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Posted: 2008-07-23 15:45
We have several employees who fly in to our North Carolina location each week (fly in on Monday, leave on Friday)from other states. As we get more and more who commute this way, we feel we need to put a policy in place. Does anyone have a commuting policy that they would be willing to share.
Thanks
howard7
Joined: Sep 13, 2001 Posts: 2615
Posted: 2008-07-24 08:41
Start by asking yourself why do I need a policy.
Is there a commuting issue/problem that you are trying to deal with?
What inconsistancies have you observed that are significant?
oraliaj
Joined: Jul 23, 2008 Posts: 3
Posted: 2008-07-24 09:08
It's not so much that there are problems arising, it's that we want some consistency in the benefit that's being extended to our employees. Especially regarding which expenses will be reimbursed, will we allow the arrangement to be permanent or should limits be established, tracking of the expenses and payroll reporting, will the expenses be grossed up by the company or will the employees pay the taxes. Right now it's being administered on a case-by-case basis and as an HR professional I know that as we extend this benefit to more and more employees, we run the risk of concerns about fairness.
rrupert
Joined: Feb 15, 2006 Posts: 1612
Posted: 2008-07-24 11:30
A lot is going to depend on who is benefiting the most from the commuting. Here are just some of my brainstorming thoughts.
You also need to take into account the whole travel time pay for exempt vs non-exempt employees. If for some reason they had to travel on either Saturday or Sunday, are you legally required to pay them? As to how much is taxable, you would need to consult with a CPA on that issue depending on how you pay/reimburse.
You need to consider whether or not the company should pay for travel insurance and whether this is considered work travel under that policy and possibly under Workers Compensation. Or when the coverage starts.
The other thing I would consider is the bigger picture of cost. Does the company truly want to have that many employees commuting via air -- due to expense, time, safety, delays, weather issues, etc? When are you allowing commuters and when are you going to force an employee to relocate? Do the employees have to be at a certain level?
Then as to costs, are you going to pay for airport club access, parking, car service, etc? Are you going to pay for business/first class? Must they take the most inexpensive flight?
Another thing is how are you going to deal with frequent flyer miles? Is that a perq they are going to get to use for personal travel or are they going to have to use those miles for business travel?
howard7
Joined: Sep 13, 2001 Posts: 2615
Posted: 2008-07-25 08:48
In addition to everything mentioned above, if these are commuting costs they are taxable to the employee. Commuting costs are not treated the same as business travel.
This would mean that the amounts you are reimbursing may need to be run through payroll and taxed.
You will need to sit with your tax advisor and go through each item to determine taxability. If you intend for there to be no net cost to the employee you should plan on the total cost being twice the actual cost after tax grossup.
JConnell
Joined: Jul 29, 2008 Posts: 1
Posted: 2008-07-29 11:05
Just wondering, are these Commuters employees that turned down an offer to relocate? If they were never offered a relocation package, consider the costs of ongoing commuting expenses against the costs to relocate. Don't forget the "other" costs--employee satisfaction, stress, and possible eventual replacement costs. If the intent is that the employee will return following the project assignment (or decided they will not permanently relocate), an alternative is a short term temporary relocation. In this way, they would be provided housing assistance (lease break costs, rental finding fee) and will be expected travel less.
oraliaj
Joined: Jul 23, 2008 Posts: 3
Posted: 2008-07-29 12:12
I'm new to the company, but I get the impression that they don't want to relocate. In their previous jobs they were located at one of the company's other locations, but now their jobs report into the corporate office, but they would prefer not to relocate their families...
dagrilliot
Joined: Jun 09, 2006 Posts: 2
Posted: 2008-08-05 09:44
The real question I would be asking in this situation is, "do these employees need to commute to this office to perform effectively?" If you have someone in your NC office who thinks that a remote worker is not as productive as someone who is in the office, I would try to get to rid of that paradigm! I have been a full time telecommuter in Ohio for 8 years, going to the corporate offices in Minnesota at least once per quarter, plus other travel to vendors, etc. The time I spend in Minnesota is the most unproductive time compared to the time in my home office. Also, we did some comparisons to recruiters who work in that corporate offices vs. those that are in remote offices and found that the ones in the remote offices were almost always more productive. If the commuting is necessary, then I agree with others on this post that you need to make sure the benefits, reimbursements, etc. are fairly applied. I just think asking the core question around the need for it is the place to start.
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Posted: 2008-07-23 15:45 
