Should my friend blow the whistle on his employer?
I don't believe the employee protection to be strong enough in the jurisdiction where he works, he could easily be fired for being a 'trouble maker' as the company has demonstrated it's willingness to fire those who step out of line.
Poor guy is like a beaten dog working for this company and it bothers me to say the least. What advice would you give him? Is this worth it? Should he just be happy to have a job?
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M$5 Answers
Calling the CC company seems like the easiest way to bring the issue to someone's attention other than someone in the company. Whether that would clear your conscience enough is a personal matter though.
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M$Now... the credit card MIGHT be saying... if you have a PERSONAL credit card, a company can't force you to give over the points to your company (for company expenses). But this is a company card, so, I can see it logical being the company's points.
To answer your question directly... I don't see what the hubub is about and there doesn't seem to be a "felony" sized infraction here, so, it might not be a good time to "blow the whistle".
I watch a *LOT* of Judge Judy and consider myself an expert in contract law because of her guidance. Okay.... Maybe not an "expert".
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M$
the employment contract status is a good question, he has been promoted all the way up from bell hop (so to speak).
the cc company has two classifications for company cards one is personal company card, so the employee is issued the card through the employer, however the employee is responsible claiming expenses, getting reimbursed and making payments. bills go to the individual. If payments are late the employee is responsible for interest charges. the cc company encourages employees to use their card over other payment options with points program. this is costly to do, but its an effective way to generate loyalty when it's the INDIVIDUAL deciding the payment method. This is the main (perhaps only) reason points programs exist.
the other scenario is a single payer, who negotiates on volume and the CC can cut deals to large corp customers - there are no points awarded with this type of card because there is no need, employees will always choose the company card, otherwise they are just buying stuff for the employer, customer loyalty is a non issue.
with the credit card lobby as it is, i would not be surprised to learn this was indeed a felony, but i know what your saying.
If the employee pays the bill, and the company is taking his points, then I would suggest that the employee talk to his employer about the fairness of this policy first. Or he could send an anonymous letter to the credit card company about the company's policy.
I would hesitate suggesting he do anything more because I don't know what the value is of what he feels he is losing. If this is just one thing, then I would suggest he let it go. In every company there will be policies that employees feel are unfair. If it is several things, I would suggest your friend start looking for another job.
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M$
now you see what im saying - see my reply drmat.
I guess what I was trying to point out was is the policy in place for personal credit cards or for company credit cards? In other words, a company cannot help someone get a (personal) card and then take their points, not a company cannot take points from company credit cards.
I disagree with your "Fact Refuted" and think that Darcy makes good points.
This is a conflict in policy. Policy is NOT law. I'd be curious how the credit card considers this "fraud" and I certainly would like to see the test cases around this subject.
"I'm not sure why the employee thinks he should get to have the points" - You clearly don't have a grasp of what the reward programs are designed to do. It is considered fraud to take part in a forfeiture of points to your company according to the rules of the points program. The employee thinks he should have the points because the points program user agreement states its fraud (as in a crime) to do otherwise. This is not a question of fairness as much as legality, hence the categorization of the question.
No, I don't see what you are saying. I read your reply on Dr. Matt's answer. Are you saying that the employee pays for the expenses not the company? If so, then my suggestion would be for the employee not to use the company card. I know you said the company encourages it, but they can't force him to.
I think electing not to participate is a wiser choice then to try and cause trouble. However, I would have him keep any evidence of the company's policies. Then, should he get fired, he can turn it over to the credit card company.
You might also suggest that once he get to a top level position, that he work to change the company's policy.
While he might not like what the company is doing, it doesn't appear to be illegal (unethical and unfair, but not illegal). He can either accept it or move on.
If the credit card company wants the benefits to go to the employee, I don't see how they make that into law just be including it into their terms of service. Credit card companies don't make law.
That's assuming that the entire cc bill is for work-related expenses. If the employee is also using the cc for personal expenses, then sure, the rewards should go to the employee.
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M$
"the point was made that Frequent Flyer miles and other reward programs really belong to the employer," - this is the type of info im looking for, do you have sources?
contractual agreements between cc company and cc holder in effect make legally binding rules - perhaps not law per say. ?
"If anything, the employee is at fault for agreeing to a contract with the credit card contract which violates..." - indeed. There in lies the problem, this is being issued to the employee as a matter of company policy. As originally stated, a fear of being targeted as troublesome exists in challenging the policy.
Also note that the cc company, unlike the airline model, has 2 account types (cardholder payer vs corporate single payer) , and this situation has arose from a gaming of the system, so to speak.
Well, it looks as though the IRS has decided not to tax frequent flyer miles (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/07/the-tax-treatme.html) unless they can be converted into cash. But my understanding is that this was more a decision based on the fact that the miles are often hard to convert.
Meanwhile, there is some State law out there that for state employees, the state owns the miles: (http://www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/policy/frequentflyer_pol.cfm)
As to your question, contractual agreements are enforceable under contract law, but that doesn't apply to third parties and doesn't create fraud, which is a crime, not a contract violation. If anything, the employee is at fault for agreeing to a contract with the credit card contract which violates his existing contract with the employer.
Let's face it, credit card policies are rarely made to benefit the user of the credit card. Would the CC company prefer to have a bunch of users points grouped together, allowing the opportunity for redemption more quickly, or have those spread out individually, so that it takes that much longer for the points to accumulate to a level where it would be 'worth' obtaining rewards for them?
I hope my logic here makes sense. Either way, I agree that the points belong to the company, not your friend. He's not paying the bill. He doesn't seem to have any legitimate claim to blow the whistle on his company, instead he should be raising questions about the credit card company's selfishly fabricated policies.
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M$
let me take this opportunity to say i love what you did with the purple box.
Thank you!
If you like the purple box I wonder how my answer got marked as not helpful . . .