Work Commute - Northern Ireland to London

neal7000

Hello everyone,

Not really sure where i could get advise on this so thought i'd try this forum in the first instance

Background:
Currently working for a company registered in London
Employed full time PAYE and have been for the past 10 years
Due to a few circumstances I now have to be in Northern Ireland every weekend
The company has kindly offered to cover flights and expenses on a weekly basis

The company doesn't have experience in this area and have asked me to investigate how we may go about doing it as i'm sure there are some implications/ potential red flags along the way

Does anyone have any experience in this? As Northern Ireland is still part of the UK - i'm sure any long distance UK commute would adapt a similar mechanic

Obviously we want to try and do it the most beneficial way possible

Really appreciate any advice on this as a starting point

Thanks

kathrynha

I know friends from uni that used to fly home to Belfast for the weekend sometimes. It wasn't bad until there was bad weather. It seemed flights across the Irish sea were cancelled quite frequently

w211

How will you be reimbursed for expenses?

neal7000

we haven't discussed that yet, i was hoping the company would book everything on my behalf?

Andy_L

Unless the trip to NI is for work then them paying for it is a taxable benefit.

I used to do it in the opposite direction (warning: almost 10 years ago), and if you booked the flights early enough on easy jet then they were so cheap that cancelling them and losing the money was cheaper than booking them the week you flew

scaredofdebt

I had a colleague who used to fly to work from the Bristol area to Newcastle weekly, so it is doable as that's a similar distance. See if your employer will allow you to do "compressed hours" ie longer days so you can arrive later on Mondays and/or leave early on Fridays. Even better if they let you drop a day and work 4 instead of 5 but doing longer days to make up the hours.

Any scope to work from home?

neal7000

i know that its completely do-able, lots of people do it. i'm just trying to figure out which is the best way for both parties.
Firstly - Can the company book everything for me, if so are there any implications. Obviously that would be the cleanest way.

Secondly - is it better if i book it and ask to be reimbursed for expenses

macman

As already advised, as it isn't for work purposes, it will be a taxable benefit that needs to be declared, however it's booked.
I fail to see why you expect the company to both pay for the flights and book them as well, unless they have a corporate travel facility that would be cheaper than booking direct?

lammy82

Yes the company can book the flights for you, or you can do them yourself and claim them on expenses.

I have a company credit card which I use for all travel expenses. The bill goes to the company and I just have to forward the receipts to match to the credit card bill.

I prefer to book my own transport rather than get the company's admin to do it. They'd be happy to but I get more flexibility if I do it myself.