Contract Restaurants???
 

I have been doing the weekly travel thing for ~15 years ... and have
seen lots of changes in the name of "expense control." Recently, meal
caps were swizzled (reduced) and declared to be per-diems. That works
better for me, since I tend to seek the local hole-in-the-wall establishments
that do something special (and I can pocket the difference).

Now we are being told to use our per-diem at restaurants with which the
company has negotiated rebates ... and to log/report the meal expense
by using the corporate credit card but reporting it as non-reimbursable.
Uh, okay, it's the new rule. Got it.

Anyone else dealing with such tortured per-diem re-definition and logic?

I am so not looking forward to next week's trip, where the preferred
restaurants are:

- Dennys
- Texas Roadhouse
- Outback
- Carrabbas
- Bonefish

It may be time to claim Kosher or Halal dietary restrictions. <g>

I'm guessing someone just got a big bonus and/or a promotion for thinking up this one.

Is it still a "per diem" if they tell you where you have to eat? If you don't eat at one of these places, do you get less than the normal per diem?

> Is it still a "per diem" if they tell you where you have to eat?

They're still calling it "per diem." But that's not the GSA defn of per diem.

> If you don't eat at one of these places, do you get less than
> the normal per diem?

I asked that question ... and got a lot of mumbling about, "we think many
people are now eating cheaper and pocketing the difference." (Doh!) "We
expect you to eat at the contract restaurants ... Not following expense
reporting guidelines is considered falsifying an expense report." <Gulp>

When I asked if I could not-claim a per diem in order to avoid any possible
worries about falsifying an expense ... resulted in an eye-roll and no direct
answer.

At the time, I did not think to ask about Kosher or Halal dietary restrictions. <g>

Weren't people sometimes doing that under the old per diem rules? I mean, how did they know people were spending the full amount (or more) of the per diem?

Sorry OP, I have no idea how per diems work as I've never worked in an industry where I had one. I just wanted to say that is a terrible list of restaurants. And if you have to select from a list of "preferred" restaurants, well, this is almost sounding like a health insurance plan with a list of "preferred providers."

If the company I worked for were to start doing this, I would contact a head hunter, line up a new job, and get the heck out of there. If management is micromanaging and nickel and diming your dining choices when you're on biz travel--especially specifying this type of restaurant--one can only imagine what other stupidity they are up to. What are they afraid of--that their employees might run the risk of having a decent meal while on business travel if left to choose their own restaurants? That said, I had a decent salad at a Carrabba's about ten years ago. It had grilled scallops on it. Not bad. Haven't been back, though. Good luck!

While I certainly wouldn't like being told where to eat, the list could be much worse. Imagine having $20/day per diem for meals for weeks on end. Roadhouse is an excellent value, believe me.

Not a bad idea to have a diet consisting of Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish... :P

> how did they know people were spending the full amount (or more) of the per diem?

The chronology of the travel-meal changes in that past ~12 months:

- Daily cap. Trust employees; that they are eating what they report. If caught lying, forging an exp rpt is grounds for dismissal.
- Daily cap. Only reimbursing meals paid with corp credit card
- Per-diem. Lower than daily cap. Employee eats what & where they want. Employee pockets any savings, pays for any over run.
- "New" per-diem. Same lower amount, to be spent at contract restaurants. Unclear if employees are permitted to pocket any savings.

Do it.

The contract restaurants are, for the most part, garbage food.

dranz, I just had a brilliant idea: propose to your bosses that they give out gift certificates to employees traveling on business. $50 for Dennys should cover someone for a 4 day work week, plus some restaurants have a "buy x gift cards, get a $25/50 for free".

Better yet, you should suggest that employees graze at CostCo and other stores known for their free samples.

> I just had a brilliant idea ... gift cards ... Denny's

$"^*$%)(!@$#F <g>

> Costco ... free samples

You are incorrigible! I am placing you on double-secret probation.

I give Dennys gift cards to people I don't like.

1. Call your head hunter. Any employer who thinks like this will lose its top producers soon enough and be stuck with the dregs soon enough. It will then circle the drain until it falls in. You want to be ahead of the pack.

2. This thing needs details and real answers in a written policy (if they're going to hold you to it). Per diems were put in place because they are a way of letting people use their own discretion and cutting down reimbursement and expense-processing costs. In other words, 2 day trip at $90/day means $180. No receipts, no nothing. You want to eat peanut butter crackers your brought from home and pocket the $180, that's up to you AND it's not fraud.

3. So, the details:

A. Under what circumstances are you able to go outside the contract (no restaurant close by, dietary needs, client entertainment, etc)?

B. Is it a lower per diem outside the contracts (in other words, what if you want to eat at a 5-star restaurant and pick up the difference yourself)?