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Post by busy on Oct 4, 2022 20:05:21 GMT
DISCLAIMER: This was already resolved before asking the question here. But thought it would make an interesting discussion.
Situation: You have an overnight trip planned for work. You'll be driving up the afternoon before (about two hours). Your destination is the city where you grew up and your parents and many friends still live. You've made plans that evening and the next afternoon with various friends and family since you'll be in town. You have a hotel booked and must cancel 24 hours in advance to get a refund.
Three hours before you're planning to leave, the customer meeting you were going to attend is canceled. You decide you're still going to drive up and work from there the next day, since you have plans with people you haven't seen for a while.
Question: Is it unethical to stay in the hotel room, since it could not be canceled and the company will be paying for it regardless?
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,891
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Oct 4, 2022 20:07:10 GMT
Ooh. That's a tough one!
I say if you let the company know, you're fine.
There's something shady about staying there on the company's dime if you're not there on their behalf.
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Post by scraphollie27 on Oct 4, 2022 20:11:57 GMT
I would feel I needed to reimburse the company for my stay since it was not work related and didn’t really need to happen.
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Post by myshelly on Oct 4, 2022 20:14:24 GMT
I think it is ethical because the company has to pay for it either way.
If there was any way at all for the company to get their money back, I think it would be unethical to use the room for personal reasons.
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tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,899 
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Post by tracylynn on Oct 4, 2022 20:19:13 GMT
Already paid for, nonrefundable? Nope. I'd stay in it.
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Post by kmcginn on Oct 4, 2022 20:21:11 GMT
Why not ask your boss? You could explain that you made plans since you were going to be there and it's where you used to live. I think they would be OK with it since they have to pay for it anyway. And if they allow working remotely, it shouldn't matter where you'll be while working.
Sorry, I just noticed you said it had been resolved.
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Post by kmcginn on Oct 4, 2022 20:21:59 GMT
Just curious. What was the resolution?
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Post by gillyp on Oct 4, 2022 20:24:51 GMT
I would let the company know what I was planning and offer to pay for the room. I wouldn't just turn up and use the room.
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Post by busy on Oct 4, 2022 20:25:40 GMT
Just curious. What was the resolution? I'll share in a bit. IME we have more interesting discussions when the resolution isn't known from the beginning. When it is, it tends to skew opinions. |
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Post by katlady on Oct 4, 2022 20:27:01 GMT
I would discuss it with your boss. If he says ok, then I would use the hotel room.
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Post by buddysmom on Oct 4, 2022 20:29:34 GMT
I would run it by my employer but they would probably say that it gets billed to the client anyway so it’s ok to stay there. At least that’s what my employer would have likely said when I was working.
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Post by lisae on Oct 4, 2022 20:33:35 GMT
The company I used to work for would have had no issue with my staying in the room since they had to foot the bill anyway. Check with your employer. I can't see why they would care.
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Post by ~summer~ on Oct 4, 2022 20:34:10 GMT
My initial reaction was “heck yeah it’s ok”.
But I do think it might feel off to me - the fact that the client cancelled so last minute, and the fact that you had plans I think I’d just run it by my boss, get approval and skadaddle!
Random tangent - a long time ago I used to just get a travel budget - instead of flying home sometimes I would fly my bff out to meet me for the weekend instead. The company was fine with it - but I do know that since then “rules” have tightened up.
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Post by bc2ca on Oct 4, 2022 20:34:22 GMT
Not unethical.
I would definitely let my boss know I was still traveling and intended to use the hotel room even though the meeting was canceled.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 4, 2022 20:36:01 GMT
Having worked under a ton of random corporate policies, I would at a minimum disclose. While obviously it makes no difference financially to the company as it's non-refundable, sometimes they have policies to discourage perceived benefit or discourage behavior that might lead to a future issue. But then they also never paid a discount fare so that things were always refundable. I often wondered how much more $$$ they wasted every year on full fare airline tickets.
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Post by papersilly on Oct 4, 2022 20:38:01 GMT
if your company allows you to work remotely and they have to pay for the room anyway, i don't think it's that's unethical. that's IF you will actually work in the room all day and then see your friends after. if you are not, then i wouldn't feel right staying there on the company's dime. what is the company's position when it comes to using the room after a business meeting was cancelled?
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Oct 4, 2022 20:41:00 GMT
It's really going to depend on the employer's policies. The last major corporation DH worked for would fire you for that. They did not even allow tacking on additional personal/vacation to business trips. It would take special permission ahead of time to do so (which was rarely granted) and then HR would figure out what portion of the flights you would be personally responsible for. Perhaps smaller, more flexible companies wouldn't have a problem with it.
Personally, even with a more lenient company I doubt I would do it. You just never know who is higher up the ladder that would frown on it. Things like that can come back and bite you on down the road.
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gsquaredmom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,091
Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Oct 4, 2022 20:42:32 GMT
I think your workplace has a policy for this. Find out what it is and follow it.
If not, get an email from hR and/or your boss so you have it in writing.
My philosophy is never give them a reason or opportunity for them to use it against you, no matter how solid you are with them right now.
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Post by mnmloveli on Oct 4, 2022 20:52:26 GMT
DISCLAIMER: This was already resolved before asking the question here. But thought it would make an interesting discussion. Situation: You have an overnight trip planned for work. You'll be driving up the afternoon before (about two hours). Your destination is the city where you grew up and your parents and many friends still live. You've made plans that evening and the next afternoon with various friends and family since you'll be in town. You have a hotel booked and must cancel 24 hours in advance to get a refund. Three hours before you're planning to leave, the customer meeting you were going to attend is canceled. You decide you're still going to drive up and work from there the next day, since you have plans with people you haven't seen for a while. Question: Is it unethical to stay in the hotel room, since it could not be canceled and the company will be paying for it regardless? I would definitely talk to my boss/employer first before using the room. I wouldn’t feel comfortable using the room since the meeting was cancelled. It’s the company’s room, not yours. |
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Post by peano on Oct 4, 2022 21:01:30 GMT
Not ethical unless OK'd by superior. That the room is nonrefundable is immaterial.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Oct 4, 2022 21:11:12 GMT
Not ethical unless OK'd by superior. That the room is nonrefundable is immaterial. I agree. The room "belongs" to the employer regardless of how its paid for and whether it's refundable or not. You should get authorization from them to use it since there is no business to be conducted there now. Hopefully, they would say to go ahead and use it under the circumstances. |
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Post by busy on Oct 4, 2022 21:21:16 GMT
Good lord, the question sure made me glad I no longer work at a bureaucratic nightmare of a company like many of you seem to 🤣
As I said in the very first sentence of the OP, this was already a resolved situation.
I told my boss that the customer canceled but I was still going to make the drive since I'd made personal plans. I then said the room wasn't refundable and I'd booked with my corporate card, but would try to change to my personal card when I was there - and who should I contact if I couldn't switch cards onsite and needed to reimburse the company? She laughed at me. "If it's non-refundable and you're still going there, use the room. You don't have to pay for it, we're paying the same whether it's empty or you're in it."
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,797
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Oct 4, 2022 21:24:40 GMT
I'd give the boss a heads up and ask if they'd mind me taking it anyway and work from there since I had plans with friends and was planning to be there for work anyway.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,797
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Oct 4, 2022 21:25:13 GMT
Good lord, the question sure made me glad I no longer work at a bureaucratic nightmare of a company like many of you seem to 🤣 As I said in the very first sentence of the OP, this was already a resolved situation. I told my boss that the customer canceled but I was still going to make the drive since I'd made personal plans. I then said the room wasn't refundable and I'd booked with my corporate card, but would try to change to my personal card when I was there - and who should I contact if I couldn't switch cards onsite and needed to reimburse the company? She laughed at me. "If it's non-refundable and you're still going there, use the room. You don't have to pay for it, we're paying the same whether it's empty or you're in it." Love your company! |
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Post by deekaye on Oct 4, 2022 21:48:26 GMT
I'm answering as a county government employee (and a compliance officer), so maybe my answer is skewed by that mindset but I would most definitely not stay in the hotel room for personal use as that would seem a "gift of public funds" to have the public pay for a room for my personal use.
I would expect to pay for (if the card can be switched) or reimburse my employer if I used the room.
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Post by littlemama on Oct 4, 2022 21:49:29 GMT
I would have asked my boss and offered reimbursement. I think they should not expect reimbursement since they were already paying though
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psiluvu
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,217
Location: Canada's Capital
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Post by psiluvu on Oct 4, 2022 22:14:21 GMT
My company would reacted the same way yours did. I was thinking maybe it was a Canadian thing until your reply.
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pilcas
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Posts: 3,146
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Post by pilcas on Oct 4, 2022 22:31:23 GMT
I’m glad it worked out!
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pinklady
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,922
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Post by pinklady on Oct 4, 2022 22:38:20 GMT
Good lord, the question sure made me glad I no longer work at a bureaucratic nightmare of a company like many of you seem to 🤣 As I said in the very first sentence of the OP, this was already a resolved situation. I told my boss that the customer canceled but I was still going to make the drive since I'd made personal plans. I then said the room wasn't refundable and I'd booked with my corporate card, but would try to change to my personal card when I was there - and who should I contact if I couldn't switch cards onsite and needed to reimburse the company? She laughed at me. "If it's non-refundable and you're still going there, use the room. You don't have to pay for it, we're paying the same whether it's empty or you're in it." This is exactly how I would have handled it, talk to my boss about it first and hope they would have responded the same way as yours. |
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Peal
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Jun 25, 2014 22:45:40 GMT
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Post by Peal on Oct 4, 2022 22:50:18 GMT
Ethical.
My DH works from home but flies to the work site about once a month and stays for a week or so. His last trip had already been booked w/ nonrefundable tickets (because they cost less) when we decided to have him met DS and I in Florida for the SLS launch (that didn't happen) instead of flying home. He just bought new tickets on his dime to FL and home and didn't show up for his original flight home. So technically, he didn't use a flight his company had already paid for and couldn't cancel. But he did get home w/o costing the company additional funds. They were totally fine with it.
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Refupea #1142
