This is just a rant but I get sent to very expensive locations of the US for work. Most recently, I was on a luxury island and the food is roughly 2x the cost of normal prices on the mainland. I was asking my coworkers if we get per diem to offset the costs, and they said no because we get OT while working travel locations. I was kind of surprised, because in every other job I’ve had I was given a per diem rate. They then went on to tell me they used to have per diem, but the most recent CEO did away with it because he’s “old school.” I was like ??? And my coworkers said well in his eyes, you can make OT on these trips so it makes up for the lack of per diem. I was like it shouldn’t be one or the other. You should be compensated for your time, and also given per diem since you’re on travel and have no means of providing food for yourself on your own. You shouldn’t have to work extra hours to be able to afford a meal at the end of the day. Additionally, the OT isn’t even guaranteed.
Coworkers agreed with me, but all of them have been in this job much longer than I have been, so they’re just used to it. Like, why are you going to assign us to extremely expensive areas and then expect us to pay to be there on top of it? Ugh.
Rant over.