Author Topic: Overheard at Work 2  (Read 1112834 times)

OtherJen

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1800 on: November 21, 2019, 11:48:35 AM »
Heard about a new fad last night. Took a while for this middle aged guy to "get it".

https://www.google.com/search?q=vsco girl

Still not sure how old the girls can be - is this a high school thing, a college girl thing, or an adult thing? I heard about it at work.

https://youtu.be/HcaHMT9EABU?t=49

Not sure if she is stuttering or the camera has problems or ???

Never mind, just realized its not really important. ;)

My son is in 4th grade and I know of a group of 3 girls (2 in his class) who are into this thing, so it isn't just high school/college.
The funny thing about it is...so, they dress like we did in the late 80s/early 90s, with some eco stuff thrown in?  Right on.

That was my impression, too. I bet they'd go nuts over Hypercolor shirts.

Freedomin5

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1801 on: November 22, 2019, 11:09:44 AM »
I recently posted something for sale on our work buy/sell group for $5. One of my coworkers snapped it up. When I dropped it off at her office, she was like, “I don’t know if I have enough to pay you. I seriously hope we get paid soon. I have, like, no money. I don’t know where all my money goes.” I didn’t say anything, but she’s frequently buying useless things such as what I was selling on the buy/sell groups, she’s often signing up for the employee shopping trips, she goes to all the girls night outs and the band nights and holiday parties/dinners. Today, she asked whether her electricity would get turned off if she misses a payment.

I’m not sure how much she makes, but it’s probably in the $60k-80k range after tax. And housing and health insurance are provided by the company. We expats literally have no major expenses. Even our international flights home are covered. Our biggest expense is probably food, which can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it.

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1802 on: November 23, 2019, 01:07:37 AM »
I recently posted something for sale on our work buy/sell group for $5. One of my coworkers snapped it up. When I dropped it off at her office, she was like, “I don’t know if I have enough to pay you. I seriously hope we get paid soon. I have, like, no money. I don’t know where all my money goes.” I didn’t say anything, but she’s frequently buying useless things such as what I was selling on the buy/sell groups, she’s often signing up for the employee shopping trips, she goes to all the girls night outs and the band nights and holiday parties/dinners. Today, she asked whether her electricity would get turned off if she misses a payment.

I’m not sure how much she makes, but it’s probably in the $60k-80k range after tax. And housing and health insurance are provided by the company. We expats literally have no major expenses. Even our international flights home are covered. Our biggest expense is probably food, which can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it.

Um... just to be sure:
She makes 5K a month, has practically no hardcoded living costs beside food AND STILL RUNS OUT OF MONEY???
How do you even do that?? I would find myself hard pressed to dish out 5K in a year for other stuff than living. I mean even if you only eat ordered food that is still only 10%. A year's clothing is 10% of that monthly income. A long holiday 50%. A new gaming rig is 20%-30% of that. Even if you are a stupid Apple slave you can't realistically get to one month worth of money there with buying a macbook and a new top phone.
How?

Freedomin5

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1803 on: November 23, 2019, 04:23:26 AM »
I recently posted something for sale on our work buy/sell group for $5. One of my coworkers snapped it up. When I dropped it off at her office, she was like, “I don’t know if I have enough to pay you. I seriously hope we get paid soon. I have, like, no money. I don’t know where all my money goes.” I didn’t say anything, but she’s frequently buying useless things such as what I was selling on the buy/sell groups, she’s often signing up for the employee shopping trips, she goes to all the girls night outs and the band nights and holiday parties/dinners. Today, she asked whether her electricity would get turned off if she misses a payment.

I’m not sure how much she makes, but it’s probably in the $60k-80k range after tax. And housing and health insurance are provided by the company. We expats literally have no major expenses. Even our international flights home are covered. Our biggest expense is probably food, which can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it.

Um... just to be sure:
She makes 5K a month, has practically no hardcoded living costs beside food AND STILL RUNS OUT OF MONEY???
How do you even do that?? I would find myself hard pressed to dish out 5K in a year for other stuff than living. I mean even if you only eat ordered food that is still only 10%. A year's clothing is 10% of that monthly income. A long holiday 50%. A new gaming rig is 20%-30% of that. Even if you are a stupid Apple slave you can't realistically get to one month worth of money there with buying a macbook and a new top phone.
How?

Yeah, I have no idea. Oh, and work gives us a MacBook so we don’t need to buy that either. I guess if you eat out everyday for lunch and dinner only at Western restaurants you can spend around $20/meal/person, so maybe around $100 per day for her and her family? So that could be up to $3000 per month, theoretically. Imported wine is also expensive and some of these folks drink a $50 bottle a day.

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1804 on: November 24, 2019, 06:16:59 AM »
I heard one. Different department, same organization as I work for.

That department is hiring a new employee. They are flying in three candidates on different dates for the final round of interviews.

The candidate pays for their own flight and then they are reimbursed. Yes, it could be done differently but I suspect there is a reason and this might be it.

Candidate B asks if the org can front the flight money. They can't afford to.
Org: Nope b/c rules.
Candidate B suggests that they will use their current employer's credit card and then Org can reimburse the current employer for the flight! Org isn't keen on this either.

I wonder if candidate B's current employer is event aware that candidate B is job searching. Wouldn't that be a way to learn!

Apparently the flight isn't a long one and thus less expensive that others, candidate can't borrow any money from friends or family, can't put it on a credit card, nor can they drive to the interview. The drive would be several hours but perfectly doable if they had a vehicle in reasonable condition.

Because they can't overcome this hurdle, they will probably eliminate themselves from the interview schedule.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1805 on: November 24, 2019, 08:52:26 AM »
I heard one. Different department, same organization as I work for.

That department is hiring a new employee. They are flying in three candidates on different dates for the final round of interviews.

The candidate pays for their own flight and then they are reimbursed. Yes, it could be done differently but I suspect there is a reason and this might be it.

Candidate B asks if the org can front the flight money. They can't afford to.
Org: Nope b/c rules.
Candidate B suggests that they will use their current employer's credit card and then Org can reimburse the current employer for the flight! Org isn't keen on this either.

I wonder if candidate B's current employer is event aware that candidate B is job searching. Wouldn't that be a way to learn!

Apparently the flight isn't a long one and thus less expensive that others, candidate can't borrow any money from friends or family, can't put it on a credit card, nor can they drive to the interview. The drive would be several hours but perfectly doable if they had a vehicle in reasonable condition.

Because they can't overcome this hurdle, they will probably eliminate themselves from the interview schedule.

Wow that is amazing.  I work with some people who are reluctant to pay for work things up front to be reimbursed later but I assumed that this was just an emotional thing not the fact that they had maxed out their credit cards, had no savings and couldn't borrow money from anyone.

GatorNation

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1806 on: November 24, 2019, 09:44:24 AM »
Open enrollment at work.  Many employees are complaining that our employer is not offering high premium low deductible plans.  The office does offer an HSA plan at no cost to employee.

I overhear my assistant complain about current plan options and their costs.  I told her to sign up for the free HSA plan.  As expected, she complained of the high out of pocket expenses associated with plan.  I told her to calculate the expected high deductible to what she could be depositing in her HSA account.  Had no idea what I was talking about.  Also mentioned that she can't afford the high deductible.

She leaves this week to her yearly trip to Spain and north Africa.  Eats out every meal and is always going to extravagant weekend trips.  Although she's 40, she still lives with her parents because she says housing is too expensive to move out.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1807 on: November 24, 2019, 06:25:26 PM »
Open enrollment at work.  Many employees are complaining that our employer is not offering high premium low deductible plans.  The office does offer an HSA plan at no cost to employee.

I overhear my assistant complain about current plan options and their costs.  I told her to sign up for the free HSA plan.  As expected, she complained of the high out of pocket expenses associated with plan.  I told her to calculate the expected high deductible to what she could be depositing in her HSA account.  Had no idea what I was talking about.  Also mentioned that she can't afford the high deductible.

She leaves this week to her yearly trip to Spain and north Africa.  Eats out every meal and is always going to extravagant weekend trips.  Although she's 40, she still lives with her parents because she says housing is too expensive to move out.

Some plans make absolutely no sense.  The high premium low deductible plan offered to us is so expensive that you will never come out ahead.  Annual premiums are more than the out of pocket max on cheaper plans with the same system.  Of course this is affected by how much the employer share is, but perhaps someone would choose it if they know they are only going to pay 1-2 months premiums for a very expensive procedure and then quit?

Steeze

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1808 on: November 24, 2019, 08:32:43 PM »
Quote
...but perhaps someone would choose it if they know they are only going to pay 1-2 months premiums for a very expensive procedure and then quit?

Did this once. Insurance company went out of business so I had open enrollment for 3 months then another open enrollment. Went HDHP to platinum plan then back to HDHP. Racked up $40k+ in medical bills including every blood test, allergy test imaginable, and had surgery to correct a deviated septum. Cost me about $3000 in premiums.

Turns out my testosterone levels are fine and I’m not allergic to anything. Also can Sleep with my mouth closed now.

Somewhere out there is a line in an accounting spreadsheet with a red number next to my name indicating the loss the insurance company took by insuring me.

Sugaree

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1809 on: November 25, 2019, 06:21:35 AM »
I heard one. Different department, same organization as I work for.

That department is hiring a new employee. They are flying in three candidates on different dates for the final round of interviews.

The candidate pays for their own flight and then they are reimbursed. Yes, it could be done differently but I suspect there is a reason and this might be it.

Candidate B asks if the org can front the flight money. They can't afford to.
Org: Nope b/c rules.
Candidate B suggests that they will use their current employer's credit card and then Org can reimburse the current employer for the flight! Org isn't keen on this either.

I wonder if candidate B's current employer is event aware that candidate B is job searching. Wouldn't that be a way to learn!

Apparently the flight isn't a long one and thus less expensive that others, candidate can't borrow any money from friends or family, can't put it on a credit card, nor can they drive to the interview. The drive would be several hours but perfectly doable if they had a vehicle in reasonable condition.

Because they can't overcome this hurdle, they will probably eliminate themselves from the interview schedule.

Wow that is amazing.  I work with some people who are reluctant to pay for work things up front to be reimbursed later but I assumed that this was just an emotional thing not the fact that they had maxed out their credit cards, had no savings and couldn't borrow money from anyone.

I work with a bunch of people who can't imagine that I would want to/be able to pay for my own, very infrequent, business travel and then be reimbursed. 

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1810 on: November 25, 2019, 08:00:36 AM »
I heard one. Different department, same organization as I work for.

That department is hiring a new employee. They are flying in three candidates on different dates for the final round of interviews.

The candidate pays for their own flight and then they are reimbursed. Yes, it could be done differently but I suspect there is a reason and this might be it.

Candidate B asks if the org can front the flight money. They can't afford to.
Org: Nope b/c rules.
Candidate B suggests that they will use their current employer's credit card and then Org can reimburse the current employer for the flight! Org isn't keen on this either.

I wonder if candidate B's current employer is event aware that candidate B is job searching. Wouldn't that be a way to learn!

Apparently the flight isn't a long one and thus less expensive that others, candidate can't borrow any money from friends or family, can't put it on a credit card, nor can they drive to the interview. The drive would be several hours but perfectly doable if they had a vehicle in reasonable condition.

Because they can't overcome this hurdle, they will probably eliminate themselves from the interview schedule.

Wow that is amazing.  I work with some people who are reluctant to pay for work things up front to be reimbursed later but I assumed that this was just an emotional thing not the fact that they had maxed out their credit cards, had no savings and couldn't borrow money from anyone.

Last time I traveled overnight for work I traveled with three other coworkers. I put the whole thing on my credit card for the points and convenience. Rather than wait for them to get it together and make the arrangements I could choose a comfortable place to stay close to our destination which I did.

Employer reimbursed each person individually and each person passed the money to me - except one. Two months later the highest paid member of that trip as yet to reimburse me though they have publicly promised they would. A couple of hundred bucks more or less. That person is over me on the pecking order.

I won't take the initiative to be efficient again.

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1811 on: November 25, 2019, 08:04:48 AM »
I can just imagine the next trip. Sorry, my supervisor can't join us for this meeting with you the project partner b/c they can't front their their portion of the hotel bill. So, let's get this meeting started...

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1812 on: November 25, 2019, 09:21:53 AM »
I have never worked for a company that allowed business travel or purchase to be put on a personal credit cArd. I find that whole concept to be weird.

OtherJen

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1813 on: November 25, 2019, 09:55:55 AM »
I have never worked for a company that allowed business travel or purchase to be put on a personal credit cArd. I find that whole concept to be weird.

Academia, maybe? I was always responsible for covering my own travel expenses, which were then reimbursed by the department. They didn't care how I originally paid, as long as I presented valid receipts.

Kris

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1814 on: November 25, 2019, 10:23:34 AM »
I have never worked for a company that allowed business travel or purchase to be put on a personal credit cArd. I find that whole concept to be weird.

Academia, maybe? I was always responsible for covering my own travel expenses, which were then reimbursed by the department. They didn't care how I originally paid, as long as I presented valid receipts.

This is definitely changing, in my experience. At least in public institutions. It’s moving toward having to pay with a university corporate card, in your name. (And at least in some cases, a centralized travel office through which you book the travel, I guess so you don’t go off and spend mad money on luxury digs, first-class tickets, etc.)

That travel is then reimbursed, through a ridiculously bureaucratic process that easily erases any intended savings.

DadJokes

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1815 on: November 25, 2019, 10:28:50 AM »
I have never worked for a company that allowed business travel or purchase to be put on a personal credit cArd. I find that whole concept to be weird.

It's pretty normal I think. It's also a great way to get free travel reward points, as long as you think the company is solvent enough to reimburse you. I probably wouldn't want to count on reimbursement from a company to fly down for an interview. That's placing a lot of trust in a company you don't even work for.

SwordGuy

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1816 on: November 25, 2019, 11:04:21 AM »
I have never worked for a company that allowed business travel or purchase to be put on a personal credit cArd. I find that whole concept to be weird.

Academia, maybe? I was always responsible for covering my own travel expenses, which were then reimbursed by the department. They didn't care how I originally paid, as long as I presented valid receipts.

This is definitely changing, in my experience. At least in public institutions. It’s moving toward having to pay with a university corporate card, in your name. (And at least in some cases, a centralized travel office through which you book the travel, I guess so you don’t go off and spend mad money on luxury digs, first-class tickets, etc.)

That travel is then reimbursed, through a ridiculously bureaucratic process that easily erases any intended savings.

A corporate card in your name may well be a fancy way to say "A card in my name, whose debts I am personally responsible for."
If your company doesn't pay, you get to.   I had a friend who had that happen.   You might want to check the fine print on that card agreement.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1817 on: November 25, 2019, 12:20:51 PM »
My corporate cards have never shown up on my credit reports.

I was told it was a way of reducing fraud

PrairieBeardstache

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1818 on: November 25, 2019, 01:00:51 PM »
I have never worked for a company that allowed business travel or purchase to be put on a personal credit cArd. I find that whole concept to be weird.

Academia, maybe? I was always responsible for covering my own travel expenses, which were then reimbursed by the department. They didn't care how I originally paid, as long as I presented valid receipts.

This is definitely changing, in my experience. At least in public institutions. It’s moving toward having to pay with a university corporate card, in your name. (And at least in some cases, a centralized travel office through which you book the travel, I guess so you don’t go off and spend mad money on luxury digs, first-class tickets, etc.)

That travel is then reimbursed, through a ridiculously bureaucratic process that easily erases any intended savings.

A corporate card in your name may well be a fancy way to say "A card in my name, whose debts I am personally responsible for."
If your company doesn't pay, you get to.   I had a friend who had that happen.   You might want to check the fine print on that card agreement.

I worked for a company that switched from having us use our own cards and be reimbursed. Which, we were all fine with because we spent a lot (I was averaging around $100k/year in expenses) and it resulted in us collecting the rewards (I received about $2k/year). To exactly the situation you describe. We retained all of the risk and lost any of the rewards...

techwiz

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1819 on: November 25, 2019, 01:59:09 PM »
A co-worker talking in lunch room to a group of us about gambling at the local casino. 

co-worker: I don't go to the casino on Fridays or the weekend the machines never pay out on those days. I only go now on Thursdays.... (lots of details on which machines pay out and how to pick the right ones)… if I win the 10,000 jackpot I would be able to payoff three of my credit cards.   

I couldn't help myself and said: Paying off the credit cards would be like winning 19% every month.

Co-worker sat with a blank stare for a few seconds then changed the topic to talk about something else....sometimes I should just keep my mouth shut!


Kris

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1820 on: November 25, 2019, 02:10:24 PM »
I have never worked for a company that allowed business travel or purchase to be put on a personal credit cArd. I find that whole concept to be weird.

Academia, maybe? I was always responsible for covering my own travel expenses, which were then reimbursed by the department. They didn't care how I originally paid, as long as I presented valid receipts.

This is definitely changing, in my experience. At least in public institutions. It’s moving toward having to pay with a university corporate card, in your name. (And at least in some cases, a centralized travel office through which you book the travel, I guess so you don’t go off and spend mad money on luxury digs, first-class tickets, etc.)

That travel is then reimbursed, through a ridiculously bureaucratic process that easily erases any intended savings.

A corporate card in your name may well be a fancy way to say "A card in my name, whose debts I am personally responsible for."
If your company doesn't pay, you get to.   I had a friend who had that happen.   You might want to check the fine print on that card agreement.

Oh, yeah, that's definitely the case.

But it's a card that you can only use to pay the things they allow you to buy.

And you don't get any of the associated miles, etc. for anything you purchase.

And if you happen to use your own card instead, you get yelled at by pompous accounting types and you have to go around and around with them as they threaten not to reimburse you.

It's a great system, really.

Here4theGB

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1821 on: November 25, 2019, 02:56:19 PM »
Anyone remember Diner's Club credit cards?  I was given a corporate version in my first professional position to use for travel (back then we had to do all of this ourselves).  We had to pay the bill each month and the company paid us for our expenses.  Another fellow in my entrance "class" I ended up working with on the same team.  When he got his card, he went out and furnished his whole apartment, furniture, tv, all of it, under the assumption that it was like every other credit card and he could carry a balance.  Not so, like Amex, needs to be paid in full each month.  Bill came do, he tried to make a $50 payment or whatever, CC company contacts our employer, etc.......I'm not sure what the final outcome was, I assume they paid it and withheld earnings until paid.  I would've fired the idiot, but they didn't.  What a first impression, this happened the first billing cycle after being hired.

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1822 on: November 25, 2019, 04:39:01 PM »
My current employer has a "corporate card" that must be used for travel for at least the airline and hotel, and generally for conferences and similar expenses. It's in the employee's name and appears on his or her own credit report. But of course there aren't any goodies like air miles or rebates. After an expense is charged, there's a process to apply for reimbursement (which is usually pretty prompt) and the reimbursement generally arrives before the bill is due. The normal thing for people to do is to use the reimbursement to pay the bill. The per diem is generous enough for a reasonably frugal person to come out ahead. But apparently enough people tried to carry a balance on *top* of their reimbursement *and* the per diem, and it was common enough for Corporate to throw a snit fit over it and start forwarding late payment or balance carrying information to the employees' managers.

Rural

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1823 on: November 25, 2019, 06:42:08 PM »
I have never worked for a company that allowed business travel or purchase to be put on a personal credit cArd. I find that whole concept to be weird.

Academia, maybe? I was always responsible for covering my own travel expenses, which were then reimbursed by the department. They didn't care how I originally paid, as long as I presented valid receipts.

This is definitely changing, in my experience. At least in public institutions. It’s moving toward having to pay with a university corporate card, in your name. (And at least in some cases, a centralized travel office through which you book the travel, I guess so you don’t go off and spend mad money on luxury digs, first-class tickets, etc.)

That travel is then reimbursed, through a ridiculously bureaucratic process that easily erases any intended savings.


This varies depending on the place, I think. Well, all except the ridiculous bureaucratic  process – that's universal. But I just filed for reimbursement for travel from my public institution today. There's no way to get a university card. The options are use a personal credit card or petition the bursars office to physically cut a check ahead of time.

markbike528CBX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1824 on: November 25, 2019, 11:45:05 PM »
As always, Godwin's Law applies even to expense reports.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Murq5x_pw

You nearly feel for the guy, until...... you realize who you're feeling sorry for.
German speakers would understand the actual wording, and not get the impact of the subtitles.

BTW. The movie from which it is taken, Downfall, is a really good movie.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1825 on: November 26, 2019, 01:16:55 AM »
My current employer has a "corporate card" that must be used for travel for at least the airline and hotel, and generally for conferences and similar expenses. It's in the employee's name and appears on his or her own credit report. But of course there aren't any goodies like air miles or rebates. After an expense is charged, there's a process to apply for reimbursement (which is usually pretty prompt) and the reimbursement generally arrives before the bill is due. The normal thing for people to do is to use the reimbursement to pay the bill. The per diem is generous enough for a reasonably frugal person to come out ahead. But apparently enough people tried to carry a balance on *top* of their reimbursement *and* the per diem, and it was common enough for Corporate to throw a snit fit over it and start forwarding late payment or balance carrying information to the employees' managers.

My jobs lets you pay flights, hotels and conferences yourself and will only reimburse after the event. A year ago I had an event which was quite pricey, in the range of 1000$. Of course I had no problem paying it, but I found it a bit unreasonable to pay this large amount 2-3 months ahead and get reimbursed to much later. When I asked the payment department, they said I could ask for an advance in my travel bill, which I did.
There is also a special credit card that we can order, with which as can pay flights and pay them after reimbursement, whenever that may be. I haven't bothered to get that card, as I don't travel so often.

TomTX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1826 on: November 26, 2019, 05:37:38 AM »
My current employer has a "corporate card" that must be used for travel for at least the airline and hotel, and generally for conferences and similar expenses. It's in the employee's name and appears on his or her own credit report. But of course there aren't any goodies like air miles or rebates. After an expense is charged, there's a process to apply for reimbursement (which is usually pretty prompt) and the reimbursement generally arrives before the bill is due. The normal thing for people to do is to use the reimbursement to pay the bill. The per diem is generous enough for a reasonably frugal person to come out ahead. But apparently enough people tried to carry a balance on *top* of their reimbursement *and* the per diem, and it was common enough for Corporate to throw a snit fit over it and start forwarding late payment or balance carrying information to the employees' managers.

My jobs lets you pay flights, hotels and conferences yourself and will only reimburse after the event. A year ago I had an event which was quite pricey, in the range of 1000$. Of course I had no problem paying it, but I found it a bit unreasonable to pay this large amount 2-3 months ahead and get reimbursed to much later. When I asked the payment department, they said I could ask for an advance in my travel bill, which I did.
There is also a special credit card that we can order, with which as can pay flights and pay them after reimbursement, whenever that may be. I haven't bothered to get that card, as I don't travel so often.

You might ask the conference if you can register well in advance, but pay upon arrival. I just did this for a conference - and while it was a bit of a hassle, it meant I wasn't carrying the expense for months in advance.

economista

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1827 on: November 26, 2019, 09:42:33 AM »
I work for the federal government and we have travel cards that show up on our credit reports and they must be used for all flights and hotels. The limit on the card is set by your credit score and I know of at least one coworker who got approved for a travel card, but the limit was something like $100 so he couldn’t actually use it. Our reimbursement goes directly onto the card and I had an issue last year where I promptly submitted my voucher for reimbursement, but my supervisor never went into the system and approved it, so the bill on the card didn’t get paid. I had never even received a bill before because I was so used to it being paid before a bill came out. The bill went to an old address, was forwarded to my new address, and showed up after the due date! I was nervous that it would impact my credit score but luckily it never showed up as late on my credit report.

Another coworker got in trouble because we are only allowed to use the cards for work sponsored travel, but he wanted to buy new golf clubs without his wife knowing so he used the travel card and then planned to pay the bill himself once it came. The finance department caught him and he got into trouble and almost lost his travel card over it.

honeybbq

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1828 on: November 26, 2019, 10:05:02 AM »
I heard one. Different department, same organization as I work for.

That department is hiring a new employee. They are flying in three candidates on different dates for the final round of interviews.

The candidate pays for their own flight and then they are reimbursed. Yes, it could be done differently but I suspect there is a reason and this might be it.

Candidate B asks if the org can front the flight money. They can't afford to.
Org: Nope b/c rules.
Candidate B suggests that they will use their current employer's credit card and then Org can reimburse the current employer for the flight! Org isn't keen on this either.

I wonder if candidate B's current employer is event aware that candidate B is job searching. Wouldn't that be a way to learn!

Apparently the flight isn't a long one and thus less expensive that others, candidate can't borrow any money from friends or family, can't put it on a credit card, nor can they drive to the interview. The drive would be several hours but perfectly doable if they had a vehicle in reasonable condition.

Because they can't overcome this hurdle, they will probably eliminate themselves from the interview schedule.

This happens often in the medical field when trying to interview new residents and such that have maxed out credit cards and massive student loans.

However, I'm guessing this isn't the case....

Sugaree

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1829 on: November 26, 2019, 10:41:11 AM »
I work for the federal government and we have travel cards that show up on our credit reports and they must be used for all flights and hotels. The limit on the card is set by your credit score and I know of at least one coworker who got approved for a travel card, but the limit was something like $100 so he couldn’t actually use it. Our reimbursement goes directly onto the card and I had an issue last year where I promptly submitted my voucher for reimbursement, but my supervisor never went into the system and approved it, so the bill on the card didn’t get paid. I had never even received a bill before because I was so used to it being paid before a bill came out. The bill went to an old address, was forwarded to my new address, and showed up after the due date! I was nervous that it would impact my credit score but luckily it never showed up as late on my credit report.

[/b]Another coworker got in trouble because we are only allowed to use the cards for work sponsored travel, but he wanted to buy new golf clubs without his wife knowing so he used the travel card and then planned to pay the bill himself once it came. The finance department caught him and he got into trouble and almost lost his travel card over it.

We've had two different people get busted for that.  One lost his job and the other just barely saved hers, but got 30 days off without pay.  In each case, they claimed that they grabbed the wrong card out of their wallet.  I keep mine locked up away from all my other cards because my husband's bad about grabbing a card out of my wallet and using it without checking to see which one we're supposed to be using for points this month.
« Last Edit: November 26, 2019, 10:42:46 AM by Sugaree »

RobertFromTX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1830 on: November 26, 2019, 06:30:03 PM »
Annual enrollment for benefits is here, so we had to listen to the conference call with the benefits person.

"The HSA account is money you keep! It rolls over every year, and you can earn interest in the account. Now you'll never get rich off the little bit of interest, but every bit helps!"

I'm rolling my eyes because anything over $1,000 you can invest in mutual funds (including VTSAX). The person completely missed one of the best selling points of the HSA account.

TomTX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1831 on: November 26, 2019, 07:35:34 PM »

Another coworker got in trouble because we are only allowed to use the cards for work sponsored travel, but he wanted to buy new golf clubs without his wife knowing so he used the travel card and then planned to pay the bill himself once it came. The finance department caught him and he got into trouble and almost lost his travel card over it.

So if you get the travel card revoked, are you "forced" to use a personal card when you travel for work?

;)

economista

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1832 on: November 26, 2019, 08:32:34 PM »

Another coworker got in trouble because we are only allowed to use the cards for work sponsored travel, but he wanted to buy new golf clubs without his wife knowing so he used the travel card and then planned to pay the bill himself once it came. The finance department caught him and he got into trouble and almost lost his travel card over it.

So if you get the travel card revoked, are you "forced" to use a personal card when you travel for work?

;)

Good thought but no, you just aren't able to travel. If travel is pertinent to your job I guess you would be seen as not fulfilling your duties and you would have a whole different set of problems.

For example, my card expired and I didn't know it until I tried to book my travel. We were worried the new card wouldn't come in time and I wanted to use my personal card but I wasn't allowed. If the card didn't come in time I just wouldn't have gone/it would've been postponed until my new card got there.

OtherJen

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1833 on: November 27, 2019, 03:46:36 AM »
Annual enrollment for benefits is here, so we had to listen to the conference call with the benefits person.

"The HSA account is money you keep! It rolls over every year, and you can earn interest in the account. Now you'll never get rich off the little bit of interest, but every bit helps!"

I'm rolling my eyes because anything over $1,000 you can invest in mutual funds (including VTSAX). The person completely missed one of the best selling points of the HSA account.

Nitpick: depends on the terms of the account. We have to hold $2000 in cash in our HSA (although maybe that's because it covers two people).

But yes, it is ridiculous that the benefits person wouldn't talk that up as much as possible. Husband's didn't either, and we'd had a bad experience with a FSA so at first we only had the minimum deducted for his HSA. As soon as I did some digging and we understood the difference, we maxed out the HSA and started investing.

ambimammular

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1834 on: November 30, 2019, 09:46:11 AM »
Our HSA charges a monthly fee if you don't hold $3000 cash. It grates my teeth to look at it just sitting there, and ticks me off to pay a fee on my dollars. For the $2.50 boon they syphon off my account, they get one irritated customer.

DadJokes

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1835 on: November 30, 2019, 11:56:01 AM »
Our HSA charges a monthly fee if you don't hold $3000 cash. It grates my teeth to look at it just sitting there, and ticks me off to pay a fee on my dollars. For the $2.50 boon they syphon off my account, they get one irritated customer.

If the fee is $2.50 regardless of how far below $3,000 the cash balance is, you might still be better off to invest all of the money. On average, you should be able to earn ~$20/month on that $3k.

halftimer

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1836 on: November 30, 2019, 02:35:17 PM »
Yesterday (the last Friday of the month) CW asks if I can follow up on their reimbursement - won't be able to pay bills due on the 1st without it. I followed up as asked, but couldn't help looking at them wide eyed. If you haven't received the money by noon on Friday, it's not going to be deposited until Monday at least. I was almost tempted to offer a personal loan. There have been many clues lately that they are struggling.
Such as when we all decided to give a few dollars towards a gift, and they couldn't do it for weeks until a tiny receipt was reimbursed.
They also told me how much their car insurance plus payment is monthly (due to tickets, high end SUV, and someone borrowing it and getting another ticket that can't be traced back to the correct person) - it's more than I pay in a year!
The temptation to loan money was brief - they are not responsible enough to pay it back. Near daily lattes and an income that is double mine are both no help.
On the other hand, I had 5 reimbursements that I let pile up for 2 months so I could submit them all at once using only 1 stamp. I was out of pocket $1000s, but have the flexibility to almost forget about it.

MoneyQuirk

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1837 on: December 01, 2019, 10:50:17 PM »
A coworker told him how interested he is in FIRE.

Like, he wouldn't stop talking about it.

After listening for a while, I asked him what he was doing about it. "Ahhh, that's the problem. I can't get the wife on board."

I nodded. That's pretty challenging, particularly when you're already married and have kids.

Not getting much of a comment from me, he went back to his screen-shopping on Amazon, periodically asking me what I thought of an item that I had no idea why he would need.

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1838 on: December 02, 2019, 06:53:45 AM »
Biggest topic of discussion at work today — the nearest Starbucks has closed down and now people will have to walk an extra three minutes to the next nearest Starbucks that’s one block down the street. Apparently that news ruined a lot of people’s day.

The consolation is that at least Starbucks delivers so you can just order it online and pay the extra delivery fee.

DadJokes

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1839 on: December 02, 2019, 07:03:52 AM »
Biggest topic of discussion at work today — the nearest Starbucks has closed down and now people will have to walk an extra three minutes to the next nearest Starbucks that’s one block down the street. Apparently that news ruined a lot of people’s day.

The consolation is that at least Starbucks delivers so you can just order it online and pay the extra delivery fee.

It's practically a third-world country if you have to walk an extra block for Starbucks!

Channel-Z

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1840 on: December 02, 2019, 07:08:15 AM »
Biggest topic of discussion at work today — the nearest Starbucks has closed down and now people will have to walk an extra three minutes to the next nearest Starbucks that’s one block down the street. Apparently that news ruined a lot of people’s day.

The consolation is that at least Starbucks delivers so you can just order it online and pay the extra delivery fee.

I think Lewis Black had a comedy routine about Starbucks being across the street from another Starbucks.

slugline

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1841 on: December 02, 2019, 08:38:00 AM »
I think Lewis Black had a comedy routine about Starbucks being across the street from another Starbucks.

Yes. West Gray Street @ Shepherd Drive in Houston.
If that's not enough Starbucks for you, there's an in-store cafe at the Barnes and Noble that also sells Starbucks stuff.

J.R. Ewing

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1842 on: December 02, 2019, 09:25:19 AM »
I think Lewis Black had a comedy routine about Starbucks being across the street from another Starbucks.

Yes. West Gray Street @ Shepherd Drive in Houston.
If that's not enough Starbucks for you, there's an in-store cafe at the Barnes and Noble that also sells Starbucks stuff.

I saw the Lewis Black quote and started typing the exact same thing before I saw your post.  I used to live a mile north of there. 

Dogastrophe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1843 on: December 02, 2019, 10:00:56 AM »
Around the corner from my place is a free standing Tim Hortons which is next door (and in the same parking lot) to a satellite Tim Hortons in the gas station.  They each have a drive thru.

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1844 on: December 02, 2019, 10:45:05 AM »
I stopped by Starbucks in the middle of my run yesterday morning because I was out of coffee beans. I normally buy Peet’s but I figured I’d i went in I couid get them do the correct grind for my French press.

Anyway, I go to the counter and tell the lady I want to buy a pound of beans and she looks at me blankly. I had to specify coffee beans, and then she had to turn to a colleague to ask how/do they do that. Sheesh.

partgypsy

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1845 on: December 02, 2019, 11:17:16 AM »
I stopped by Starbucks in the middle of my run yesterday morning because I was out of coffee beans. I normally buy Peet’s but I figured I’d i went in I couid get them do the correct grind for my French press.

Anyway, I go to the counter and tell the lady I want to buy a pound of beans and she looks at me blankly. I had to specify coffee beans, and then she had to turn to a colleague to ask how/do they do that. Sheesh.

Are you sure you don't just want a Trenta tall blonde caramel cloud macchiato instead, with a chonga bagel on the side?

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1846 on: December 02, 2019, 12:19:53 PM »
Biggest topic of discussion at work today — the nearest Starbucks has closed down and now people will have to walk an extra three minutes to the next nearest Starbucks that’s one block down the street. Apparently that news ruined a lot of people’s day.

The consolation is that at least Starbucks delivers so you can just order it online and pay the extra delivery fee.

It's practically a third-world country if you have to walk an extra block for Starbucks!

Haven't these people heard of rollerskates and kick scooters?

nnls

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1847 on: December 02, 2019, 03:24:29 PM »
Biggest topic of discussion at work today — the nearest Starbucks has closed down and now people will have to walk an extra three minutes to the next nearest Starbucks that’s one block down the street. Apparently that news ruined a lot of people’s day.

The consolation is that at least Starbucks delivers so you can just order it online and pay the extra delivery fee.

It's practically a third-world country if you have to walk an extra block for Starbucks!

These people would hate Australia then :)

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1848 on: December 02, 2019, 04:22:34 PM »
I think Lewis Black had a comedy routine about Starbucks being across the street from another Starbucks.

Yes. West Gray Street @ Shepherd Drive in Houston.
If that's not enough Starbucks for you, there's an in-store cafe at the Barnes and Noble that also sells Starbucks stuff.

They do this because sometimes a location needs to expand due to overwhelming demand, but it’s easier,  more flexible, and more aesthetic to simply open a second small location nearby.  Easy because the adjacent property is often not available for expansions, they don’t need to close the first shop for renovations, they don’t have to break the lease to move to a larger location.  More flexible since they can close the second location if demand sags again without interrupting business at the first location.  Aesthetic because they want to maintain a cozy small shop aesthetic despite being a giant corporation.  It all kinda makes sense once you think about it

firemondays

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1849 on: December 02, 2019, 10:14:41 PM »
One of my coworkers to another: "The problem with going to Costco this time of year is that I came home with a new 50 inch TV...  Well, we'd been talking about getting a new one for our bedroom."

The same coworker recently returned from a cross-country trip to visit his daughter where she attends a public university.  He's probably 10 years older than me and at the same pay grade.  I guess he'll be working at least a few more years.