Do you think this is an OK thing to do?

[DreadpiratK]

Just curious about peoples opinions. I travel a lot for work, and I get a standard $10/$15/$25 allowance for meals. Not great, but enough. In fact I rarely spend it all. So in preparation for our Sept Disney trip, a co-worker suggested I do this:

I eat breakfast at the hotel for free, spend my breakfast money on lunch, my lunch money on dinner,and get a $25 gift card from Chillie's or some other chain restaurant with my dinner money. My co-workers do this all the time but I never have. The money is mine to spend, but only if I spend it, I don't get the cash if I don't use it. This, along with the hotel points, is one of the few perks that offset being away from my family for days at a time. I try to be as straight an arrow as possible in all my dealings, and give my company full value every day, but this is a new thing for me. I'm pretty comfortable with this idea, but am curious if others have differing opinions.

 

[nexttrip4us]

I wouldn't. Someone I worked with (in a higher-level position) got fired for something similar. Totally not worth the risk--IMHO.

 

[wdwfan16]

Don't do it.

 

[QVCshopper]

I wouldn't either. Just enjoy a nice breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but don't try to come out ahead on this one.

 

[Zoesmama03]

Honestly I would not risk my job, ESPECIALLY with the economy like this. Often these type things are grounds for immediate dismissal. Maybe just my opinion. Is it wrong but I'd say a job that has travel and expense accounts like that is not worth losing in today's world.

 

[DreadpiratK]

I wouldn't. Someone I worked with (in a higher-level position) got fired for something similar. Totally not worth the risk--IMHO.

Interesting, glad I asked. I totally agree, now is not the time to be screwing around if you are fortunate enough to have a job. I see others getting away with stuff like this all the time, but I'd be the one that gets in trouble for it.

Obviously I wasn't that comfortable, or I wouldn't have asked!

 

[mrsklamc]

Don't they have to turn in receipts? Seems like that would be pretty obvious.

 

[DISdreamin']

I wouldn't even consider losing a job over something like that! No way - too big a risk.

On my last trip, I'm still feeling guilty about putting in for per diem for breakfast two days when the conference supposedly provided it. I had to breakfast elsewhere though, as they provided only water, coffee and these teensy-tiny sweet bearclaw sort of pastries. Um, no thank you, not how I want to start my day! I don't even drink coffee.

ETA: my hotel also didn't provide any kind of continental breakfast or anything. Well, they did, but the room rate was like $40 a night more. Better for my employer if I put in for the $10 breakfast than waste $40 on higher room rates!

 

[disykat]

I would not turn in receipts for reimbursement that were not for what they were intended. If it sounds like cheating..... it probably is.

Boy I'm glad DH just gets a per diem. On a per diem, you CAN come out ahead.

He definitely eats in the room for breakfast and usually comes out ahead. However, he gets a set amount added to his pay for each day he is away from home - what he actually spends is up to him. He can eat fancier and have to pay some out of pocket, or he can eat less and save the extra. It's pretty impossible to come out on the nose.

 

[Alexander]

If you have to ask, you already know the right answer!

 

[okeydokey]

I work for government and we get a specific amount for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We do not turn in receipts, we just get the allowance. It is no where near as generous as yours so we usually spend more on meals than we get back. If, however, we don't have time for a meal or spend less than the allowance, we still get the same amount.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I used to process expense reports for the executives at a bank. Anyone who traveled had the same kind of restrictions on what they could spend for each meal. But if they didn't actually spend the money on a meal, it wasn't theirs to keep. They had to turn in receipts to prove how much each meal cost. If they didn't spend the full $10 on breakfast or even if they didn't eat 3 meals a day, they couldn't charge it as if they did.

I think you've already decided not to do as your coworkers have suggested which is a good decision on your part. If I caught that type of activity when I was looking at expense reports, I would have reported it immediately and it would have been considered fraud --definitely an offense worthy of immediate termination.

 

[C.Ann]

Not a good idea - but I think you already knew that..

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Let your company policy be your guide.

My dh gets per diem when he travels. Hotel is paid directly while meal expenses are provided an allowance. How he spends it is his discretion. But since it is per diem, receipts are not required. It was not against company policy to demonstrate how the per diem was spent.

 

[DreadpiratK]

I wish my company would go to a per diem system, if nothing else I'd gain less weight when I travel. $50 per day buys a lot of calories!

We do have to turn in receipts, but the credit card receipt from the restaurant is enough, it does not have to be the itemized one, so they don't know what the money was actually spent on, only where. Historically they've been very loose with the expenses, they even pay for alcohol at meals, but like everyone else, they've been cutting back.

I'm already getting enough points out of the deal to pay for hotel rooms for my family and my parents on the way down and back, so I'll just be content with that. Pretty big saving actually, especially when you count the value of the free breakfasts.

 

[Kellydelly]

If it is seems shady, it is shady .

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I am sure it stinks to see others doing it, but no doubt they will get caught at some point. My DH just had to let an employee go about a month or so ago for abusing the meal allowance. It was a different situation, but still it was taken very seriously and he was let go. My DH hated to do it with jobs so scarce, but he didn't have a choice.

 

[quentina]

Just curious about peoples opinions. I travel a lot for work, and I get a standard $10/$15/$25 allowance for meals. Not great, but enough. In fact I rarely spend it all. So in preparation for our Sept Disney trip, a co-worker suggested I do this:

I eat breakfast at the hotel for free, spend my breakfast money on lunch, my lunch money on dinner,and get a $25 gift card from Chillie's or some other chain restaurant with my dinner money. My co-workers do this all the time but I never have. The money is mine to spend, but only if I spend it, I don't get the cash if I don't use it. This, along with the hotel points, is one of the few perks that offset being away from my family for days at a time. I try to be as straight an arrow as possible in all my dealings, and give my company full value every day, but this is a new thing for me. I'm pretty comfortable with this idea, but am curious if others have differing opinions.

I have to say, if one of my assocaites did this...not only would we fire them, we would press theft charges. I would not do this. Let your co-workers carry that burden....there will come a day that you will have new co-workers!

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

DH travels for work and has heard that more companies are starting to ask for itemized restaurant receipts because of this. Supposedly people from his company were fired for doing this!

Edit- he has even heard that if people don't spend a lot on dinner, they just have the server add a $10 gift certifiate to pad the bill!

 

[jennyopenny]

Nah~don't risk it. Just let eating well be your compensation for being gone.
Really healthy food is always more expensive than junk.