jahason

I work for the UK office of a US company (150 or so in UK, 3000+ in US). Thankfully we have very different travel rules. If the US rules were applied to the UK office, most people who travel would leave. Our India office travel rules are even worse than the US rules.

brendog

I've had to do it a couple of times. Once in Richmond, VA at a horrible Holiday Inn for an orientation and once in a concierge room at the Marriott in Brisbane.

The Richmond experience was trying, as it lasted for 2 weeks and I was placed with someone I did not know and with whom did not have anything in common.

The Brisbane experience wasn't so bad as it was a last minute thing and the rugby championships were occurring the same night. If the room were not the last available in the city and were it not $800AUD, I would have protested a bit. It's amazing how a very nice room can partially negate the fact that I was stuck in a room with a 220kg Aussie who cleaned out the minibar within 45 minutes.

If my company tried to pull the double-up thing on me without seriously extenuating circumstances, they would be SOL, as I would be out the door in a heartbeat, taking most of my employees with me to a competitor.

kmklint

For the people who have to share lodging with strangers. How do you handle the situation if you have a lot of horrible gas? If your at home or alone, this wouldn't be an issue. As we all know, there is nothing wrong with passing gas. At work, I admit I'm very respectful which at times means holding it. You just can't do this 24 hours a day.

moman

I traveled for WalMart once, and I was required to stay in Motel 6 with this guy from the same district. Seemed like an OK guy, I don't think I 'blasted' him out at night.

Recently I've been traveling to trade/tech shows on the side with friends and we always share rooms. Friends is a loose term because I didn't know some people until we got to the hotel. Thankfully, I pack a sleeping bag to reduce fights for the bed and I'm 100% comfy sleeping on the floor. Only bad thing is when someone comes in at 6AM 'RISE AND SHINE' time to head out, when it only takes me 10 minutes to dress and be on the road.

My current employer does not require sharing rooms.

Internaut

I have a simple policy that I will sacrifice job before solitude. I just couldn't do it. As soon as I saw the thread title, my skin started to crawl.

I go into work every day and act my socks off the part of Mr nice/amiable/sociable/people person. To be fair, I get on genuinely well with most of the people I work with and happily spend time with them when travelling on business but, in reality, I'm a bit of a loner and would have real difficulty coping without an hour or two by myself (not including sleeping) every day.

Thank goodness world+dog (ok, cat) agrees with me on the issue.

corporatecrusader

This is a new one to me so I'm asking for advice. The company I work for just decided that some employees (not all) will be required to share a room when traveling. Its clearly stated in the corporate travel policy that each individual will be reimbursed for their room up to $200 per night. Its also stated in my employment agreement that I will be supplied my own room when I travel. The businesses financial situation hasnt changed since I signed this agreement and took employment. I travel a lot for work. Just this month I will have been traveling for 20 nights. Next month this starts and it begins when I'm on the road for ten days straight.
I find it highly inappropriate to make two adults share a room when traveling for business. When I showed the head of the division who made this decision my agreement and stated that I'd be willing to stay in cheaper hotels, he responded that this wasn't up for negotiation. He claims that I'll have to pay for half of my room going forward. This will be about $750 for those ten days.
Its almost worth quiting my job over this. But I'd rather not. And I doubt that they would let me walk away since I'm the top producer in sales. If it matters, I work strictly on commission. The first five days of this upcoming travel is purely for free since I won't be benefiting from or making any money during those days. I'm offering to help out another division. I'm also up for a significant promotion so this could hurt my chances of receiving the advanced position (although it doesn't accompany a pay raise since its all commission, but there are significant advantages).

Thoughts on getting this changed?
So how do I approach this? Do I go above his head?

SJC1K

First, welcome to Flyertalk!

For me, privacy is non-negotiable. The company is asking me to be away from home and family 24 hours a day, rather than only for the working day. To take away all private space 24 hours a day in addition is unacceptable. In your shoes, I would say that the company is no longer meeting the terms of my employment agreement, so I am terminating the agreement.

corporatecrusader

Thank you for the welcome. I'm actually a bit of a long time lurker. As I'm still in the learning phase of all of this, its been a great resource. I can often find the answers I'm looking for by searching. So I try not to bother you ladies and gentlemen with asking basic questions that have been asked over and over again.

I'm not going to lie, walking away from this job would be a bit worrisome give the current job market and the rest of my arrangement is pretty good. But it might be worth it and I may only have to bluff. But I feel like I should be ready to accept the consequences if I go that route.

Ocn Vw 1K

corporatecrusader, welcome to posting on FlyerTalk. If your promotion might be resolved fairly soon, I'd try to be a good team player with the new lodging policy. Then if you get that promotion, it might make moot or ease your ability to press for what's in your contract.

Mikey likes it

Not for regular business, though I went through a leadership training course at my former company where we were asked to share rooms. They put us up at the Embassy Suites so technically each of the two occupants had his own "room," one with a pull out couch. The rationale was for "relationship building" which I kind of get.

If I worked for an employer who required this as a matter of policy whilst on business trips, I'd move on pretty quickly.

pragakhan

Three words, sexual harassment liability.. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't... LOL

RichMSN

The company is still paying for half the room the other person is using. Why does the company get to save half a room fee? Sounds like a great company to work for.

I am going to the UK and my boss and I are going to London for 2 days of the cricket test match. Rooms paid for out of our pockets. I said to him, "You wouldn't want to share a room, would you?" and his response was, "Those days are long over."

Then we used Marriott points and they ended up being free rooms anyway.

yosithezet

No value in a bluf. Decide if you are willing to follow this new policy. If you are, stay. If you aren't, leave. In your shoes I'd be spending my time looking for something else once I was told it was non-negotiable.

thorthor

hah after sharing a "room" (tent) with 11 other guys, moving to the dorms where we were just three to a room was quite the upgrade

CarolineW

Being from Europe, I have difficulty believing what I am reading ! I guess most of you are from the US, right ? In Europe it would be unthinkable to ask two persons to share a room.

Even at college/campus, I know in US people share rooms. Even when I was 18 in university I could not believe that ! To share a room, for a whole university year ? no way.

And now, you say that employers ask adults to share rooms ? Well, maybe that's the American way, but you wont find any of that in Europe - to the best of my knowledge.

My employer like many pay a per diem, except when accommodation is pre-arranged. the per diem is regardless of where you stay - with a friend, in a $ 500 hotel, whatever... then it's up to the employers to see whether they want to share and save. yes, once I had a close friend and we shared a room at a conference so I saved some money from the per diem.

But apart from that, forcing employees, eegh... disgusting...

if anyone from Europe knows of employes that do ask employees to share rooms (I mean for professionals of course), please do correct me.