Hotel expenses

[DancerDan]

My employer is sending me on a course soon, the course is abroad (flights and course paid for by the company) but I'm expected to pay for the hotel and refreshments and they will reimburse within a couple of weeks when they get the receipts.

We're in a tight spot financially, although 'just about managing' the cost of a hotel isn't in the budget and it's going to be tricky to expect to pay out approx £400 of our day to day spending even if it will be reimbursed. Employer's answer is to take out a credit card which I have applied for but I can't help feel that this isn't fair and they are putting us in a potentially precarious financial position. There's also the issue of who pays card fees (and fees for paying in foreign currency if applicable)

It doesn't seem to be standard practice, I've scoured Google but not getting much help, is there any employment law or advice someone could point me in the direction of or do I just need to suck it up?

I have had that before; it was a bit of a shock to the system, as my previous company provided corporate credit cards for such things. I wasn't wildly happy, but they did turn round expenses pretty quickly after they were submitted, so it was fine.

So it's not unknown.

The expenses system has changed since, so I'm not sure how it currently works, as I haven't claimed anything more than day trips to London in the last decade or so.

This wouldn't be standard in my place of employment (Civil Service), though individual departments may vary.

Any time I've had to travel for work, flights and hotel have been paid for by the department. My food and travel (up to a certain limit) are then reimbursed after receipts are submitted - usually within 5 days or so.

I'm not sure what your options are if this is standard practice in your company though. I'm not sure whether there is any specific employment law, but hopefully someone will be along who knows better.

Thanks for the replies, I've never come across it either and I was a PA in a previous employment so have experience in booking travel and accommodation for this sort of thing.

We can comfortably manage food and refreshments but the hotel bill on top makes it tricky, we can manage but I'm annoyed it puts us in a difficult financial position if an emergency arises and embarrassed too that I'm having to explain this to my employer

There's also the issue of exchange rates for expenses, I don't want to end up out of pocket when they do pay them back

Can you get a new credit card and use it for the expenses?

I've always had to pay myself and claim back. The fees for using card abroad were an expense I could claim and equally I claimed back the hotel expense using the credit card exchange rate using my statement as proof so I didn't end up out of pocket- I'd expect you'd be able to do the same. My main issue (as I travelled a lot) was trying to get claims in between trips so I had the money before the bill was due.

Yes, I've applied for a credit card, I just need it to arrive before Monday (they only gave notice of needing to pay for hotels a couple of days ago)

Thanks JFW I hadn't considered that the statement would list the exchange rate I was only thinking of receipts which will be in local currency

I've had to do this before. The expenses systems I've used had options to either put in the exchange rate (so I fudged it to cover the amount I paid if there were extra fees) or had the option to add foreign currency charges seperately.

If you haven't claimed expenses before, check if you need to be setup on any systems before you go - that can take time and delay payments if you only do it when you go to submit. If you're already setup you should be able to check what options are available for foreign currency transactions.

There’s no employment law to help you I’m afraid. It’s not good practice to expect staff who are (presumably) on a not particularly high salary to fork out large sums in advance and claim them back but there’s nothing unlawful about it. If you can’t manage it you’ll need to speak to your employer.

My last company generally expected you to pay then claim back on expenses. However they were very reasonable and if it was a cost you weren't happy with then they would arrange to pay expenses in advance (e.g. prepay the hotel) so i never felt out of pocket.

It's shocking to hear though that there is no employee protection here though. It does seem very unreasonable for employees to be expected to pay upfront (regardless of salary). What would happen if you simply can't afford the upfront cost and refuse to go?

Thanks all. I suspected it might be the case that they aren't breaking employment laws but they are BU (in my opinion)

We have family who have already offered to transfer money to us until the expenses are paid back, I just don't want to be in that position. Same with a credit card, we've managed for over 10 years not to have any debt (minus the mortgage) and it frustrates me that it has been forced on me in a way.

I could refuse but I expect it wouldn't go down well as the rest of the trip is paid for. I'd already agreed to the course as I expected the accomodation would be paid for, I went on a UK work trip a fortnight ago for which the accomodation was paid for in advance by the company so this came as a surprise. I'll be triple checking before agreeing to any future trips!

Who is it at your work that said take out a credit card? Could you ask again, or someone different, for them to just pay the hotel in advance? There's just no way I would take out a credit card solely for work expenses. What if you were applying for a mortgage in the near future or wanted credit for other things and this goes against you?

If you still go down the credit card route then I would claim expenses for the full statement amount including any fees/interest charges.

Can you ask the hotel to invoice your company?

One of the company Directors said to take out a credit card, apparently that's how everyone deals with expenses and it seems to be accepted as the norm throughout the company. On the last trip hotel was paid for by a supervisor colleague who was there at the same time so paid for both rooms but again this was a personal credit card that he uses solely for work expenses. Expenses have always been reimbursed within two weeks.

Good suggestion RainbowPanda I'll forward them the statement and any charges I'll be forwarding too as I don't plan on using it for any personal spending, I just hope it arrives in time

For future reference, there are no fees for using nationwide credit card abroad (at least in Europe, haven't checked elsewhere ). eg if you use it to pay in shops and hotels etc. You do have to pay for using it to withdraw cash.

I use a cashback credit card for work expenses- and also buy through Quidco so I get cashback. It works for me - and often get free hotel nights etc because I build up points.

My dh has his hotel and expenses paid for beforehand. He’s never out of pocket for trips. I find it odd that anyone has to claim this back as an expense.

I have this in a current job, I have to front literally everything and I do a lot of travel, it's not unusual to have £1000 or more expenses per month.
I got a credit card, if you are paying off regularly then the fees should be minimal.

Yes, its not fair but when I am getting free breakfast/dinner etc I just remind myself to think of it as a perk.

Also helps that my employer pays expenses weekly so I'm never building up too much on the card... will you have to wait long for expenses to be repaid?

I have to do this also for cheap flights, hotels and expenses. My work pays for any fees incurred

I've worked in places that did this.

It is good for your credit rating to have a credit card, as long as you pay your balance off in full each month.

You can also get credit cards which offer cash back on your purchases.

I worked away somewhere for months on end where there was a Yo Sushi offer using Barclaycard... for every meal at the end of the month a £5 credit would be applied to my account. I frequented Yo Sushi on my work trips a lot at that time...

Why not ask for a £400 advance on expenses from your accounts/financie dept, just, to alleviate the main burden of the big hotel bill? That's quite a common practice.

Then you can cover the incidentals and subsistence and reclaim, as that should be manageable.

It was standard at my last law firm. You could get a company credit card but they didn't pay the bills directly - you had to - disobey it wasn't much different to a personal card. I travelled long haul quite a bit so the bills could be thousands. It meant I always had to keep quite a buffer in my current account. My current firm pays for most things upfront but sometimes need to sort hotels myself.

Thanks all for the replies, really surprised to hear how this is common practice in many places of work.
I'm sorted for this trip, it's unlikely to be a regular thing I'm only asked to travel for courses so unlikely to make use of a perks credit card but I'll definitely consider if i do much more.
I've got the credit card sortednow so there'll be no problems attending it just leaves a bit of a bitter taste that they expect employees on a modest salary to cover this in advance especially as my role doesn't normally involve travelling but I'll know to check in future