Advice Is 4.5 hours travel per day reasonable?

[Roo Stercogburn]

Do you think its reasonable for an employer to expect you to travel 4.5 hours per day to and from a training course (assuming no delays during travel), rather than arranging accomodation?

 

[eksdee]

No. Fuck that shit.

 

[Jupitus]

4.5 round trip? Depends on start and fnish times... if 10-4 then yes, if 9-5 then no.

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

9-5

 

[Chilly]

how long for? are you allowed to expense the travel cost?

 

[Jupitus]

9-5 I'd say no... not when you should be in GW2!

 

[rynnor]

Seems a bit silly - usually the training costs a shedload and its worth ensuring your attendees actually get the most from it rather than arriving late/frazzled each day - it's actually quite hard work to spend a 7 hour day training.

 

[Chilly]

If it's one day, man up. Longer, moan a bit.

 

[Jupitus]

If it's one day, man up. Longer, moan a bit.

Yeah... but not to me on TS, cos I don't care!!!

 

[TdC]

kinda depends on how long, hours, if you can reasonably make it there, etc. For that amount of time, in say a week, I'd have demanded a hotel. tbh book the travel time as work time and tell him to shove it.

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

It would be paid for. My concern is really being so fucked I'm not taking anything in. I don't do training for jollies, I enjoy a relaxed appearance but I'm deadly serious about what pays my bills. In the past, I usually attend whatever course during the day and then study up at night. If its close enough to home, great. If not, I suck it up and stay near the training location (for the record, I don't like staying away from home).

Essentially the guy arranging the training has fucked up. The training is in the same country as me. As far as he's concerned, job done. When I attempted to verify the accomodation-booking procedure a few termites came crawling out of the woodwork and thats when everything started to come apart.

EDIT: Oh and its 4 days. I'm trying to work out if I'm being reasonable, balking at the amount of travel time, or of the company is being unreasonable to cover up inept planning.

 

[Jupitus]

Wanna take it out on some kodash?

 

[Lamp]

Got a friend in the insurance game (racket would be a more appropriate description ) currently living in Grantham who commutes to & from London 5 days a week. Can't remember precisely, I think he said it was something like 1.5 or 2 hours each way, so 3-4 hours each day travelling. Might be 2 hours if you add up walk from house to Grantham station, and from Fenchurch St to St Mary Axe. He's been doing that for 10 years now. With 3 kids, I think he's finally had enough. He's moving to St Albans next year.

Edit: got to agree with the Munch Bunch on this one. Sounds like it was organised by the Fraggles.

 

[Tom]

Absolutely not, fuck that.

 

[Cerb]

No I don't that's really acceptable for 4 days.

 

[Ch3tan]

Not acceptable at all, you'll be too shattered to care during the training. Utterly pointless.

 

[Moriath]

Nope and 4.5 hours of travel at 40p a mile or whatever would probably be more than a travel lodge or someother place to stay

 

[cHodAX]

4 days? 4.5 hours? Fuck that. It's an nearly an extra full day just traveling, tell them it isn't on, end of story.

 

[ileks]

Ask for a hotel or tell them no way imo.

 

[soze]

If you get to claim the full 4.5 hours then figure out your time and a half rate times it by 4.5 and find a cheaper hotel then tell them you can save money staying and get more out of the course.

 

[Bob007]

work out your travel and extra pay and find a hotel close by cheap enough to leave you some money. Bill them for travel and pay, stay at hotel and make some extra cash.

 

[old.Tohtori]

It's 4 days, if you rest accordingly you'll be fine. You don't learn well during yoiur first waking hours anyway, so use the 2 hour travel time for something productive.

Life on hold for 4 days isn't the en of the world.

 

[caLLous]

It's not about the time it takes to get there though, I'd be more concerned about my lack of productivity when I got there. If I had to travel over 2 hours to get a training thing that started at 9 I might as well not turn up because I wouldn't take any of it in.

It's just poor planning from the training guy. There should be a set radius, outside which accommodation is provided.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Yeah it depends on the person i guess. For me the first 2 waking hours are naff productivity anyway, so i'd be more inclined to learn something after i've spent 2 hours on the laptop watching porn, or whatever kids do these days

 

[Zenith.UK]

Sounds exactly what work do with me once every 3-4 months or so.
I live 2.5 hours from my head office and when I need training for a new contract, I always ask my boss for a hotel room. He never argues about it, he just says "Ok" and gets it arranged.
The company found out the hard way that people who drive hours through rush hour arrive frazzled and go home frazzled. Those who drive down the night before, have a dinner and beer on expenses and spend the night in a nearby Travelodge aren't frazzled. They take more of the training in, and are still clear-headed enough to drive home at the end.

It might have something to do with one of the guys having a prang on the way home from a training session. He'd got up at 5am to drive 3 hours to work for 9am. Training through the day. Ended at 5.30pm and a 3 hour drive home. Ended up rear-ending a car on the motorway. After that, work were far more willing to book hotel rooms. If it's short notice, it's about £65-£80 depending on day and they pay for when they book it. If I get more 2 weeks notice, I usually book a Travelodge online for £19-£25 and claim it back on expenses.