Stiffed by my employer

Benji

On 16th Dec, got treated to a fabulous Xmas 'do' by my company.

It was 50+ miles away from home, so the company paid for a taxi to transport my manager, myself and 2 junior staff to the location.

Timings were in the hands of my manager, and he elected (without consultation) to choose a return pick-up at 3am (even though one of us had to be in work 9:50 following morning).

Anyway, long story short - after meal, juniors tired - wanted to go home. Manager paralytic, couldn't even get into his phone to call the cab company to bring collection forward.

Spoke on phone to 'General Manager' (also !!!!ed) who authorised me to get a local cab to take us back home. My manager did get in this cab but got out at traffic lights a few mins later and apparently got the cab which had been originally booked.

Now trying to get the £100+ taxi fare back from the company. General manager flatly denying approving - even though I have 2 witnessed who could hear my side if the conversation AND, I can prove the call took place. The juniors and my manager have agreed to contribute but I don't think I, nor the juniors, should bear any cost for this.

So, advice or opinions? Should I just let it go? I did get a good meal and maybe, being 25 years older than the others, I am meant to act like their father?

(To rub it in, GM lost her jacket - it was me who looked after it / got it back to her!!!)

BorisThomson

Could one of the rest of you not ring the original taxi company? You must have known who they were if they took you to the venue.

You don't have any legal rights in this situation, and you're not going to be able to prove what was said between you and the GM, only that a call took place. If your employer is not willing to cover the fare or make a contribution towards it, then you need to decide how far you want to push it. If you're the one that pushes the issue, you're also the one that risks being managed out of your job.

jobbingmusician

My jury are out having a party. They have pointed out to me that things they might consider when coming to an opinion include:

- will you lose face if you don't fight it?
- will you harbor resentment for years if you don't fight it? (My jury tell me I would. They are a mean lot, but they know me well)
- what's your relationship like with the GM? Will THEY harbor resentment for years if you DO fight it? Will THEY harbor resentment for a short time, and find a way to get rid of you?
- is it worth writing down the pros and cons of this situation?
- why do YOU feel you have to sort it? Shouldn't it be at least you and the juniors - if not your manager as well - who sort this and agree either to pay (possibly in varying proportions depending on seniority/pay) or not to pay?

And my jury have warned me they are probably going to continue to think about this overnight

sangie595

jobbingmusician wrote: »

My jury are out having a party. They have pointed out to me that things they might consider when coming to an opinion include:

- will you lose face if you don't fight it?
- will you harbor resentment for years if you don't fight it? (My jury tell me I would. They are a mean lot, but they know me well)
- what's your relationship like with the GM? Will THEY harbor resentment for years if you DO fight it? Will THEY harbor resentment for a short time, and find a way to get rid of you?
- is it worth writing down the pros and cons of this situation?
- why do YOU feel you have to sort it? Shouldn't it be at least you and the juniors - if not your manager as well - who sort this and agree either to pay (possibly in varying proportions depending on seniority/pay) or not to pay?

And my jury have warned me they are probably going to continue to think about this overnight

I'd agree with your jury

I'm not even going to go to the "why people shouldn't get !!!!ed at work parties" place.....

JReacher1

It’s not really sensible to commit to an over £100 expense based on the verbal word of a manager who you admit was !!!!ed. He probably has no memory of the conversation.

Diamandis

Benji wrote: »

Timings were in the hands of my manager, and he elected (without consultation) to choose a return pick-up at 3am (even though one of us had to be in work 9:50 following morning)

Why did no one ask about times beforehand? When did you find out the time of the return taxi and why were you unable to change it then?

Benji

Think this is going pretty much how I expected

We genuinely didn't know the taxi company name, tried to get it from the manager but he was so 'forgetful' that he couldn't remember the company name and then kept forgetting passcode into his phone and was locked out for increasingly long periods.

I actually phoned MD to see if he knew name of Taxi company - GM answered (she is his partner) and it went from there

And so far as taxi time home, it's not a huge issue we were just 'told' that was the time. However (and nothing to do with the original query) it's not all that fair to expect someone to get home at 5am and be in work alone 5 hours later. I can boogie with the best, but at 50+ more than 3 hours beauty sleep is appreciated

Benji

JReacher1 wrote: »

It’s not really sensible to commit to an over £100 expense based on the verbal word of a manager who you admit was !!!!ed. He probably has no memory of the conversation.

But with an alcohol affected manager, we had no idea where to get the pre-booked cab from, even if we had waited until 3. And if Mr Manager didn't sober up enough by 3am to remember where the pick up was, I wouldn't have been in work the following morning unless I had 'invested' the money.

Its a lesson learned.

jobbingmusician

Benji wrote: »

But with an alcohol affected manager, we had no idea where to get the pre-booked cab from, even if we had waited until 3. And if Mr Manager didn't sober up enough by 3am to remember where the pick up was, I wouldn't have been in work the following morning unless I had 'invested' the money.

Its a lesson learned.

My jury are getting a bit restive about this, and suggest that you hold a mirror up to Mr Manager's incoherence and failure to communicate the pickup point clearly. If he sees a clear reflection maybe he will realise it's well within the bounds of possibility that he authorised your £100 taxi......

Benji

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Mr Manager's incoherence and failure to communicate the pickup point clearly. If he sees a clear reflection maybe he will realise it's well within the bounds of possibility that he authorised your £100 taxi......

Just to be clear, Mr Manager was with me but the taxi was authorised over the phone by Ms General Manager (his boss) - and yes - both were a little the worse for wear.

Malthusian

I think this is the price you pay for not finding out in advance how you were going to get back from the party. If you'd found out that the taxi was booked for 3am beforehand, asked the manager to move it to something more reasonable, and he'd said "no, you can either stay and party or arrange your own transport back" you'd have had to pay the £100 (or find a designated driver). The company had no obligation to pay for a taxi at all; it had no obligation to book a second gift horse because the first gift horse wasn't ready early enough.

So it is quite possible that if no-one had made a mistake you would have ended up paying £100 anyway, unless you wanted to spend the night sober.

There is no way you are going to get the money unless General Manager changes her mind and decides to authorise it. My guess is that she overstepped her authority by authorising a £100 taxi ride for some juniors, and is now denying all knowledge.

Your choices are either to write it off, or sue the employer in the small claims court, which seems unlikely to succeed, and be sacked. (Even if your two witnesses are willing to testify and lose their jobs over £100 - rather unlikely - the company will surely say that they couldn't have heard anything General Manager said clearly unless they were on speakerphone.)