How quickly to pay expenses?

[macaroonsandgin]

Would really appreciate people's views on this.

Is there a standard timeframe for paying expenses to someone who is working regularly for you? (e.g. cleaner buying more supplies, nanny paying for soft play etc)

How soon would it be appropriate for them to chase about payment?

Thanks everyone

In my role which is public sector, expenses have to be submitted by 16th to get in in pay by 30th so 2 weeks later. Anything after that would be the following month and anything before would still not be until the end of the month.

I assume you’re the worker and I would expect the expenses in my next pay. Do you think they’ve forgotten?

For personal expenses of the sort you describe I would reimburse the same day. Anything else is mean and unacceptable - you can’t expect your nanny to provide cash flow for your children’s expenses.

Thanks v much for your response @Karwomannghia - it's actually the other way around. Someone working for us submitted a small claim this morning and has emailed this afternoon asking for the expenses to be paid.

This isn't the first time they've done this, so I wanted to check whether I was at fault by not paying claims within the same working day. I did check the contract but there was nothing specific about it.

Thanks again

Cross post with @WorkingItOutAsIGo - thanks that's helpful!

For the examples you've given I would expect to pay upfront, eg a weekly allowance for the nanny or add cleaning supplies to my own shopping list and buy them myself. For jobs where there is regular expenses that need to be claimed I would expect be given the policy before I start the job and for that to be followed, usually on the next pay day.

I think 2-3 days is fine for small expenses.

Our cleaner is fine with the following week.

We don't have a nanny but would have assumed that you would give them a kitty to spend money from rather than reimburse ad hoc.

I think chasing within a day is OTT

For the situation you describe the 'standard' should be immediate reimbursement or preferably, arrangements put in place so they don't have to shell out their own money in the first place.

Eg for a cleaner, always make sure you have sufficient cleaning supplies in. If you employ a nanny, give them a card with money on, so they can pay for these things - I thought it was expected if you employed a nanny that they would regularly go to soft play, go to the park and buy ice cream etc, so in today's world where nearly everything is paid on card, this would replace actual petty cash.

I guess it depends on how you pay them, if it's a bank transfer then I might or might not be able to pay within the same working day depending on whether I can get to my computer. If the person can accept PayPal or Revolut then I generally pay as soon as I get the request in case I forget.

I think chasing within a day is OTT

But if it's just before their payday, it could be that they have no money until they have this money back.

In the examples you’ve given I’d expect there to be a petty cash jar into which they put receipts. Or a debit card account they can use if cash isn’t possible.

For minimum wage staff in particular they should never be out of pocket. If they are happy to wait a week fine, but if not reimburse straight away.

Ideally company cards or floats should be available for staff who regularly have expenses.

Thanks everyone for all your thoughts, very helpful. There is a debit card set up for day-to-day expenses but this was a mileage request. I will make sure I'm always able to reimburse on the same day from now on.

Thanks again

I did preface that with small expenses. I mean really stuff under £5/10.

I think with that sort of amount, if it puts you in major difficulty to wait a couple of days, you need to make that clear.

I guess because I routinely have to wait up to a month for my expenses, I just think waiting 48 hours isn't a big deal