - before running up a cost. "Hey boss, I need a new packet of batteries for the wireless keyboard and mouse the company provided" should be straightforward. Saying "Hey boss, I know you said you want to keep using our physical server room in the back closet, but I thought I'd duplicate our entire setup in Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services and run a 6 month performance comparison doing 24/7 big data number crunching" might not get reimbursed. That would be considered an employee initiative, and employees should be willing from time to time to cough up if they think their careers will benefit. (Employees paying their own training falls into that boat.)
On the topics of training and underhanded tactics, my SO many years ago worked in Finance. It was an industry expectation that a company, expecting their staff to be CPA qualified as a condition of employment, would pay for the annual refresher courses to maintain that qualification. A new manager was hired to reduce costs and cancelled the refresher budget. But it's fair, right, coz they'd cancelled it for themselves also, yeah? However the company had an initiative that for all savings the manager got 50% of the first year as a bonus. So cancelling the refresher for 10 staff covered her for the next 5 years.
August 30, 2017 at 1:07 am
I would certainly not setup a cloud-based service for a company using my own credit card.
Most cloud vendors do have some trail-based option that you can use to test and then show off to your boss/manager.
Unfortunately my own credit card pays for my training since most companies:
a) do not want to invest in training
b) provide training that is not in line with my personal career goals.
Looking at the rest of the comments, it seems that Steve is one of the few ones that is working for a decent company!
Or maybe the grass looks greener on the other side..? 🙂
August 30, 2017 at 6:43 am
Whether charging back employees is good practice depends on: if the intent is a genuine and fair attempt at encouraging better outcomes, or if it is simply a mechanism intended to reduce operational costs. If the intent is purely financial, then the employees will get screwed one way or the other regardless of their overall performance level. For example, the police enforce speed limits, ostensibly because it reduces accidents and promotes public safety, but I'm sure we're all familiar with things like "speed traps" where a large number of citations are issued in a short time, which some argue is simply an effort to generate more revenue. If driving 55 mph in that 45 mph zone is truly such a threat to public safety, then it should be enforced consistently every day and backed up with statistics showing that a disproportionate number of accidents were occurring on the roadway and issuing speed citations encourages better outcomes.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
August 30, 2017 at 8:44 am
Stefan LG - Wednesday, August 30, 2017 1:07 AMI would certainly not setup a cloud-based service for a company using my own credit card.
Most cloud vendors do have some trail-based option that you can use to test and then show off to your boss/manager.Unfortunately my own credit card pays for my training since most companies:
a) do not want to invest in training
b) provide training that is not in line with my personal career goals.Looking at the rest of the comments, it seems that Steve is one of the few ones that is working for a decent company!
Or maybe the grass looks greener on the other side..? 🙂
I've had mixed results on investing in training. Some do, some don't. Often, if I show initiative and show results from training, I get more training dollars.
I've certainly had b), but I figure that training is always a win for me. Perhaps I'll change my goals.
In terms of expenses, mixed luck as well. Some require everything pre-approved (can be a problem at times, mostly fine), some will approve everything, but let you know what's unacceptable for the future. Some may decline expenses. I usually look for a new job if that happens.
August 30, 2017 at 9:04 am
For me, training is different than expense reimbursement.
That is an investment in myself and my career, not my employer.
Plus, professional development is a tax write off (for those in the US, who itemize deductions).
August 30, 2017 at 9:37 am
Getting charged back for specific expended items that don't qualify is usually the result of failure to familiarize oneself with the guidelines. However, for some of us there is an even bigger potential risk. Even if the employer eventually reimburses, initially paying for training, travel, or hotel with your personal credit card can be a bit of a stretch, especially if it amounts to several thousand dollars. It can also be a potential risk if the company goes under, you get laid off, or for whatever reason there is a parting of ways before the reimbursement. Make sure you have a clear understanding about how the process works and the timeline. Don't assume anything.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
June 21, 2023 at 6:18 pm
I would not get my personal credit and finances involved in company dealings. If my company wanted me to spend THEIR money, that's OK, but I'm not going to take responsibiltiy. My personal credit rating is 'Exceptional' across the board with every creditor, and I won't let anyone else risk that. I had good and bad managers during my career, but never had any problems getting expenses covered for training, travel, software, supplies, etc. Any expenses initiated for your company should be first authorized and backed by a requisition and a company purchase order. Travel and departmental expenses, even for entertainment, should be on a company credit card without using your name at all except for an authorized signature. The only exception was probably when my wife owned the company. I worked for my wife as a contract employee for my last three years!
Rick
Disaster Recovery = Backup ( Backup ( Your Backup ) )
June 21, 2023 at 8:09 pm
It's fascinating to read through and see how different people/companies deal with this kind of issue. As a supervisor, I have a corporate credit card for discretionary expenses but members of my team do not have that option. In cases where someone would need/want to use their personal money/card, we have a form an employee can fill out. If they can justify the cost and get a signature from their manager and the director they are good to go. In this way, there is an official record specifically approving the said purchase for reimbursement. Outside of that I certainly would never recommend anyone using their own finances to make purchases on the behalf of their employers.
June 21, 2023 at 11:20 pm
I do it all the time. I book all my travel on my card including hotel, airfare, rental car, meals, and incidentals to the trip. About the only thing I don't put on my card is things of a recurring nature like my subscription to Jira. I've put software and hardware on my card and lots of other things. I submit an expense report at a frequency to ensure I get reimbursed before my credit card payment is due. I get to keep all the miles / reward dollars, etc. While there are some rules such as a max percentage to tip and fill the tank before returning the rental car, I don't have an expense limit, a daily per diem rate when I travel, limits on the size car I can rent, and things of that nature. Sometimes I eat at a nice steak house and other times I eat at a local deli. I make sure I don't abuse the system and I've never had an expense refused or even questioned. I trust my company and they trust me. That's how it should be.
June 26, 2023 at 5:21 pm
Getting charged back for specific expended items that don't qualify is usually the result of failure to familiarize oneself with the guidelines. However, for some of us there is an even bigger potential risk. Even if the employer eventually reimburses, initially paying for training, travel, or hotel with your personal credit card can be a bit of a stretch, especially if it amounts to several thousand dollars. It can also be a potential risk if the company goes under, you get laid off, or for whatever reason there is a parting of ways before the reimbursement. Make sure you have a clear understanding about how the process works and the timeline. Don't assume anything.
Exactly. Don't spend the money unless you are comfortable with not being reimbursed. If you have doubts, ask.
June 27, 2023 at 4:21 am
I’ve charged travel, training, and certification exams to my own credit card and have never had a problem getting reimbursed by my employer. However, a related story comes to mind. In 1985 a coworker and I went to a week-long Oracle class in San Francisco, and the company I was working for (a government contractor) booked us each a room with two beds. I told him he should check out in the morning and then share my room to save money ($109 single occupancy vs $120 double occupancy per night). When we got back to the office we thought we would be commended, but instead the person in accounting complained that she was going to have to redo her paperwork. Furthermore, we had watched an in-room movie for $5 and put it on our expense report, and it took a great deal of effort to convince her that we shouldn’t have to pay for it, considering we saved $392 on the lodging.
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