timfountain

There's a certain fruit company in the Bay Area who has a J travel policy for all employees over a certain flight duration. No direct client billing etc.

televisor

FWIW they aren't known for great employee QOL.

montrealer

I'm curious what - if anything - will happen if there is ever a workers' compensation claim or even lawsuit due to health issues from inadequate sleep or DVT in frequent longhaul travellers under a Y-only policy.

I've consulted for a company that routinely made an example of someone not having a lid on their coffee cup since it was a "health and safety" issue, debated (but ultimately did not implement) a must-use-earphones-with-cellphone rule (due to the *possibility* of EM radiation having negative impact close to the brain...), and the sky was the limit on the cost of standing desks to improve employee health while working. But they cheerfully had a Y-only travel policy for all employees including frequent global travellers.

I'm not arguing what is *right* or appropriate, nor do I know what the settled science is on the comparative health impact of all these things. But I think many corporate policies are not well thought out in this regard and are pretty random - and I'm curious what if anything will change if someone tries to claim compensation for health issues that *might* have been aggravated by restrictive travel policies.

gooselee

I'm totally just spitballing here, but this would seem like something where the burden of proof is pretty heavy. Almost like someone suing their employer because stress levels at work led to them having heart disease or something.

I'd imagine that lawyers for the employer, right or wrong, could point to any number of other causes or contributing factors that were not directly related to work requirements.

sjclynn

I found this to be a very interesting question. Like gooselee, I am poking around in the dark a bit. I think that the inadequate sleep issue would be very difficult to do much with but then, your company is concerned about cell phone radiation. It seems like they might get a bye on the first DVT for someone but how about after that? You have a doctor saying that the cause of the DVT was basically being origami-ed into a y-class seat for hours and hours and you would be a good candidate for it happening again. They really can't tell you to go on to prophylactic blood thinners but, they could probably cut your wings.

gglave

This feels like the most likely outcome.

Y-only long-haul travel policy would remain, but employee in question would no longer fly.

dgtsf

So I'm curious. How many of y'all have employers whose travel policies allow you to book business or first directly? Under what policy rules (distance, time in the air, days away, seniority level, etc.)? And what company?

Often1

There are well over a 100 threads on this exact topic. Why not take a look at some of those? Tons of good information from all kinds of people who fly paid F/J.

thesaints

Government travel policy allows for J when travel is over 10 (?) hours long and no rest is possible before traveller has to engage in official activities.
How many take advantage of this provision is another matter.

badgersfly

Along the same vein, I had a former co-worker tell me of an acquaintance that flew a long haul in Y, then drove 2 hours home and fell asleep at the wheel. Unfortunately, they died in the car accident. Maybe you would have a claim then.

MSPeconomist

AFAIK threshold is eight hours and there's no general requirement that one go directly to business upon arrival. A couple years ago there were reports of government travelers booking connections to Europe in order to exceed the eight hour criterion.

TTT

Here is a good Travel Buzz thread on expense policies:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...rst-class.html

Mwenenzi

Long thread here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...t-class-7.html

jrl767

I'm not a lawyer, and I've only served on a jury once

the first rebuttal to that line of attack would likely be something along the lines of "(s)he should have recognized that (s)he would be tired and at higher-than-normal risk for a two-hour drive after that flight, and (s)he should therefore either have purchased an upgrade out of pocket -- although there is no guarantee that (s)he would have slept in first class -- or taken a hotel room after the flight; attempting to pin poor judgment on the employer's "coach class only" travel policy is nothing short of reaching into deep corporate pockets for sympathy in addition to money"

misinfobuster

Just about any question that could be asked, has been. If every op would search and find an answer to their question, flyertalk would implode.....so would airliners.net. Those nerds there are much snootier than here....

Op - I fly first / business always. Pseudo-independent consultant under the umbrella of a large firm. No limit. I fly, I book it. Negotiationed when I signed on after selling my own company.