A powerful boss made a nasty joke in front of hundreds of employees during a company meeting. I was offended and upset that neither the CEO nor the head of HR spoke up during the discussion. Should I lodge a complaint, or should I let it go?
Safety is psychological, and the finest business cultures encourage employees to speak up to anyone, about anything, at any time. I cannot answer for your culture, but if something bothersome occurred at work, you should speak up. Contact your manager or HR. Do not presume that the remark was accepted simply because nobody spoke up at the time. It is possible that the message was sent privately. If the behavior persists, one can presume there is a problem with culture or awareness that must be addressed.
If I send an employee on a business trip and the company books their return ticket, but they extend their stay for vacation and depart on a different day from a different place, is the return airfare a personal expense or is the company still responsible for it?
With business travel on the rise again and a growing pent-up desire for leisure travel, employees are combining business and personal travel more frequently – at least if business travel is not taking them to Minnesota in February. Mixing business with pleasure is acceptable if done in precise accordance with your company’s travel policy and provided expenses are meticulously recorded and pass a forensic expense review – get it? Now, about your question. The safest course of action is to inquire with the travel coordinator about the company’s policies. In the absence of a policy or in retrospect, the employer is responsible for covering the cost of the employee’s return from business travel. Even if the employee takes a vacation and returns on a different day or from a different location, the expense of such return is still borne by the employer. However, the corporation will not incur any additional costs. Therefore, if the cost of the alteration and new travel exceeds the cost of the original flight home, the employee is accountable for the difference.
Gregory Giangrande is a chief human resources officer with over 25 years of expertise. Hear Greg on iHeartRadio 710 WOR on Wednesdays at 9:35 a.m. with Len Berman and Michael Riedel. E-mail: GoToGreg@NYPost.com. Follow GoToGreg.com and @GregGiangrande on Twitter.
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