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Co-workers having a laugh?

47 posts & 29 voices | Started 3 months ago by BruceWee | Latest reply from aracer

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BruceWee - Member

Going to have a bit of a rant.

So, the social committee at work organised an avalanche course. Nothing to do with work except that the social committee paid for the course for 12 people. We would have to pay for our own transport and accommodation. So far so good.

The course is in a place about 300km away but I didn't mind since it's a spectacular area of the country (I'm in Norway, btw). Went on the course, had a great time, came home tired but happy.

The guy who was organising the course divided up the transport costs based on a 2kr per km (about 20p) excluding tolls and parking divided between the three people in each car. This normally works out to cost of petrol plus a bit. The 4 drivers then came back and said that based on government guidelines for using personal vehicles for work it should be 4kr per km excluding tolls and parking. This is apparently to take into account tyre wear, increases in insurance, wear and tear, etc.

Suddenly the cost has gone up to the point that it would have been cheaper to hire a car and divide the cost between 3 people.

The drivers now are now paying nothing for petrol and making about 500kr (£50) from the weekend.

I think I'm about to tell them to go **** themselves.

It's a shame because the company pays for these kind of things as a kind of team building thing and I feel really sorry for the guy who organised everything since this has come out of the blue for him too.

I'm posting this to get it off my chest so that hopefully it will stop distracting me from work. Also to double check that I'm not the one being unreasonable somehow.

Posted 3 months ago #
wwaswas - Member

Making a profit from a paid for jolly is a bit off, really.

Posted 3 months ago #
MSP - Member

Is it cheaper than buying the driver a beer or 2 though (which I hear is quite expensive in Norway)?

Posted 3 months ago #
meehaja - Member

Pay the drivers. Then slash their tyres, call it wear and tear and then stare at them for an un natural length of time (best whilst holding a knife).

But yeah, if its a case of everyone splitting costs, no one should profit from it and the drivers knew the situation when they (presumably) volunteered to drive. When we've done long drives like this we usually split the cost of fuel and the driver doesn't pay for his/her lunch. On a recent trip to the lakes, the guy driving had a puncture and the tyre was destroyed, we offered to chip in but he declined as it is a normal hazard of driving.

Posted 3 months ago #
midlifecrashes - Member

It's a big chunk of driving, especially coming back from a physically demanding day on the hill. Hire car might allow more driving to be shared?

Posted 3 months ago #
BigJohn - Member

tyres, servicing, exhausts, depreciation etc. are all mileage-related costs so some additional per mile is reasonable.

Posted 3 months ago #
soobalias - Member

the equivalent motor mileage rates over here are from a tax perspective.
check they have the correct insurance to carry fare paying passengers
ask the drivers if they are intending to declare their income.

easy answer is, yeah shoulda hired a car and everyone pays, perhaps come to that arrangement paying reciepts for fuel/parking and a charge to 'hire' the drivers car.... they do have a point tho regarding insurance...

Posted 3 months ago #
binners - Member

the social committee at work

See... there's your problem, right there! Sitting there in the very first sentence, like a malignant pus-filled boil

Are you mad? Do you know nothing? Ground rules, my friend... ground rules!

The words 'social' and 'work' should never ever EVER be combined. EVER! And lets be brutally frank about this... nothing...NOTHING has ever benefited from the word 'committee' being added to it. EVER The whole thing can never end well

Just do what everyone else does, and go and do whatever it is you want to do with your mates.

Posted 3 months ago #
alfabus - Member

surely if that money is to cover 'wear and tear' and insurance etc., then they haven't made a profit - they have been paid in lieu of their next load of bills.

Why didn't you drive?

Dave

Posted 3 months ago #
BruceWee - Member

See... there's your problem, right there! Sitting there in the very first sentence, like a malignant pus-filled boil

Are you mad? Do you know nothing? Ground rules, my friend... ground rules!

The words 'social' and 'work' should never ever EVER be combined. EVER! And lets be brutally frank about this... nothing...NOTHING has ever benefited from the word 'committee' being added to it. EVER The whole thing can never end well

Just do what everyone else does, and go and do whatever it is you want to do with your mates.

So true. It's actually the first time I've ever done anything like this with work colleagues.

What's the worst that could happen, I foolishly thought.

Posted 3 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

costs 40+ p a mile to run a car here. as above - they have not made a profit they have got a contribution to the increased bills that will be coming their way

Posted 3 months ago #
jruk - Member

Binners +1

Ever seen a statue to a committee? Nope. They're all utter $hite. If someone mentions a committee stab them in the face.

Posted 3 months ago #
BruceWee - Member

surely if that money is to cover 'wear and tear' and insurance etc., then they haven't made a profit - they have been paid in lieu of their next load of bills.

Why didn't you drive?

Since they are making £50 and not paying anything for petrol on a 700km trip I'm a bit sceptical that a journey this long can cause £70 worth of wear and tear.

I didn't drive because I don't have a car. Last few times I've driven to this area I've hired a car and after splitting the costs it's cost less than what they want me to pay for this trip.

I assumed that the reason for car sharing was to reduce costs for everyone.

Posted 3 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

Other costs in the UK are usually about the same as petrol

Posted 3 months ago #
chewkw - Member

With such a mean personality no amount of socialisation will endear him/her to others, in fact it will be the opposite because everyone will avoid him/her from now on ...

Posted 3 months ago #
BruceWee - Member

costs 40+ p a mile to run a car here. as above - they have not made a profit they have got a contribution to the increased bills that will be coming their way

They weren't acting as a taxi, they had to get to the course too.

Had the passengers simply gotten together and hired cars then the drivers would have still had to get themselves down there, the only difference being they would have to cover all the costs themselves.

Posted 3 months ago #
wallace1492 - Member

Not work related, so the milage allowance does not come into it. Divide up actual cost of petrol and tolls between whoever was in cars, driver pays nothing is a choice.

Posted 3 months ago #
FuzzyWuzzy - Member

If you factor in all the car costs then 40p a mile isn't even close, given the cost of a pint of beer and loaf of bread in Norway I shudder to think what tyres cost over there

Posted 3 months ago #
markyfm - Member

Don't pay anything and just say you will drive next time! I'm guessing there won't in reality be a next time !!

Posted 3 months ago #
nwilko - Member

if you feel so strongly dont go simples..
if you wish to go paying a fair rate such that drivers get some money towards wear and tear on their cars is the norm.
without work you wouldnt be going..
as others have said they arent making a profit as the £50 is covering what is deemed by govt as wear and tear costs..
if you do go and still bemoan someone recieving £50 to cover wear on their car suggest you travel alone on the bus.

Posted 3 months ago #
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR - Member

TandemJeremy - Member

costs 40+ p a mile to run a car here

No it doesn't.

Just being doing a monthly budget including household costs and business overheads - it took me 30 seconds to pull my vehicle costs from this and I have included:

Fuel
Servicing
Tyres
Road Tax
Insurance

And instead of depreciation I've used the £194 p.c.m that I pay on a loan - based on the fact that I put £5k cash into my motor 2 years ago and if I was to sell it today I would be able to pay off the loan and walk away with the same £5k cash.

Totalling my monthly costs, multiplying by 12 and dividing by the 35k miles I drive p.a. it comes out at 29p per mile - and this is a hulking great 4x4.

*edit* - might have made a slight mis-calculation on estimated mileage and current fuel expenditure, but even adjusted it comes out at 35p per mile - for a very uneconomical car.

Posted 3 months ago #
falkirk-mark - Member

Pay them their miserable £50 then let them work out why nobody is speaking to them.

Posted 3 months ago #
jota180 - Member

You've gone and one it now TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR

he'll be back with more figures than you can shake a stick at and I bet you get fed up 1st - but then you knew that didn't you?

anyway, the OP

jeez, you lot are way over thinking this
Just say to the passengers something like £15 each guys and no arguments about who's sitting in the front
job done

anyone that would argue about whether or not £15 [or whatever] was a fair split, wouldn't be the sort of person I'd want to spend 3 hours in a car with and - vice versa - I wouldn't want to spend that time with anyone that worked it out to the penny either
They must be a bundle of laughs in a restaurant

and Binners is right as usual

Posted 3 months ago #
BruceWee - Member

Just out of interest, how do people split car costs when driving to the trails with their mates? I've only ever split fuels costs and gratefully accepted a couple of pints if it's been my car. All of my friends do the same. Except the ones who won't take anything since they were going anyway in which case I beat them to the ground and cram a tenner into their mouth.

Anyone out there who charges 40p per km to give their mates a lift?

I know this is semi-work related which, as binners said, is the root of the whole problem. Play with your mates, work with your colleagues, never get the two mixed up

Posted 3 months ago #
jota180 - Member

Anyone out there who charges 40p per km to give their mates a lift?

Anyone that asked like that surely wouldn't be a mate?
Fair enough if someone chips in a bit extra for a beer but to drag everything down to the level of an accountant is a bit off - to say the least.

Posted 3 months ago #
CHB - Member

Get a grip...So with four a car the driver is getting paid £50 plus petrol. So thats costing you £16!!! so thats £16 (plus lodgings) for a Jolly with some work mates. Stop whinging.
As said above the driver will have extra costs (wear on tyres...Set of 4 tyres can easily be £500. If they do 20,000 miles then thats £25 wear per 500 miles. Service your car every 10,000 miles? Well a service is £300..so thats another £15 per 500 miles) and thats just the certainties of cost.

This is a works function and is entirely different to an MTB jolly. If its MTB jolly then equal share of petrol (inc driver) and a pint you you are lucky. I normally work on the maxim of "well I am going there anyway so mates are a bonus".

MTFU and pay up. Onto important stuff...was the course good? (I am jealous and would love to have done it!).

Posted 3 months ago #
Pieface - Member

canvas the thoughts of the other attendees and go with the majority. if its in the drivers favour then suck it up, otherwise form a comitee to discuss it

Posted 3 months ago #
takisawa2 - Member

if you feel so strongly dont go simples..

I thinks its a bit late for that, or have you just waded in without reading the OP'spost...

Six of us did a walk up Snowdon last year, all work colleagues. It made sense to take my 7-seater, so we could use one car. The agreement was that the fuel cost was split such that the driver didnt pay. Wasnt my idea, but everyone was in total agreement & happy to pay.

Tell them to go forth & multiply. Making money out of it is bad.

Posted 3 months ago #
BruceWee - Member

Get a grip...So with four a car the driver is getting paid £50 plus petrol. So thats costing you £16!!! so thats £16 (plus lodgings) for a Jolly with some work mates.

No, that's me paying £100 and the other passenger paying £100 as well (2 passengers 1 driver). This is before road tolls and parking is added on. And not including food and accommodation, of course.

Onto important stuff...was the course good? (I am jealous and would love to have done it!).

The course was fantastic. I learned loads (not least that I need much more practice using a transceiver) and the conditions were fantastic for some powder action on the way back down.

Posted 3 months ago #
CHB - Member

Confused now... why £100?
If driver making £50 then I get that the cost is £25 per passenger, but wheres the other £75? (Some will be actual cost of petrol).

The tolls I would say should be split 3 ways INCLUDING driver.

For a thing like this I would expect the driver to walk away with a notional net cash amount to cover some of the things above (tyres, service general wear and tear etc) £50 for 600-700km sounds about fair, but from your last post I am not sure if they made more than £50 per driver...if it was £50 per passenger then thats a lot!

Still you had a cracking jolly for not much money so MTFU and stop whinging.

Posted 3 months ago #
BruceWee - Member

£0.4 x 750km / 3 people = £100 each

The cost of fuel actually used was £150 (generous estimation, probably closer to £120) so passengers cover all the fuel plus another £25 each.

Posted 3 months ago #
CHB - Member

Sounds fair to me.

Posted 3 months ago #
BruceWee - Member

Actually, messed up the calculation. actual fuel used was £80 (still being generous). Meaning passengers cover all fuel plus £60 each.

Posted 3 months ago #
Cougar - Member

I once worked out that my car costs me about 10p a mile in rubber. So that's £37 for your little soiree just on tyres.

I've got to wonder why you didn't agree all this before you went, though. Did everyone agree a price? Fair or not, what's agreed is agreed, surely, can't change it afterwards.

I think they're right to ask for wear and tear costs above fuel; however, I think they're bang out of order to wait till after the even before hiking up their costs. I'd pay what was agreed and tell 'em to do one, I reckon.

Posted 3 months ago #
konabunny - Member

10p a mile on TYRES? o_O

Nothing to do with work except that the social committee paid for the course for 12 people...The 4 drivers then came back and said that based on government guidelines for using personal vehicles for work it should be 4kr per km excluding tolls and parking.

As others have observed - it's not for work. It's for pleasure. Splitting petrol and tolls (if they're significant) is the maximum acceptable contribution.

Posted 3 months ago #