Hi all,
Not had the following “problem” before despite years of my house being referenced as my permanent place of work.

I started a new job in March. Home based. My corporate office is 3 hours / 120 miles away.

Historically I’ve always claimed food, refreshments, mileage and hotel when travelling to a corporate office.

Bizarre conversation last Friday with my French boss, based in the States, about me claiming food etc. when going into the office. I do not abuse expenses btw, just the odd coffee, supermarket lunch deals.
He, poorly, communicated that I shouldn’t.

I’m not talking about tax implications here, but does anyone have any links to stuff supporting my situation/claims?

All my Google searches are biased towards tex implication concerns!

Cheers

Cough up and stop being so tight !

If that’s all you’ve got to worry about lucky you.
You’re talking a few pounds – what’s wrong with you ! Your choice to eat just like at home – why should your employer pay for you to eat.

People out there that can’t afford to eat and you’re moaning about a few quid !

Are you staff or a contractor?

I never claimed for lunches – I’d buy them if I was office based, so buying them for the odd day when I was in the office didn’t seem unreasonable. Travelling is another matter – if I was doing a 3-hour drive, I would claim mileage and since it was company policy not to drive more than 2 hours without a break, I’d claim for a coffee and snack while travelling.

Ignore the grumpy pants.

If your stated usual place of work is your home, then any travel to a corporate office is a legitimate expense. If that involves an overnight stay then your employer should foot the bill for accommodation and subsistence. If you are only visiting for the day then you should be providing your own food.

It’s varied in my jobs but normally lunch on a day trip wouldn’t be expensed as you could make it at home. Overnight in a hotel then it’s fair game for the next day. Coffees I’d expense if on a client site and they didn’t have free coffee like in our own office.

Does the company have an expenses policy? This has been pretty clear on what you should expense everywhere I’ve worked and these days with concur and the like it has all the rules built in before it gets to an approver.

^^^as bigblackshed says for me….if I visit the office with no overnight, I would get travel costs but lunch etc is on me, however, if I overnight, I would get travel costs & subsistence

Screw that advice…

If you are working away from your usual place of work it is standard for most salaried office workers at reputable co’s to be given expenses to cover lunch. If you are a mobile / gig worker / contractor than it is not usually covered.

People may work for companies that short change them but that behaviour should never be encouraged.

What’s the company policy and what does your contract say? HMRC are pretty clear about what are allowable business expenses – if your role is home-based, then any travel and subsistence to another workplace is a legitimate business expense. The US has different rules, but if you are a UK-based employee with a UK contract of employment, then you are entitled to reclaim any business expenses you incur.

Is your location of work listed in your contract as your home?

At my work we are all still hybrid/WFH, no contracts were changed so we are all still officially located at an office address. If you do go in to the office travel is in your own time and at your own expense.

Both companied I’ve worked at have had a policy where if I am not at my home site then travel costs and subsistence are covered. Doesn’t matter if its at a client or another office within the company.
Always followed that and never had a problem but my managers have been reasonable people…

I’ve never been able to claim lunch on any expense policy I’ve had in the last 25 years of being an IT consultant. Breakfast and evening meals, yes, if away from home. Lunch is always excluded as the argument is that you would provide it if you were commuting from home to a normal office, so you should provide it if you’re anywhere else. As my current employer follows HMRC rules to the absolute letter (for reasons I’m not going to publish here), I’m pretty sure there must be tax implications around allowing expensing of lunch as well.

I’m also contractually home based, and I can expense travel, breakfast/evening meals, and accommodation when using any of our offices in the UK (even the one that’s only 7 miles away!), exactly the same as I would if going to a client’s office.

My rules with expenses are follow the policy to the letter, claim for everything you can but don’t take the piss (I don’t expense travel to the one 7 miles away 🙂 ), and ignore anyone else’s interpretation of the expense policy other than the finance team.

I’m not talking about tax implications here, but does anyone have any links to stuff supporting my situation/claims?

If company policy is you can’t claim for it then you’ll struggle to change their minds on that. It’s not something I would fight over personally as you could just take in a sandwich / last night’s left overs and eat that in the office and be cost neutral vs staying at home.

Home worker contract here.

If I need to go in the office I am just as liable for feeding myself as when I am at home.

Should I need to travel further and stay overnight with work, they pay all expenses including meals. In your situation any required visit to your corporate office of more than two hours (total 8 hours including travel) would involve an overnight stay and therefore incur expenses to cover the hotel, evening meal and breakfast in the morning.

The reason for those expenses, more for the grumpy unfit one who replied to you first, is because eating out costs significantly more than what most of us consume at home. It’s not about ‘coughing up’ its about an employee being out of pocket at the behest of their employer.

We pay home workers for hotels, travel and food. But when I’ve asked questions as an employer on here before I’ve been shot down badly so I’m probably wrong on that decision too 😬

Good to acknowledge the difference between what you are “entitled” to claim and what’s reasonable – particularly as your boss seems to have weighed-in on what they consider reasonable.

In my experience (home based for years and travel a fair bit), if I was visiting the office for the day, I’d claim travel expenses/mileage/parking but probably not sustenance (unless I was having to leave at like 5am or something). If it’s an overnight stay I’d claim everything.

I wouldn’t want to be perceived as taking the piss by my boss, but equally, I wouldn’t want to paying for stuff out of my own pocket. Cup of coffee….no, all day parking/evening meal…. yes.

Thanks for all the replies, even the stroppy ones, especially the one who called me tight when they won’t even pay to be a full member on this fantastic website! The cheek!

My signed contract states place of work as my home address.
It all still seems a touch unclear.
I think with the increase of hybrid working it’s confused things. If I was hybrid I wouldn’t dream of claiming anything related to going into the office, however the second I leave home, for work purposes, I’m technically on business travel and therefore can claim in line with the travel policy.
There’s nothing in the policy specifically about home based employees. I think I’m the only one!

At least breakfast is included in the hotel (which I book through the office) so it’s not all doom and gloom!

Thanks again. Always interesting seeing other peoples perspective and experiences.

We get travel expenses and B&B. That’s it. Everything else we’re expected to pay for ourselves.

Evening meal might be reasonable. Lunch, meh. Compared to my previous job, I save about £200 per month in fuel and about 40 hours of my time commuting. If I have to buy a meal deal from Tesco one week of the year I’m not complaining.

A lot of companies are tightening up rules around expenses now that homeworking is becoming the norm.

Screw that advice…

If you are working away from your usual place of work it is standard for most salaried office workers at reputable co’s to be given expenses to cover lunch

I highly doubt it is – whilst I’m sure some companies will expense lunch for employees working away from their base office/location I’ve not actually come across a company that does. Given a lot of people working out of their base office would take a packed lunch in why couldn’t/wouldn’t they do that if working at another office? I don’t really see WFH as your base office being any different, sure you have more options than a packed lunch but that’s just a non-contractual perk not something that needs to be covered by the employer if you can’t do it.

FOr me, if an overnighter you get allocated a set expenses value for your evening meal… I don’t recall what ours is/was.

But lunch, nah, sorry, that’s not covered if you ask me. Nor breakfast unless you can wangle it onto the bill.

Mines always been that if i travel to an alternative location than my “place of work” (either internal or external/supplier) for a single day, the only thing that is covered is mileage.
If the working day extends past a set limit including travel, i get an extra few quid for food/drink. Have had some variation on that based around travel time/work time etc.
It’s 10 hours and about 10 quid with the current employer, one incredibly stingy employer (American) it was 10 hours working _AND_ 4 hours travelling to get the local equivalent of 5 dollars…

That’s been fairly consistent with half a dozen employers, in three countries, with wildly varying expenses rules and different ownership/corporate structure (UK/Euro/US/Cn).

Multi-day trips or overnighters, i get pretty much everything covered from the point i leave the house, except (again) lunch on the day the trip starts.

Use it or lose it. All this nonsense about feeling lucky to have a job, and employers shaming folk not to claim allowances. I’d stick to the policy and use whatever allowances are available.

If the rules say it’s claimable, it’s claimable. If your manager thinks the rule is wrong, tell him to take up with his boss.

I’ve never bothered claiming every last penny for minor sundries but I would give short shrift to any manager who tried to tell me I couldn’t claim stuff according to the company rules.

Given a lot of people working out of their base office would take a packed lunch in why couldn’t/wouldn’t they do that if working at another office?

I think the argument here, where it involves staying in hotels, might be that you don’t have the ability to prepare meals in the same way you do at home. I’ve done it for weeks on end, and you really have to get quite creative if you don’t want a meal deal or Subway for lunch.

On the other hand, I think working from home is a privelege, and it comes with benefits that your on-site colleagues don’t get to enjoy, usually through no choice of their own. It’s not unreasonable to buy your own lunch occasionally. It’s a normal part of daily life for most people.

All depends on industry and contract. Nothing is privilege and the use of the word here is troubling to me. You agree a contract based on your value. If you are given something it’s in return for value you are delivering. Where competition for a skill you have is great you will be given breakfast, lunch and dinner just for going to your office / usual place of work. Where this is the case if you are home based you are cheaper to employ than your competition. To be fair Facebook have just stopped doing laundry for new hires 😂

My view is everyone should have have subsidised or paid lunch, not just those making online ads. Will make the world a happier place.

My view is everyone should have have subsidised or paid lunch, not just those making online ads. Will make the world a happier place.

Got to say I agree with that. A few clients I’ve had have had either free or heavily subsidised canteens and it makes a huge difference to their staff well being. One supermarket chain even had a Michelin starred chef working their canteen!

The businesses I’ve seen where every penny is counted, all hot drinks are from a chargeable vending machine etc, tend to have the most unhappy staff.

Got to say I agree with that. A few clients I’ve had have had either free or heavily subsidised canteens and it makes a huge difference to their staff well being. One supermarket chain even had a Michelin starred chef working their canteen!

The businesses I’ve seen where every penny is counted, all hot drinks are from a chargeable vending machine etc, tend to have the most unhappy staff.

Totally agree. I worked in a place with a subsidised canteen and it meant people went to it, sat down together, chatted. Good for morale and team building and much better then everyone heading out to tesco for a sandwich. Another place had a cleaner that kept the kitchen tidy. Just leave your mug on the side and they’d wash it up. No passive aggressive post-it notes, no filthy microwave.

As to the OP, I’d say it depends how happy you are with the work and your current deal. If you are the only one doing this then I’d be tempted not to rock the boat so they don’t feel the need to bring more rules in. I much prefer a bit of give and take than applying the letter of the law.

Sounds a similar distance and contract to mine. I just claim petrol. Make a packed lunch.
I only visit once a month.

All food based travel expenses have been on a perdiem. I forget the HMRC rate but last time was about 30euro per day. How you split it is up to you. I think if the hotel included breakfast we has 10euro removed.

The reason for including lunch from our companies rational was that when traveling your usual lunch options are not available. E.g pack lunch, leftovers etc. Even though I was travelling in Europe there were similar rules for UK travel but different amounts.

The reasons the answers you find online are tax based as the first step to any expense claim is to know it’s allowable.

Some more great feedback.

I’ve fed back to my boss and will no longer claim lunch / refreshments. If I’m staying away for the night I’m definitely arguing for dinner!

whilst I’m sure some companies will expense lunch for employees working away from their base office/location I’ve not actually come across a company that does

HP used to when I worked for them, that was about 10 years ago so things may have changed. The godawful system used for claiming expenses was quite the deterrent not to bother though! They supplied the beverages in the office too, and when I was working at a remote site they’d happily stump up for a jar of coffee and a box of teabags.

Assuming you are employed by the company, and presumably you are employed by the UK incorporated part of the company…. So does your US-based, French boss really have a handle on the UK company’s HR/expenses policy for home-based workers? I’d ask HR for a copy of the expenses policy and then do what that says. If your boss queries, tell him you’re following UK expenses policy. I’m sure he has too much other stuff to do than worry much about that issue.

If you are a self-employed contractor, the company will have a different policy about exes, but would expect them to allow you to charge for travel to their office. From an HMRC perspective you would be able to offset any exes you incur as a legitimate business expense i think.

IANATA

I’ve just been advised that I can’t expense the £216 train ticket to get to meetings/BBQ at my office (contracted place of work is home).

All of my previous (remote) roles have been happy to do this.

whilst I’m sure some companies will expense lunch for employees working away from their base office/location I’ve not actually come across a company that does

My current company does, and my prior company(s) through 4 acquisitions did also.

I’ve just been advised that I can’t expense the £216 train ticket to get to meetings/BBQ at my office (contracted place of work is home).

All of my previous (remote) roles have been happy to do this.

Assuming its OK for permanent office workers thats discrimination, so ask for a meetings on Teams or Zoom / and add why the BBQ – clearly a perk – is available for them and not you or what they are offering you in its place. Unless you accepted a homeworking policy which differentiates of course.

FTR, I’ve been a contractor for 3.5 years and always paid for my own sustenance when onsite or travelling. Naturally I’ll grab receipts and put them through as my expenses, but I’d never claim on an employer.

The only odd moment I had was 3 years ago when a load of us went out for a colleague’s (she was PAYE) leaving party. Our Director agreed in advance that it was all paid for, so we (a few of us contractors plus a lot of PAYE peeps) rocked up, had a good night and thought that was that. But the following Monday, the Director reached out to we contractors and asked us to cough up for our food and drinks. I thought that was a bit off but paid up. Annoyingly, that was the week I quit alcohol so I was on soft drinks, yet I was asked to pay way more to average out the collective contractors’ total cost because there was no itemised billing blah blah. That pi55ed me off fo sho.

I’ve just been advised that I can’t expense the £216 train ticket to get to meetings/BBQ at my office (contracted place of work is home).

I assume you’ve told them you’ll not be going then.

Yes, I’m not going and have explained the reason.

All my previous roles would have covered travel, hotel and all meals/drinks while away from home.

I’m quite happy not going. I’m alcohol free so a company BBQ sounds like hell and organising childcare will be difficult. I was prepared to make the effort but not now it’s going to cost me £200.

I’ve just been advised that I can’t expense the £216 train ticket to get to meetings/BBQ at my office (contracted place of work is home).

Contracted as in you’re a contractor? Or are you PAYE with option to WFH full-time?

Assuming its OK for permanent office workers thats discrimination

Is it really discrimination if you’re a contractor? Just wondering if the latest changes to IR35 might be drawing a clearer line for entitlements for PAYE vs contractor?

EDIT: ie outside IR35 contractors are seen as companies, not individuals

I’m one of two (outside IR35) contractors on my latest gig and the whole team were invited to a national Awards bash, but we contractors were told we were not invited. Given our contribution and the fact they have a very inclusive team dynamic, I found that mildly insulting, but accepted they’re under no obligation to invite us (or pay for us).

A mate also has an outside IR35 contract and he’s just been requested to join a national team meeting 200 miles away. Historically he has claimed for everything he can, but this time they said “Nope, you’re a contractor so you have to pay your own travel, accommodation and food/drinks yourself”. He argued against that but they wouldn’t budge, so he’s stumping up this time.

Ah, I assumed he was paye. My mistake.

Do you have a HR policy? You shouldn’t have to “argue” for anything you’re entitled to.

You have three things to consider here. What you’re legally entitled to; what your company policy affords; and what is morally just.

Policy cannot override statutory rights.

Your boss cannot override company policy, as how much they may pull their face this is an irrelevance. An international company will surely have a staff handbook which tells you under what circumstances you can claim and for how much.

As for morals, if you’re working away from your regular workplace then you’re doing them a favour. Whether you feel they should be obligated to stand you a sandwich only you can decide, but I sure as shit wouldn’t feel guilty about asking.

A friend of mine earns like three times my salary. If he’s working away he has a prescribed expenses allowance. He comes home with a dozen packets of crisps a day, if he hasn’t maxed out the allowance then he feels short-changed.

He, poorly, communicated that I shouldn’t.

Shouldn’t, or can’t? Keep submitting the claims, if they get signed off then someone higher up is happy with it or they’d be rejected.