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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

£30 - surely no longer enough for work expenses and Xmas party!

285 replies

Thursday5pmisginoclock · 19/10/2023 11:27

For those in corporate roles where you can claim expenses…what are you company policy amounts for an evening meal when working away? Our £30 allowance feels so mean, and it’s the same amount for Christmas party! I mean what do you get for that nowadays??? Especially if we were to meet in London?

also why is the personal car payment still £0.45ppm - I am pretty sure it was that 10 maybe even 15/20 years ago!

inflation has not caught up surely…?

Is this commonplace?

OP posts:
mindutopia · 19/10/2023 12:26

I am in academia, so not corporate, but last I checked our daily 'subsistence' payment (so this is to cover all food, drinks, essentials for survival) when traveling is £20 per day - that's £20 for all meals and drinks for 24 hours. 😂

Honestly, I haven't travelled in years though because no one can afford it within our budgets and thankfully lots of things are now online.

Sunshineandflipflops · 19/10/2023 12:27

Bumble84 · 19/10/2023 11:38

I’ve never had a Christmas meal/party paid for, that’s so alien to me (public sector)

As others have said £30 for a meal while working away seems entirely acceptable.

Ditto! If I want to go on a works Xmas night out, it is arranged between us and we pay for ourselves. So I only go if people I get on well with are going and it's somewhere I like.

user1497207191 · 19/10/2023 12:28

Personally, I think the rates were far too high in the past and they're now at a more reasonable/sensible level now that inflation has caught up.

They're only meant to cover your costs, and the meal should be "subsistence" level rather than something fancy.

Son is in London on a course at the moment due to work and the first thing he asked was why was the meal allowance (£30) so high? He went out last night for a meal with his colleagues on the same course and said they spent about £20 each which was in a restaurant, not a fast food takeaway!

I do think too many employees seemed to think expenses were a wheeze to make a bit more money out of the employer, tax free.

Can't see the rates increasing any time soon. Far more likely to be fixed for the longer term. If employers want to pay more, they can, but the excess will be taxable. It's a bit like tax free luncheon vouchers which were very popular a few decades ago, but became worthless as the limits never increased and ultimately were scrapped.

FannyFifer · 19/10/2023 12:30

£30 is often what some have to buy food for an entire week so.

FrenchandSaunders · 19/10/2023 12:30

Ours is £33 for 24 hours so would need to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner … so I think you’re doing very well!!

Hillary17 · 19/10/2023 12:31

I understand to some degree. For years my company’s hotel policy has been less than £90 outside of London and less than £125 in London. It’s not possible anymore! Most people now refuse to go to anything that will mean staying over. £30 for one meal is fine but our daily allowance is only £25!

EvelynKatie · 19/10/2023 12:31

I note people comparing costs of 2 courses against the £30, but on nights away for work why do you need to have 2 courses? Are you having 2 course meals in your own home?

SahliJ · 19/10/2023 12:33

Public sector.

No meal, no party and if we want one we have to arrange and pay for it ourselves.

We don't even get a free drink at work ( and didn't when I worked in schools either) , we have to take or buy our own.

Not a race to the bottom, I always believe in valuing staff - so doesn't really fit my ethos.

WhatATimeToBeAlive · 19/10/2023 12:34

I agree re the 45p per mile - I was claiming that over 20 years ago! It's also supposed to cover wear and tear, not just fuel and there's no way it would cover that these days.

Handsnotwands · 19/10/2023 12:35

Hillary17 · 19/10/2023 12:31

I understand to some degree. For years my company’s hotel policy has been less than £90 outside of London and less than £125 in London. It’s not possible anymore! Most people now refuse to go to anything that will mean staying over. £30 for one meal is fine but our daily allowance is only £25!

ours is the same. last time i had to go away i had to book a travel lodge in Birmingham that was like, i don't know what it was like actually. i had to keep my shoes on as the floor was sticky and stained. it overlooked the back of loads of studenty pubs where people were smashing up furniture, having bonfires and fighting all night and there was only one plug socket that the broken tv was plugged into.

NotFastButFurious · 19/10/2023 12:35

We don't have a fixed budget for travel expenses other than it's meant to be "reasonable" but I don't think I've hit £30 for an evening meal yet. Our Christmas party allowance is also £30 pp which is ridiculous really given what the social committee are expected to provide (3 course meal, welcome drinks and disco all night type event) and it inevitably ends up with the local business units funding the rest.

Nowherenew · 19/10/2023 12:36

We never got any allowance!

We just had to pay for it all ourselves and so we’d try and find the cheapest available place.

Whalewatchers · 19/10/2023 12:38

Have to pay for your own Christmas Party in the public sector in Ireland. I assume it's the same in the UK? Can't be seen to be spending tax payers money on such things!

Stingy AF in my opinion as it was always paid for when I worked in the private sector.

ClarkGablesMoustache · 19/10/2023 12:38

FannyFifer · 19/10/2023 12:30

£30 is often what some have to buy food for an entire week so.

They aren't doing so in restaurants in city centres, though, are they?

Graciebobcat · 19/10/2023 12:38

Fuck that for Christmas party, tightwads. We just get our meal paid for and don't have a limit.

Obviously no-one is taking the piss and ordering bottles of Krug but we can have starts, mains, desserts and drinks.

45p a mile still works out pretty favourably when I'm claimed it.

Whalewatchers · 19/10/2023 12:39

SahliJ · 19/10/2023 12:33

Public sector.

No meal, no party and if we want one we have to arrange and pay for it ourselves.

We don't even get a free drink at work ( and didn't when I worked in schools either) , we have to take or buy our own.

Not a race to the bottom, I always believe in valuing staff - so doesn't really fit my ethos.

Slightly off topic, but no team building days out either! Nothing but a basic wage.

RethinkingLife · 19/10/2023 12:40

Public sector dinner allowance for one organisation I work for:
£5 breakfast
£5 lunch
£10 dinner

Graciebobcat · 19/10/2023 12:40

Of course you don't get anything in public sector.

This is irrelevant to the discussion as OP is in the private sector.

C8H10N4O2 · 19/10/2023 12:41

seoo · 19/10/2023 11:55

Is that specifically London pricing or just train station pricing though? The chain shops tend to charge the same in London vs nationally, but train station locations always hike the prices up as a convenience tax

Show quote history

Its irrelevant where it is - when traveling for work you end up having to buy food where you can get it. Its equally fatuous to compare the price of food away from home with weekly shopping when you don't have a kitchen or cooking facilities. And of course what you as a teeny tiny might find a huge pizza will not be enough for the sporty 22 year old graduate.

Plus of course, cheap pizza or other "junk food" might do you for the odd night but think of that 4-5 nights a week which is the reality for people working away a lot of the time. Its often surprisingly expensive to buy healthy food away from home, especially if you don't want heavy meals and can only get bread based food during the day.

In answer to the OP, most of these allowances align with HMRC rules which haven't been updated in a couple of decades. I don't know about the rest of you but I certainly can't buy as much per pound as I could 20 years ago.

Flatulence · 19/10/2023 12:42

YABU.

My organisation sets a limit of £26 for "subsistence" if away from my usual place of work for 18hrs or more. So that often has to cover three meals.
Even when working in central London (which I do frequently) I cope: meal deal for lunch, Greggs pastry and coffee for breakfast and usually something like a Nandos for evening meal.

If I had £30 for an evening meal I'd be like a pig in shit!

Out of interest, how much do you think is reasonable for an evening meal?

Forgotmylogindetails · 19/10/2023 12:42

First world problems

CesareBorgia · 19/10/2023 12:44

Flat £40 per whole day.

HollaHolla · 19/10/2023 12:44

Never had a penny paid towards any Xmas do/meal/drinks, unless my boss has put their hand in their own pocket. Another of the 'perks' of working in Higher Education....
As long as I've managed a team, I've paid for a couple of rounds of drinks (again from my own money). Seems really miserly not to give something.

ReadyForPumpkins · 19/10/2023 12:46

£25 for a day, including lunch and dinner. We need to make sure to book a hotel that includes breakfast. Christmas is separate.

LBOCS2 · 19/10/2023 12:47

Our Christmas party allowance is £30 a head and although we don't work away, if we're going to get home from late meetings after 9.30 we can claim £10 subsistence so we can pick something up while we're out. Neither is hugely generous but they're also not impossible to keep within. It's a London based company.