Work expenses no credit card

killbillvol2

meeeeh wrote: »

Or maybe the employer assumes all is not fine and possibly don't want to issue credit card for that reason. That being said I think they should pay some sort of advance if they are reluctant to provide credit card.

We don't really know if they're reluctant. It seems the OP's frustration stems from the fact that her husband hasn't followed up on it. The employer could be totally unaware of this issue.

AulWan

Just a suggestion, but iIf I were you, I would get your husband to open a seperate current account with a visa debit card attached, for his travel expenses, and keep it totally seperate from the household money.

He could then get his employer to pay the next refund of expenses into that account (plus bank fees) and he can use that to fund travel for the next month, and so on. If it will not cover the costs, he can ask for a cash advance to paid by EFT directly into that account, but most importantly, your household budget is not impacted.

He could also get a card like Revolut or N26 to use abroad.

skallywag

AulWan wrote: »

...your DH ...

Ha?

AulWan

skallywag wrote: »

Ha?

Apologies, its used as an abbreviation for Husband, I forgot its not used on this fora. I've amended it now.

Strumms

Mr.S wrote: »

1k isn't low. 1k is a large sum of money if you are forking it out from your current account, which is what the OP is doing.

You obviously will not notice it if you have a personal credit card with high line of credit, and you get your expenses paid on time to pay the bill - but that isn't what is happening to the OP's example - so of course it's a large amount of money or why else would he be complaining!? What happens when funding a trip eats into all of his available cash? Think logically :rolleyes:

Granted, employer probably assumes all is fine as he hasn't complained so this really should be raised.

Plus add in the fact some people do not want credit cards, why should OP have to take one out just to cover work expenses?

I'll say it again, if you have any sort of regular expenses, the employer should provide a means to pay for them.

Madness isn’t it, some people are suggesting that an employee should go to the effort and trouble to go and procure a credit card get into debt, to facilitate their employer so that they can go abroad and travel for them :eek:

skallywag

AulWan wrote: »

...its used as an abbreviation for Husband...

DH is an abbreviation for Husband? ... Is it a 'Da Husband' ?

kravmaga

ExasperatedWife wrote: »

My husbands job requires him to travel several times a month. His employer has promised him a company credit card for the last 12 months and it’s still not happening. My husbands bad credit means he doesn’t have a personal credit card. So all the travel expenses are coming from his wages, this month alone that was €1000. We can’t afford this. He claims it back but it happens again the next month so it’s a vicious circle. And it’s money that is then not available to us to use, save, spend on emergencies or even a treat for the kids.
We are struggling financially, living month to month with no respite from the drudgery. Our marriage is suffering as a result.
He won’t force the issue with work as he’s afraid to rock the boat. So he’s rather have me angry as hell about it than make a stand in work. I’m so sick of it.
Has anyone any advice?
I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall.
I haven’t have a break away in nearly 10yrs, he’s away travelling all over Europe, ok it’s work, but it’s away from the kids, staying in a hotel, meals and nights out socialising.
He then tells me I can go away whenever I want, but with what?! We have no spare cash!
I’m at a loss now as to what to do. We’re going round and round in circles, he refuses to talk about it, won’t see a counsellor with me and these financial issues are causing such a huge issue in the marriage and it’s a miserable existence.

Cant understand why your husbands company dont issue one of these to him.

Or a Revolut card is a good idea , I top it up when I travel in Europe, 4 times a year approx.

https://www.mastercard.ie/en-ie/businesses/small-business/business-prepaid-solutions/business-prepaid-cards.html

Mrs OBumble

skallywag wrote: »

I would imagine though that his company do not know that he does not hold a private card himself. I would advise having a word with his boss about this,

Do not do this.

Companies routinely trust people with large amounts of resources and customer-goodwill. Admitting to your manager that you cannot be trusted is a very Career Limiting Move.






OP, is there any way you could get a better paying job yourself? I'm thinking that realistically you need to start planning to be financially independent, because your marriage doesn't seem to be a priority for your husband.

MrMusician18

Strumms wrote: »

That depends on the company. With other companies I know they would have no issue with an employee expensing two to three beers a night, a cinema ticket and a taxi ride there and back...’travel entertainment.’ Although I wouldn’t be knowing such a luxury.

I know a trick too with people is when buying beer get the barman to put it down as two cokes or whatever, keep the change. I’d be far too honest though :eek:

Do most, if not all companies give the civil service per diems to avoid tax implications?

Tombo2001

JustMe,K wrote: »

talk about splitting hairs - her husband should go speak to them

And if he wont?

Stheno

MrMusician18 wrote: »

Do most, if not all companies give the civil service per diems to avoid tax implications?

Not in my experience

L1011

skallywag wrote: »

DH is an abbreviation for Husband? ... Is it a 'Da Husband' ?

Mumsnet gubbins that's crept elsewhere, "darling husband" or "dear husband." Often funny to see it used when someone really, really hates the person in question.




The cashflow issues caused by that kind of expenses provision is a one month thing - or one month a year if you have a dead December or January. It isn't an ongoing thing over 10 years.

MrMusician18

Stheno wrote: »

Not in my experience

Any job I've been in that's the least I've got. Over place offered more but we had to pay tax on the difference.

If be looking for a new job if I wasn't being adequately compensated to foreign travel tbh. Business trips require you to give up a lot, particularly family life.

Strumms

MrMusician18 wrote: »

Any job I've been in that's the least I've got. Over place offered more but we had to pay tax on the difference.

If be looking for a new job if I wasn't being adequately compensated to foreign travel tbh. Business trips require you to give up a lot, particularly family life.

True, in my experience, if you are working Monday - Friday in Milan for a company on a trip you’ll need to...


Spend Sunday evening packing, ironing etc and other sundry tasks in advance of your trip.. you won’t get paid for that.

If you don’t get to travel the night before....Up outrageously early to get to the airport and all the hassle there.

Straight to work at your destination...

Boss at your destination wants to meet up for dinner at the end of your first day...all you want is a pint, the match, Skype the family and rest.. but no..he’ll be prattling on about work, his family life etc all night...

The hotel has been selected with ‘budgets’ In mind... not only is it three star comfort , it’s out of the way of most amenities, not central, the nearest non hotel restaurant is a 20 quid taxi fare away.


And again, from colleagues and another bosss...”sure isn’t it well for some, on the company dollar galavanting all around Europe”... yes I felt like a true rockstar living that lifestyle...

skallywag

Very good description above by Strumms.

It gets even more demanding and stressful if you go to Asia, you will often have to fly already on Saturday to make a Monday morning start, so you could be setting off from home on Saturday morning, and not getting back until well in the afternoon on the following Saturday. Add in the mayhem & delays you can have at a lot of Asian airports and you quickly will not be looking forward to it. Sure, many companies will compensate you (although my last one did not, you lost all such travel time) but there are still times when you would rather be at home with family, etc.

You also usually end up having to go out a lot with clients/suppliers etc, which typically happens right after the day of work/meetings, with very little time to yourself. So you end up tired and having to make polite conversation and smile until late into the evening. I actually love it on the odd occasion when nothing happens to be arranged and I can just slink off somewhere.

Sure, it's somehow nice to get to see places that you would normally probably not get to otherwise, but to be honest with you my happiest moment on a trip tends to be when I finally board the plane to come home!

AndrewJRenko

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Don't care what the Public Sector do before anyone jumps in .... they get very generous mileage and subsistence that offset this compared to being nickel and dimed in the private sector.

Have you checked these 'very generous' allowances recently?

40c per km for an average size car, only allowed where no reasonable public transport exists?

And all the glamour of €33 for breakfast, lunch and dinner on a full day trip! I skipped breakfast, had soup and a sandwich in a pub for lunch and a burger in a diner on my last day out, and still ended up out of pocket.

meeeeh

And if you didn't travel your cost for food for the day would be 0? 33 Euro for 10 hours is not bad, neither is 40c per km. Complaining about it says more how self entitled and deluded some in public sector are.

AndrewJRenko

meeeeh wrote: »

And if you didn't travel your cost for food for the day would be 0? 33 Euro for 10 hours is not bad. Complaining about it says more how self entitled and deluded some in public sector are.

Do you find the usual cost of food per day is generally deducted from private sector expenses? For the record, I didn't complain about it. I challenged that claim that it is generous, which it's not.



But let's take the example of a full day train trip to Cork or Sligo perhaps. Some kind of breakfast roll on the train with a cup of tea, say €8. A basic sandwich for lunch with a coffee, say €9. Some kind of dinner, maybe with a Coke and a coffee afterwards, say €22. And I'm out of pocket.


Living the high life, huh?

meeeeh wrote: »

neither is 40c per km.

Many people are still going to be out of pocket

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/motors/2017/0808/895989-what-it-costs-to-run-your-car-for-a-year/

AulWan

In my department, if you order a coke or any kind of soft drink with your lunch they will deduct it from your claim. They will pay for tea, coffee or water only. The luxury.

meeeeh

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Do you find the usual cost of food per day is generally deducted from private sector expenses? For the record, I didn't complain about it. I challenged that claim that it is generous, which it's not.



But let's take the example of a full day train trip to Cork or Sligo perhaps. Some kind of breakfast roll on the train with a cup of tea, say €8. A basic sandwich for lunch with a coffee, say €9. Some kind of dinner, maybe with a Coke and a coffee afterwards, say €22. And I'm out of pocket.


Living the high life, huh?




Many people are still going to be out of pocket

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/motors/2017/0808/895989-what-it-costs-to-run-your-car-for-a-year/

Oh yes the hordes of public servants that travel from Sligo to Cork and back in a day...

AulWan

Eh, the poster said Sligo OR Cork.

Not Sligo TO Cork.

irelandrover

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Do you find the usual cost of food per day is generally deducted from private sector expenses? For the record, I didn't complain about it. I challenged that claim that it is generous, which it's not.



But let's take the example of a full day train trip to Cork or Sligo perhaps. Some kind of breakfast roll on the train with a cup of tea, say €8. A basic sandwich for lunch with a coffee, say €9. Some kind of dinner, maybe with a Coke and a coffee afterwards, say €22. And I'm out of pocket.


Living the high life, huh?




Many people are still going to be out of pocket

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/motors/2017/0808/895989-what-it-costs-to-run-your-car-for-a-year/

The only additional expense there to a normal day is dinner. If you normally pack a lunch for the office then do it when you travel. If you normally buy lunch out then it's not an extra expense. Same for breakfast.

Springfields

He is hardly rocking the boat if they've been promising for a year and still haven't organised a card for him. Tell him get the finger out and speak to them again. Getting no where putting his head in the sand. That or politely request cash advance for next trip
Company are taking the mick..

lawred2

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Most employers don't provide a company credit card in my experience. Some of the large multi nationals might.

Is there any way you can get a credit card with a small limit and give him a card?

If he has to travel regularly incurring such costs then yes it is normal enough for such a credit card. Often it's a shared account with multiple cards issued..

Expecting employees to cover a hundred here and there is one thing but thousands should not be coming out an employees own reserves.

TheQuietBeatle

Ask your husband to check for a per diem policy in the company handbook. This will get paid in advance of work trips.

My company only give card to senior managers so it might be similar for his situation.

AndrewJRenko

irelandrover wrote: »

The only additional expense there to a normal day is dinner. If you normally pack a lunch for the office then do it when you travel. If you normally buy lunch out then it's not an extra expense. Same for breakfast.

You seemed to have missed the additional expense of being required to eat out. I haven't quite measured it, but I'd bet my 'home' breakfast of cereal/milk/juice comes in under a euro. Same for lunch - a home-made lunch brought into work, consisting mostly of leftovers probably costs maybe €2 or €3. So there is considerable extra expense.


Is your normal food cost deducted from your expense claims?

dennyk

Mr.S wrote: »

Not being able to get approved for a credit card does not make you untrustworthy :eek:

Well, technically it does mean that no bank is willing to trust you with an unsecured line of credit because your financial history indicates that the risk of you failing to pay as agreed outweighs the profit they can make from your interest payments and the merchant fees you generate. It's true that may not say anything about your trustworthiness as a person or your honesty and ethics, if it's just that you've inadvertently overextended yourself financially at some point in the past, but not every employer will see it that way. Many employers in the US routinely use credit checks as part of the vetting process for new hires these days, even for non-fiduciary positions.

Dial Hard

AndrewJRenko wrote:

40c per km for an average size car, only allowed where no reasonable public transport exists?

It was 12c per km in one private sector company I worked in, regardless of engine size. 40c is generous, slice it any way you want. And let us not forget that the top rate is actually 59c.

Mellor

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

But let's take the example of a full day train trip to Cork or Sligo perhaps. Some kind of breakfast roll on the train with a cup of tea, say €8. A basic sandwich for lunch with a coffee, say €9. Some kind of dinner, maybe with a Coke and a coffee afterwards, say €22. And I'm out of pocket.

That comes to €39. So the cost to you is €6.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I haven't quite measured it, but I'd bet my 'home' breakfast of cereal/milk/juice comes in under a euro. Same for lunch - a home-made lunch brought into work, consisting mostly of leftovers probably costs maybe €2 or €3. So there is considerable extra expense.

€1 Breakfast, €3 Lunch. and Dinner, let's say €4. Cost to you is €8


You are out of pocket when on the road, but the alternative isn't free so you are still saving money. That's ignoring the convenience of not having to make 3 meals for yourself.
And I'm sure you could get that €22 dinner down to €16 if you really wanted to.

Mellor

Phileas Frog wrote: »

Surely this ceases to be an issue after Month 1 if the expenses are ~ €1000 every month ?

^ This. The amount of people that are missing that is staggering.

Mr.S wrote: »

1k isn't low. 1k is a large sum of money if you are forking it out from your current account, which is what the OP is doing.

The money coming into his current account is increased by $1k as a result.

FishOnABike wrote: »

Could be close to two months if expenses are reimbursed monthly an expenses claim just missed the cutoff date for inclusion in this months payroll.

Sure you get it back eventually but a lot of people would not be in a finanvial position to be continually out of pocket for a month or two.

He's not "out of pocket". Yes expenses are going out every month.
But that are also coming in every month. OP is complaining about one and ignoring the other. Some months expenses stack up and might hamper your disposable. But an equal amount of the time, the reimbursement is higher leaving you with extra. A credit card isn't going to change that.

Say his employer issued a €800 advance every month to fund these expenses. He's only be contributing €200. BUT his last months payment would be €800 less!! So it's exactly the same.