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1st February 2007, 09:26 PM
Absolutely, current rates are good. £50 is good. £60 is good. Excellent considering the level of the salaries.
I don't really expect archaeology companies to start offering construction industry standard subs: it would just get silly with the size of the salaries. You might be getting another two thirds of your salary in subs, and the tax man might not like that.
I have also been offered away work with no accommodation arranged and no subs, for a job expected to last a couple of months. Unsurprisingly, I turned it down. The deal about being given £40 a night and arranging your own accommodation sounds OK to me, providing you could band together with others on your project and the contract was long enough. I would just like to see more consistency in the industry.
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2nd February 2007, 10:00 AM
If subs are intended to cover the extra costs of working away from home, they should not be at a flat rate but should reflect the real costs on a project-by-project basis.
For instance, short-term self-catering accommodation can be expensive to rent(if you have a small number of people sharing and it is during peak tourist season) or cheap (if you have a larger number and it is out of season).
If they are not to be taxable, payments to cover such expenses need to be supported by evidence that the costs are genuine. The logical way to do this is through reclaiming expenses supported by receipts. I know this means waiting for the money, but it can also include an up-front 'float' to be discounted against the first expense claim.
If you are paying a flat rate as compensation for working away from home, that is a very different matter, and would probably be a taxable allowance.
For instance, my company repays genuine expenses on the receipt of a claim. They also pay an overnight allowance if you work away from home, which is taxable (£5, not increased for 11 years, which perhaps puts the perception of the plutoctatic consultant in perspective!).
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
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2nd February 2007, 01:49 PM
When I worked for a contractor, we (the management) would set up and pay for any short-term (or long-term) self-catering accommodation as part of the job. Staff (temporary or permanent) living in such accommodation were given £15 per night Monday to Thursday, i.e £60 per week tax-free. The same rate applied to those living in B & B or hotel accommodation. As others have already said, this has to be justified as money to cover the additional expenditure of being away from home, rather than some form of dislocation allowance, or the taxman becomes very interested.
As a consultant I am not entitled to any allowance from my employer for staying away from home, just the repayment of any legimate expenses incurred in the course of business - acommodation, food etc (but of course as a consultant this obviously means staying at Claridges or the Ritz and dining at one of Gordon Ramsey's fine establishments).
Beamo
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3rd February 2007, 07:31 PM
Himalaya posted "out of interest then, trowelfodder (but also thrown open to everyone) what do you think an appropriate level of compensation would be for living away from home?"
and
"We get decent free accomodation provided for us, normally pretty close to site, and subs on top ..even if were in self-catering accom. Despite trowelfodder's assertion that its obviously more expensive to live away, i think from what others have said on here that a lot of us diggers do pretty well out of current rates of subsistence that the units give us."
Dont get me wrong I dont think that £50 - £75 a week (10-15 a night) in subs is bad - it brings the wages up nicely, i just dont see why all units cant pay. It means the difference between going home or being stuck in gthe arse end of nowhere for months on end.
The £27 a night earned by other industries would be great but realise that its a case of one step at a time. I have worked for 1 unit which paid £22 a night for working inthe home counties and £15 for elsewhere and brought you back to unit base in company vehicle on wkend - and paid travelling which made away jobs worthwhile
