12th August 2008, 10:06 AM
I think it's important to emphasise the health and safety aspect as well - having (often young and potential vulnerable) new staff attempting to find their own accomodation can lead to them getting ripped off, exploited and possibly worse. The organisations have a duty of care to their staff, which they are exercising by taking responsibility for by finding and providing accomodation. This has indeed being going on in many organisations for a very long time.
In the past, I have had to discuss mileage and expenses with the VAT people, particularly the latter. They were not happy if individuals were claiming expenses when working close to the office (for example, if someone was living some way from our office but the site was near it they weren't happy about us paying expenses). I ended up talking to them regularly for a while, because (to be honest) I got a different answer each time.
In the past, I have had to discuss mileage and expenses with the VAT people, particularly the latter. They were not happy if individuals were claiming expenses when working close to the office (for example, if someone was living some way from our office but the site was near it they weren't happy about us paying expenses). I ended up talking to them regularly for a while, because (to be honest) I got a different answer each time.