Christmas Party - Hotel - Snow

moneypuddle

Hello all :T

Just wanted a little advice really and some other people’s views.

It was my work christmas party a few weeks ago. There are four staff in my office and we travelled to another office where the majority of our staff are based for our xmas do – approx a 2.5 hour train journey from home for the four of us. The weather was pretty bad (snow) before we left but we got down there ok. The xmas party was not optional so we all had no choice but to go. I had told my manager I was concerned about travelling down there and didn’t want to get stuck but she laughed it off. The morning after the do, we woke to horrendous snow and the found the trains were called off. We had no way of getting home, and with the trains called off we had another two nights in the hotel - £120/night each.

The hotel was booked for the xmas do night in advance and paid for by the company. When we found we had to stay extra nights we were told the company would pay as it was not our fault that we were stuck away from home. Very nice of them I thought and didn't seek alternative places to stay.

However this week, my manager told us that actually she doesn’t think its feasible for the company to pay it and we will be re-charged. I am really annoyed. There is no way I would stay in a £120/night hotel if I had known. I would have tried to get a travel lodge type room for half the price. I genuinely can’t afford to pay the £240 they are requesting with it being close to xmas and feel very annoyed that they told us they would pay, then withdrew the offer once it was too late.

Any thoughts? Opinions? Am I being unreasonable? :cool:

Thanks

Uncertain

moneypuddle wrote: »

Hello all :T

Just wanted a little advice really and some other people’s views.

It was my work christmas party a few weeks ago. There are four staff in my office and we travelled to another office where the majority of our staff are based for our xmas do – approx a 2.5 hour train journey from home for the four of us. The weather was pretty bad (snow) before we left but we got down there ok. The xmas party was not optional so we all had no choice but to go. I had told my manager I was concerned about travelling down there and didn’t want to get stuck but she laughed it off. The morning after the do, we woke to horrendous snow and the found the trains were called off. We had no way of getting home, and with the trains called off we had another two nights in the hotel - £120/night each.

The hotel was booked for the xmas do night in advance and paid for by the company. When we found we had to stay extra nights we were told the company would pay as it was not our fault that we were stuck away from home. Very nice of them I thought and didn't seek alternative places to stay.

However this week, my manager told us that actually she doesn’t think its feasible for the company to pay it and we will be re-charged. I am really annoyed. There is no way I would stay in a £120/night hotel if I had known. I would have tried to get a travel lodge type room for half the price. I genuinely can’t afford to pay the £240 they are requesting with it being close to xmas and feel very annoyed that they told us they would pay, then withdrew the offer once it was too late.

Any thoughts? Opinions? Am I being unreasonable? :cool:

Thanks

Whether or not the firm should pay for this is one matter. However the fact that they offered and are now reneging is unacceptable.

Do you have proof that they offered to pay? Is so then I would have though the very least they should do is pay the EXTRA amount over and above what it would have cost you to stay in a Travel Lodge or whatever.

Whether or not it is in your best interest to have a big battle with you employer over this is another matter - regardless of the legal position.

BackOnTrack

moneypuddle wrote: »

Any thoughts? Opinions? Am I being unreasonable? :cool:

No you aren't being unreasonable. You asked the question and were told the company was paying which is fine. The comapny required you to travel and therefore IMO they are liable for the extra costs incurred as a result of the weather.

SandC

Completely agree, the 4 of you need to stand together over this. It is totally unreasonable for them to expect you to pay out £240 each when it was a requirement you attended.

Get on the phone to a nearby Travelodge etc. and find out the rates for their rooms just in case you need to argue the case for only paying their rates as was suggested.

Good luck and keep us informed! You could also bring up that the other guests who were closer to home did not have this outlay to pay and they might want to have a whip round for you (do this tongue in cheek, as it is faintly ridiculous but viable!).

Googlewhacker

If they offered then they should pay, if the manager did it of her own back and now is worrying that it will cause problems then tough on her.

For things like this I would say the company has a duty of care to the employer to make sure they are safe anyway so this would be the arguement to have made you stay the extra day or two for safety reasons.

SarEl

Assuming that the four of you are going to stick together on this and confirm that the manager said that the company would pay for the additional cost of being snowed in, then I think you ought to submit a collective grievance. The Christmas party was compulsory - therefore you were contractually obliged to attend (and I am assuming that as well as the original overnight stay your expenses for travel were also paid by the employer, which would doubly confirm that this was not a "perk" but a compulsory event). On this basis, you were technically carrying out your contractual obligations by attending. You were snowed in. You sought guidance from your employer (through your manager) as to what you should do and she told you to stay where you were and you would be recompensed in full. That verbal agreement is as contractually binding as a written one, although obviously verbal agreements are harder to prove, hence why you all need to stick together. I do not particularly see why you should have to pay anything - even for a Travelodge - since you were only where you were due to your contractual obligations. Had you been "working" away and this had happened, you could not have been expected to bear the cost yourselves and so this is no different. To my mind, offering to pay the balance between the two is not really on either, but if you feel that this may mediate the situation and make it more palatable to both sides, then that is a fair enough decision for you to make. But that would be a concession on your part. And you are of course assuming that you could have (a) got to a Travelodge and (b) they had any rooms due to everyone else having headed there when they were snowed in!

DVardysShadow

SarEl wrote: »

Assuming that the four of you are going to stick together on this and confirm that the manager said that the company would pay for the additional cost of being snowed in, then I think you ought to submit a collective grievance. The Christmas party was compulsory - therefore you were contractually obliged to attend (and I am assuming that as well as the original overnight stay your expenses for travel were also paid by the employer, which would doubly confirm that this was not a "perk" but a compulsory event). On this basis, you were technically carrying out your contractual obligations by attending. You were snowed in. You sought guidance from your employer (through your manager) as to what you should do and she told you to stay where you were and you would be recompensed in full. That verbal agreement is as contractually binding as a written one, although obviously verbal agreements are harder to prove, hence why you all need to stick together. I do not particularly see why you should have to pay anything - even for a Travelodge - since you were only where you were due to your contractual obligations. Had you been "working" away and this had happened, you could not have been expected to bear the cost yourselves and so this is no different. To my mind, offering to pay the balance between the two is not really on either, but if you feel that this may mediate the situation and make it more palatable to both sides, then that is a fair enough decision for you to make. But that would be a concession on your part. And you are of course assuming that you could have (a) got to a Travelodge and (b) they had any rooms due to everyone else having headed there when they were snowed in!

I agree with this. But plenty of Christmas entertainment to come while you watch the sloping shoulders develop as you claim that the event was compulsory.

SarEl

DVardysShadow wrote: »

I agree with this. But plenty of Christmas entertainment to come while you watch the sloping shoulders develop as you claim that the event was compulsory.

That would be quite true - if I was suggesting that the OP claim this. But since the OP said this in the post, I was giving an opinion based on facts stated by the OP....

moneypuddle wrote: »

The xmas party was not optional so we all had no choice but to go.

Of course, no opinion is ever valid if an OP says something which is not true, but I was rather assuming that the facts were true.

maninthestreet

A compulsory Christmas party?? Never heard of that before. If you don't go, you get a disciplinary hearing???

DVardysShadow

SarEl wrote: »

That would be quite true - if I was suggesting that the OP claim this. But since the OP said this in the post, I was giving an opinion based on facts stated by the OP....




Of course, no opinion is ever valid if an OP says something which is not true, but I was rather assuming that the facts were true.

Of course. I am suggesting that the facts might be changed under the feet of the OP, rather than that the OP is for one moment telling an untruth.

DVardysShadow

maninthestreet wrote: »

A compulsory Christmas party?? Never heard of that before. If you don't go, you get a disciplinary hearing???

Final written warning for not wearing a hat out of a Christmas cracker, I should imagine.