per diem

by jwabbitt...

...Also, should employees be compensated for weekends spent away from home, besides the potential for overtime Monday thru Friday?...

What is keeping them from going home for the weekend?

Distance........about 1400 miles......or 22 hours one way.....or a $600 plane ticket per person., and still a 6 to 8 hour trip each way....not much of a weekend "at home" if half of it is on a plane.

> Distance........about 1400 miles......or 22 hours one way.....or a $600 plane ticket per person., and still a 6 to 8 hour trip each way....not much of a weekend "at home" if half of it is on a plane.

That far from thier families and you want to "justify" taking weekend per diem away from them??

Employer A- 5 day per diem for meals, company paid for the motel 7 days a week on long term jobs, as we left all equipment there even when we went home for the weekend. If we worked Saturday or Sunday, I'm sure they would pay that, but we never did.

Employer B- Paid only what was worked, did not pay meals or room for weekends, even if it was too far away to come home. They got in trouble big time with COE, and had to pay us back pay for a few months. Nice check for Christmas.

Employer C- Paid per diem for every day worked and all weekends if more than 200 miles from home base, home base being the address listed on the employment application. If more than 200 miles and the employee decided to go home anyway, no per diem. They also required receipts for meals and room, and there was a two week lag between turning in receipts and getting reimbursed.

Employer D- Paid for all rooms and meals on company card, no per diem.

Employer E- Similar to C, but did not require receipts. Per diem scale was 75 per day for labor, 85 a day for operators, and 100 per day for superintendents. They also gave the option of 25 a day for meals and reimbursement for lodging with receipts for everyone.

Maybe I have not had enouogh coffee yet.....we pay per diem 7 days a week

My second question is....should there be additional compensation on top of the "meal money" paid.

Spending weekends away from family is a hardship in my opinion, and any company should offer some sort of "shift differntial" or "hazard pay" or "temporary duty" pay.

In my opinion, an individual will spend more money each weekend day when out of town that he would if he were home..........besides the fact you get totally bored if you don't find something to do.......and that costs money.

Not eveyone can or should be satisfied with hunkering down and watching TV in your hotel room.

Time away from family is worth something.....what amount do you think is appropriate?

> That far from their families and you want to "justify" taking weekend per diem away from them??

geez... you make them supply their own equipment and balls and chains? Do you make them pay for their own hotel rooms?

If I was at a job where I couldn't be home in a timely fashion on the weekend, and you wanted to take my per diem, I'm be in you office the next day with my BIG boots on and one foot up your a$$ and the other one on your neck. I know it's an "Employers Market" these days with employees, but how about being human and humane.

Thank you Mr. Parsons.

I am fighting thoughts by others that the 2 man crew are on a vacation since they are in a nice warm climate and on the beach.

Introducing a policy to reward employees with additional pay when out of town for an extended period will be difficult, because it doen't happen on a regular basis....and since the company policy is not to make special rules for special circumstances...any change falls into a "Catch 22" scenario.

> Maybe I have not had enouogh coffee yet.....we pay per diem 7 days a week
>
> My second question is....should there be additional compensation on top of the "meal money" paid.
>
> Spending weekends away from family is a hardship in my opinion, and any company should offer some sort of "shift differntial" or "hazard pay" or "temporary duty" pay.
>
> In my opinion, an individual will spend more money each weekend day when out of town that he would if he were home..........besides the fact you get totally bored if you don't find something to do.......and that costs money.
>
> Not eveyone can or should be satisfied with hunkering down and watching TV in your hotel room.
>
> Time away from family is worth something.....what amount do you think is appropriate?

Whew... good clarification. I am sorry if I sounded a bit harsh too.

How about "paid" Saturdays at normal pay rate as a bonus. But sock it way until they get back so they don't get in trouble with it there?

Where are they? Can you send them within a hundred miles to somewhere nice for the weekend? A college football game? A pro football game? A nice steakhouse (NOT an Outback). Are these field grunts, or a special crew doing specialized work for you? 2 LS's? How much are they getting paid? Do they have access to vehicles?

I'm not really expecting answers to these questions, but you should take them into account when you are debating extra or bonus compensation.

No, Carl....we suppliy all equipment, pay for hotel, pay for flight to and from, pay $26 per day for meals 7 days a week, pay for incidentals like laundry, tolls, etc.

We provided extra cash for gasoline, because we don't have company credit cards and the company gas cards have to stay with the inidividual truck here at home.

Each crew member was given an advance of 3 weeks per diem, were paid time and a half for weekend travel to allow them to be on the project site Monday morning.

Most of what we do as a private company is OK, but the weekends away from home is a very devisive matter.

Each gentleman volunteered for the assignment, with reservations, and understanding the current employement market........decided to make the 3 to 4 week trip.

Carl,

They are in southern Florida, just a hour from Key West, and have full use of the rental SUV.

The crew is comprised of one young LS, and one younger Crew Chief. The LS is married with a 3 yr old, and the Chief has a young lady at home with one child and one on the way.

These guys get along very well, having several things in common. They have both given up their first half of the hunting season here at home with hopes of getting in some hunting after Thanksgiving.

I had hoped to introduce a change in oour policy to give a day's vacation for each weekend out of town, or an adjustment in their hourly wages for the out of town work.....but we move even slower than congress...before the health care bill.

I like the idea of paying for a football game or other event........I'll look into that; but I am guessing if that is done, I'll be the one paying out of pocket for it.

Excellent clarification. It sounds like you are standing up for these guys. My apologies for the harsh words. Good luck on getting the company to loosen up a bit.

You cant have much fun at the beach on $26 a day. If it is purely a money issue, maybe a compromise for lesser accomodations for the difference in per diem. If its not so much a money issue, and you just want to be clear on the policy, I would go $75 per weekend day that does not involve travel on all out of town jobs greater than 1399 miles from the home office.

> Carl,
>
> They are in southern Florida, just a hour from Key West, and have full use of the rental SUV.
>
> The crew is comprised of one young LS, and one younger Crew Chief. The LS is married with a 3 yr old, and the Chief has a young lady at home with one child and one on the way.
>
> These guys get along very well, having several things in common. They have both given up their first half of the hunting season here at home with hopes of getting in some hunting after Thanksgiving.
>
> I had hoped to introduce a change in our policy to give a day's vacation for each weekend out of town, or an adjustment in their hourly wages for the out of town work.....but we move even slower than congress...before the health care bill.
>
> I like the idea of paying for a football game or other event........I'll look into that; but I am guessing if that is done, I'll be the one paying out of pocket for it.

Again, excellent clarification. It sounds like you are standing up for these guys. My apologies for the harsh words. Good luck on getting the company to loosen up a bit.

Send them to the Miami - Virginia Tech football game on Nov. 20th. Game is at Landshark Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL and it usually looks like it is about 2/3 empty for UMiami games. Tix should be cheap. (I'm just sorta-kidding about that, but you never know what they might like).

Good luck to you and getting some nice extras for these guys.

Jim
In my previous life as a young man then I often opted for the out of town long duration jobs. COE projects and stuff that would last months and sometimes years.

Those, in our company, that opted for these were the highest paid in the company because they did these sorts of jobs. Some jobs were so far away that it was not an option to travel home on the weekend.

The company paid per diem 7 days a week and all motel, apartment or whatever bills. Most of us easily lived off our per diem and I sometimes went a month or longer without even cashing my normal check.

It did not matter if the location was tropical or a harsh cold environment. It's just what we did.

But our company paid about twice the going rate for per diem based on prevailing rates that the government used.

Being single certainly helped but there was compensation for living out of a suitcase.I would not go back but I certainly have a lot of memories from those days and those crews.

As an owner, I would not pay for weekend trips but I would pay 7 day per diem and 7 day accommodations.

dp

Be very careful about that, and a word to the wise.

When out of town, I was a slave driver for a reason. Too much time off away from home is not a good thing. I've bailed enough guys out of jail, fielded phone calls from wives and girlfriends and lied when I KNEW where they were, and paid for room damages from drunken exuberance enough times to earn that bit of education.

Pay them well, but not too well when they are away, save it as a bonus (which it is) when they get back. Keep them busy, if nothing more than foot the bill for some online education to keep their minds occupied.

I know you are thinking, not my guys, but trust me on this. I'd worry more about the LS than the crew chief, as he is the leader.

Accept the fact that a lot of what goes on out of town, stays out of town.

Thanks, Deral.

While I have spent many weeks out of town, many months a year for several years, I have been lucky enough that the work was within 200 miles of home and I went back on weekends, and if the jobsite was within a couple of hours drive-time, I would make the trip just to sleep in my own bed each night.

This new situation just doens't seem too important to the folks that could make a difference.......without having to make the arguement myself.

>Time away from family is worth something.....what amount do you think is appropriate?

At least $100 per day.

If it is possible let them work the weekends. Let it be thier choice. That's what I would want to do.

Alaska its $50 a day for food...which is usually canned food that you take with you and employer pays accommodation which is usually some sort of shack if your lucky or a shipping container if your not. Work is 7 days a week typically for months at a time...no extras for hardships...its a career and life style choice for the surveyors involved...

Carl,
They are in southern Florida, just a hour from Key West, and have full use of the rental SUV.
The crew is comprised of one young LS, and one younger Crew Chief. The LS is married with a 3 yr old, and the Chief has a young lady at home with one child and one on the way.

GIVEN THE PROJECT LOCATION, YOU SHOULD HAVE SENT THE GAY CREW SO THEY COULD "SHACK UP" WITH A LOCAL AND SAVE ON THE PER-DIEM YOU JACKWAGON!

(To the moderator---this is NOT a personal attack but rather an attempt at humor.)