How Can We Resolve Engineers' Travel Allowance Dispute and Improve Attendance?

Dear All,

I am working in a private limited company, and recently I came to know that the company doesn't have any policy for engineers. Our accounting department is blindly passing their travel vouchers. However, when I noticed that they are submitting vouchers for traveling from home to the office, I inquired about how they were processing these vouchers. I informed them that the company already provides a conveyance allowance for home-to-office travel expenses, so I advised them not to submit vouchers for this.

I explained to them that the company already covers home-to-office expenses through the conveyance allowance. Therefore, we have stopped processing these vouchers. However, now the issue is that engineers are not coming to the office because they are not receiving petrol allowances. They argued that at the time of joining, they were receiving this benefit, and now considering it as part of their salary is not acceptable. They commute from distances of 50 to 60 km, and the conveyance allowance of Rs. 850/- is insufficient for them. They are questioning why they should come to the office if they receive allowances while visiting customers.

Moreover, we are facing challenges in tracking their activities, as we cannot determine if they are on leave or at a customer's location. They submit visiting reports at 15-day intervals, making daily tracking impossible for us.

Please provide me with valuable suggestions to address this situation.

Regards,
Dhruvin

Hi Dhruvin,

Firstly, if you have committed to them at the time of joining, then they are right that you can't back out. Even in our company, we are getting Conveyance Allowance, but still, we get a petrol card as a perk. Also, you can introduce petrol reimbursement as a fixed amount for employees based on their level in the organization so that this problem is solved.

If you haven't committed, then in consultation with their HODs, you should ensure in a team meeting that the salary structure has been revised and some components have been changed, and to respect the decorum of the company, they should come to the office.

If they are at the client's place, then it becomes hard to track. You can try introducing a customer's feedback form in which the customer can mention the dates worked, or the HOD can ask for a daily report of work accomplished and even mention that random checks can be done. Do random checks once or twice a month, and all will be well.

I answered this query not because I'm a good HR, but because I thought this might be a practical solution. Also, the tagline of your post suggests as if it's more of a challenge than a request for a suggestion. So don't mind, but that sounds rude.

Regards,

Neha

Dear Dhruvin Sureliya,

I, too, find the title of your thread a bit improper. Please discuss this matter with higher management, as in my opinion, it is a policy matter and beyond your jurisdiction.

At times, many issues can be better understood by empathy. Also, excluding the engineers, what about others? Are they getting a conveyance allowance (a paltry Rs. 850) as well as other "petrol" allowances? What are you getting?

Hope you understand that the Rs. 850/- that is paid every month as Conveyance Allowance is NOT the amount that is actually incurred (the engineers are right in their grievance); but the amount that Can be paid Tax-free without any additional documentation, under the IT Act.

Warm regards.

Dear Dhruvin,

Good day,

I agree with Raj. The conveyance allowance paid with the salary is not to cater to the actual travel expenses but is a breakup of the salary into different components, which is common in the market. Despite this allowance in salary, most of us receive some petrol limit or another way to cater to official traveling. Even if official traveling is not required, petrol/traveling allowance is common in the market. For outdoor jobs, it is now considered part of the deal.

Secondly, my proposal is to talk to these individuals in the presence of their superiors and resolve this issue through consultation. For future hiring in these positions, this matter should be discussed at the time of the interview, and a deal should be signed or made a part of the appointment letter.

Best regards,
Tariq Pervaiz

Dear Dhruvin,

You need to create a policy for the same as you didn't have any. Include two-wheeler and four-wheeler petrol allowance according to the levels. Discuss with the concerned HODs first. Take a vague visiting list of the customers, if required. You may tally them every four days. Of course, you may introduce a customer's feedback form.

Above all, discuss with the management and set certain parameters for every department as this problem could arise in the future as well.

ALL THE BEST

Regards,
Angelin

Addressing Policy Gaps for Engineers

I am working in a private limited company, and recently I came to know that the company doesn't have any policy for engineers. Our accounting department is blindly passing vouchers for travel expenses. However, when I noticed that they are submitting vouchers for travel between home and the office, I inquired about the process. I informed them that since the company already provides a conveyance allowance for home-to-office travel, there is no need to pass vouchers for this. I explained that we have stopped approving these vouchers.

The current issue is that engineers are not coming to the office as they are not receiving petrol allowances. They argued that from the time of their joining until now, they have been receiving these allowances, and now considering it as part of their salary is unfair. They mentioned that commuting from distances of 50 to 60 km is not feasible with the current conveyance allowance of Rs. 850. They question why they should come to the office when they receive allowances for visiting customers.

Furthermore, we are facing difficulties in tracking their activities, as they submit their visiting reports every 15 days. Daily tracking is not feasible for us.

I seek your suggestions on how to address these issues effectively.

Regards,
Dhruvin

Proposed Solution for Attendance Issues

In order to resolve the attendance issue, it is recommended to appoint team leaders for each team. Instruct every team leader to submit their team's attendance to the HR department via email by 10 am daily. Providing a specific attendance format for daily use can help streamline the attendance process. This approach can potentially alleviate the attendance problem.

First of all, I must mention that the English of Dhruvin Sureliya is not so good, but his intentions are good. He just wanted to say (or convey) that he needs expert advice on the matter. So let's not make it an issue.

Secondly, I agree with the peers and experts that a policy has to be put in place regarding the engineers or other outdoor officials to provide them with a conveyance allowance, as well as to track their presence and movements. This could be linked to the business conducted during the day.

At dusk, every such employee should create an itinerary for the following day and email it to the Head Office (HO). The following morning, at the start of work, they should report via email/phone to the HO/Team Leader and receive final instructions. Throughout the day, they should stay in touch via phone/email, provide updates on their location, and seek further instructions. At the end of the day (perhaps from the comfort of their home/hotel), they should submit a report on their day's activities along with the itinerary for the following day. This approach will help monitor their activities and track their progress.

A sample check should be conducted by contacting the individuals the employee claims to have visited and engaged in business with, to verify the accuracy of the information. This will ensure they remain diligent in their performance.

Regarding the establishment of the policy, I concur with others that the matter should be escalated to involve the Head of Department (HoD), etc., to finalize it.

Dear Dhurvin,

I agree with Neha and all. First, you should make new policies and put them on the board, highlighting the perks and conveyance allowances.

Secondly, there should not be a gap of 15 days to submit the report of their client visiting. One should submit the report on a daily basis, and their HODs should be instructed to trace the engineers by giving sudden calls to their clients. Make it mandatory for them first to report to the office in the morning and then visit the client.

In the future, for hiring in these positions, discuss this matter at the time of the interview and mention these points in their appointment letter. Ensure to get it signed by them.

Dear Dhurvin,

I can't give an answer to your problem because the problem is yours, not mine, and you yourself have to find answers to the problem as you are the best judge of your situation.

I am not practically a good HR. Forget about being practically good in HR; I am not even theoretically a good HR. All I know is situational HR.

But still, I will never claim that I am a good HR because the day I claim so, I stand to lose my learning curve.

Anyways, coming back to your problem, I suggest you take the average cost of petrol expenses in the last year and then settle on an average price, and then fix it as the maximum limit.

This will solve your first problem to a great extent. Regarding people not coming to work, make it compulsory for people to report to work and then proceed to work. If they don't report to work, then mark them absent.

Also, if it's a sales call that they are going on, then don't give them details about which customer to visit for sales until they report to the office.

Always remember, all ideas need to be marketed well. I have full confidence that you will be able to market it well, just the way you marketed your question here on citehr.

Regards,

Octavious

It is the best example of the absence of explicit employment terms. Suggest revising the terms, getting them approved by management, and proposing them to engineers. Have more than one plan so that if the majority denies acceptance, you can propose another plan and avoid further discussions and delays.

Normally, conveyance would be part of the CTC. Customer visit expenses would be reimbursed (petrol expense, taxi rent, or commuting expenses) as per a fixed policy. It is better not to mix them up.

Dear Dhruvin,

As all the members, I also agree that I am not a good HR. But please understand the situation of the engineers who are working in the field. They have calls across the city as per the limits assigned to them. The clients' meetings are not done as per the specified time, and all appointments are not in a single place; they are scattered. In this situation, if you are asking them to come daily to the office in the morning and evening, it will be time-consuming and expensive for the engineers. The conveyance you are paying in the salary is a statutory part that is exempted from income tax.

To and fro commuting to the office and then going to the field will be a waste of time and petrol, of course. If you are not paying, do not expect them to shell out the amount from their pocket. However, performance itself can indicate who is working and who is not. Reports and telephonic updates will provide information regarding their working status.

Regards,
SIDMAN

Mr. Dhruvin, first, I would like to understand if you are seeking help or simply making a threat in this matter.

Regarding your subject line "Give me ans if you are practically good HR," it is important to consider the message it conveys.

In relation to your issue, you should refer to their contract papers and compensation details to show them the conveyance allowance you are already providing. Their demand for additional conveyance is unreasonable, and they should not be requesting it when cab facilities are already available.

If employees are not coming to the office, issue a notice stating that their duties will be suspended if they continue to be absent or violate rules. Mark them as absent from duty and make necessary deductions from their salaries. This action will likely prompt them to reconsider their stance.

Regarding tracking their activities, request proper approval from their supervisors regarding their tour or visit plans. Supervisors are responsible for overseeing their work. It would be beneficial to establish clearer communication between supervisors and employees in this regard.

It appears that there are shortcomings in your personnel and HR departments, as well as in the department heads' performance. If supervisors are satisfied with the employees' performance and have no complaints, you may not need to overly stress about this issue. Focus on your responsibilities in personnel matters, and ensure that supervisors are managing their subordinates effectively.

Dear Dhruvin,

One more thing you can do is to request your employees to make a call from the landline of the customers/clients' office to your office each time they visit the customer/clients' office and when they leave. This way, you will always know if they have actually visited the customers/clients' place or not. Employees who do not make such calls will be considered to have not visited the client's office.

Additionally, for every problem, there is a solution, and in every solution, there may be a glitch. There is nothing known as a perfect problem or a perfect solution, only practical problems and practical solutions. So, with the many solutions and suggestions available, choose the one that best suits your situation. However, remember that these are not permanent solutions. You must have faith in your employees and instill a sense of responsibility in them through continuous counseling and persuasion.

Regards, Octavious

Dear All Members,

Firstly, I want to tell you that I am not here to judge anyone whether they are good HR professionals or not, so please don't take it negatively. I have given this heading because I feel it can help me to get maximum replies from people to solve my problem, not to create any issues in the HR profession and among people. If the thread heading has hurt anyone, then please forgive me.

Secondly, I feel that being strict with contractual papers and terms is not good for an organization because it may create a negative impression on people, demotivating and demoralizing them, leading to less than 100% effort in their job.

All members' suggestions are helpful in solving problems, but I feel the suggestions given by member Octavious are really good and suitable for the situation.

I am thankful to all of you for your valuable suggestions, and if you have any more, please feel free to introduce them.

Regards,
Dhruvin

Dear Dhurvin,

The problem you are encountering today may be because some Department Head would have inadvertently approved a conveyance reimbursement for an employee for commuting from residence to office, and the Finance department would have passed the voucher by oversight. Encouraged by this, other employees would have followed suit.

At some point, this matter would have been noticed by some loyal employee, but owing to fear of facing the wrath of fellow employees, he would have remained silent. The question is, who has to bell the cat? We come across this situation in certain instances in each of our organizations.

My humble request is to correct the things in your organization, which in your opinion is incorrect, by suitably discussing with the concerned senior colleagues.

To answer your query,

If, in your opinion, you feel that it is important for the employee to report to the office every day without fail before reporting at the client's site, then please insist on this. Please remember, in most companies, Conveyance allowance is restricted to Rs. 800/- to benefit the employee as this is the amount exempted under the IT act. By doing so, the employee fails to recognize that he is being compensated by the company on some other earning head. So, it will be wise on your part to assess the actual conveyance incurred by them and make a lump sum payment. While finalizing your earning package in the future, ensure that this earning head (conveyance allowance) is revised each time to give a feeling that the employees get compensated for the rise in conveyance expenses.

On the other hand, if you feel that it will be worthwhile for the employee to report at the client's site, you end up saving time for the employee as he has to commute to the office and then to the client's site. He can be more productive as you have cut down on his traveling time. But you have to tell them that they have to strictly abide by the timings at the client's site. If your company starts at 8.00 A.M and the work starts at 6.00 A.M at the client's site, you can advise your employee to either report at 6.00 A.M and work for 8 hours from then on or he can report at 8.00 A.M and work for 8.00 Hours. You can give them the freedom of flexi timing. They will be interested in this.

Having said this, you need not police them every day. Ask them to give a missed call to the concerned department head on his mobile. Advise the department head to randomly pick up the calls and discreetly advise them to hand over to a person at the client's site (voice the department head is familiar with). By doing this, the employee will have the feel that his presence will be verified at any point of time by his department head. If he fails to connect the client, then it means he is lying.

Now put the employee in place. Smart ways of checking on employees have to be deployed rather than spying on them all the time.

If you have the will, then you have the way.

M.V. KANNAN