Ask A Manager: Firing An Employee On a Business Trip

[minoanmiss]

3. Firing an employee who’s traveling on business

If I fire an employee that is working on an out of town job, do I have to pay his transportation back home? Or his lodging?

Legally? Probably not. Ethically, you absolutely need to.

You’re thinking of leaving an employee stranded out of town when he’s there for work, and making him pay his own way back? That would be an incredibly crappy thing to do, and it will make other employees who hear about it hate you. And rightly so. He’s there for work, and part of your obligation is to pay to bring him home.

Comments

Why I posted this

[minoanmiss]

This is a STORY IDEA! Brainstorm with me!

Re: Why I posted this

[angelofthenorth]

I'm thinking gross misconduct, embezzling or something on those lines

Re: Why I posted this

[minoanmiss]

The two main ways to take it are 1) employee did something HORRIBLE 2) employer is a COMPLETE ASSHOLE (these don't have to be mutually exclusive of course), but I already have two ideas:

1) Boss finds out employee has been embezzling while employee is on business trip, agonizes over stranding him to IT work BFF who points out how to lock down access while employee is away, so Boss can do the right thing and not fire employee till return.

2) Black girl (I will probably change this so as to not be too self inserty but I'll see how the character develops) points out racism at work, gets praised by manager and sent on business trip, is fired while there for being "insubordinate" and a "bad team player" and her ticket cancelled and company card invalidated, is now stranded in an unfamiliar airport across the country from her home. What does our heroine do next?

Re: Why I posted this

[rmc28]

Please tell me that at some point there is only one bed.

Re: Why I posted this

[minoanmiss]

Our heroine meets up with another girl (background TBD) who was abandoned at the airport by her boyfriend who took her passport with him! They can travel to Second Girl's Sister's relatively-nearby place,and from there get to their respective homes, but Sister will not/cannot come to them, and they have to get a motel room.... AND THERE IS ONLY ONE BED

Re: Why I posted this

[lemonsharks]

please consider: Accidental H*nd H*lding at the embassy, as they stand in line seeking (1) help getting Char A home or (2) help getting Char B's passport replaced.

Re: Why I posted this

[cereta]

Well, of course the poor, stranded employee (who was totally framed for whatever is getting them fired) will need to be rescued by a (very attractive) local who normally would never do something like bringing a stranger home but who is somehow compelled to help this (very attractive) soul who brings quirky joy to the local's life and who will need help clearing their name and ultimately getting a much better job with a company that deserves them. The End.

Re: Why I posted this

[minoanmiss]

*cheers*

Re: Why I posted this

[dorinda]

Yes yes yes! :D

Re: Why I posted this

[julian]

So one time, when I was 22 or so, I was trying to be a PCA for a blind woman.

In theory i was there to help her with chores and some minor finance stuff.

It soon developed she was getting me to check her husband's credit cards, to see if he was having affairs.

She was also not doing so well on her insulin maintenance and had some temper control/mood swing problems, and expected me to quickly pick up what she wanted me to do. I knew in theory that mood swing theater was a potential side effect of diabetes, but didn't really know what to do about it. So anyway, eventually I exhibited some comprehension of what she was doing with her husband's credit card bills, and she got tired of my not understanding what she wanted instantly, and she fired me; instead of letting me wait for my ride, she had me walk home (about a mile) instead.

Which is way less of a deal than a business trip, but nonetheless!

Re: Why I posted this

[julian]

(This has applications for the Business Trip Brainstorm, because she would have me read credit card details off to her, so I at one point had actually memorized her husband's credit card number.)

Re: Why I posted this

[minoanmiss]

That was very unkind of her in several different ways. I hope she learned to behave much better before she was able to obtain another PCA.

[acelightning]

Employee is clever and very good at her job, and the boss looks bad by comparison. While she's a continent away from her home, boss decides to "bring her down" by firing her and leaving her stranded, with a credit card that's been canceled. She sees a sign at the airport directing her to the Travelers' Aid Society - they advise her to get in touch with the Department of Labor so as to get the boss into trouble for what he did (which appears to be illegal).

[cimorene]

How about extended traveling in a foreign country for work, fired abroad, no longer offered use of the company travel to get home. The best would be an sf version of course, where someone is stranded on, like, Europa mining station and denied passage back on the mining corp space ship.

[amaebi]

That is what I was thinking.

[watersword]

TAKE MY MONEY.

[adrian_turtle]

The sf version is IDEAL, because the laws can be whatever you want.

[purlewe]

would read.

[minoanmiss]

I LOVE IT