FlyerTalk Forums - A question on ethics

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr H (Post 12851313)

If take-up is high enough, then as night follows day, the company travel policy will change and the payment will either be cut or just frozen and eroded by inflation.

Even if that is the case, so what? It has no bearing on whether upgrading is ethical. If a company requires all of its employees to only buy Economy, with no incentive, it's not unethical for the employee to upgrade using his/her own resources. If the company merely suggests it and offers an incentive, then again, as long as the passenger buys the lowest fare possible to meet the terms and/or spirit of the TSP, it's still not unethical.

I would argue that if the company discouraged those who bought Economy under the TSP from upgrading, fewer people would do it than if the company said nothing or even encouraged people to upgrade... people are more likely to buy Y, incentive or not, if they think they can upgrade should they choose to. Therefore, if the company actually does intend on eventually instituting a "buy Y only" program, it should not prevent employees from upgrading using their own resources.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr H (Post 12851313)

I believe FF points are also a taxable benefit when they are accrued through work.

In the U.S., FF points are not taxable if they are accrued through a purchase, even if that purchase is made by someone other than the person accruing the points. Or, rather, even if they would be taxable, they are not taxed. The only time FF points are taxed is when they are "earned" without an accompanying purchase, e.g. through a sweepstakes. Money earned under the TSP would be taxable as income; FF points are not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEFBR14 (Post 12849889)

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In my own defense, the 2 x 300-miles of driving was on my own time at my
own expense.

I did not order up the Y-ticket. I walked into the office, it was handed
to me, with the words "be there Monday".

If the company did not think the value of my presence at the convention
was worth the full fare Y ticket, they wouldn't have sent me.

Having decided they needed me there, THEY ordered up the ticket through
our contracted travel agent. I didn't even know I was going until I
walked in Monday (no opportunity to whisper to the tvl agent to get the
full fare ticket).....indeed on countless other times, I sent back a
fullfare or nearly fullfare ticket and instead volunteered to come back
Sunday so that the company can spend $298 instead of $750+ for
a non-stayover ticket.

While the ethics might be gray (the company didn't ask me or require
me to drive and expense the mileage), without any influence on my
part in the issuance of the ticket, I certainly do not see the
illegality of it.

If the company had asked me to drive, the driving time would be
considered a work day and I'm not sure my salary for the time plus
the mileage expense would not come out worse for the company.

The company saved my airport parking expense for a week; 2 extra
days per diem, 600 miles reimbursement.

I didn't do the math (maybe I should have before posting this), but
it's possible that it would have cost the company more if they asked
me to drive.

Our state labor laws make a distinction between someone voluntarily
doing something and someone being required to do something, even
if the something is the same thing. (in this case driving instead of
flying).

For the record, I was not judging you, just pointing out that you may want to be carefull. The difference was not that much anyway 600 miles = ~$330 in milage, plus the airport parking that was saved means you did not pocket that much. If you are salary, it would not matter if you traveled on your own time, if you get overtime, you may not have even come out ahead.
However, as an auditor, if I had discovered something like this (highly unlikely that this would ever be caught though) it would be considered fraud regardless of the justification. We did a large expense report audit a year or so ago, and the result was the termination of several employees, and alot of reimbursements to the company by employees who had found ways to come out ahead with their travel expenses. Again, highly unlikely we would have found out what you did, no audit trail.

I think the above post is key. World of difference between what is considered "ethical" by an employee and what is considered "fraud" by auditors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cepheid (Post 12851340)

I guess there are different companies and different policies. The company I work for right now is concerned not only with keeping expenses to a minimum, but also being seen to keep expenses to a minimum. That means economy flights and second class rail travel. And please believe me, this is causing pain for a lot of people, and I wouldn't help myself either internally or externally if I were to be seen travelling in higher classes - whether I pay for it myself or not, and whether I am doing it for work or for leisure.

Other companies may have different policies, but it's a reasonable guide to follow a director's instincts. Therefore, if the OP's director thinks there's something dodgy about taking an incentive to trade down and then upgrading at one's own expense, it is probably in the OP's own interests to follow that steer however unreasonable it might appear.

In other professions, appearances matter the other way. If you are a member of the latest boy band, you would probably do well to travel in F, even though your life-time career earning potential may not be spectacular and even though you will be billed for the tix by the record company.