I am trying to find other people who might be in our situation.
My husband works for TAFE in WA. He is entitled to a travel allowance for himself, myself and our three kids. We had flights booked (and paid for from the travel allowance) that were cancelled because of COVID-19.
We have now received an invoice from the TAFE for the cost of the flights.
The allowance is part of his salary package for working in the north west of WA.
The flights were cancelled because of the virus.
We are hoping that someone else is in the same predicament because there is no way we can afford to pay this money back.
4 Replies
If he needed to travel for work but didn’t end up doing it then yes you should have to pay it back. If it is part of his job requirement to be at a certain place but didn’t end up there then why would they pay for it?
If you received a refund for those flights then you should pay the money back.
Wait. Is this an allowance he is paid as part of his wage?
Or paid with a work expenses credit card etc?
I'm pretty sure when you receive travel allowance it's to cover the expenses you, as the employee, incur travelling to and from work and to complete your work duties. I have never heard of it covering extended family, unless you work for a transport industry. It almost sounds too good to be true for an employee to provide travel allowance for the whole family.
Has he been working from home during Covid? Unless he's still travelling to the work site, I don't think he should have been entitled to travel allowance. So yes he should be asked to pay it back, or at least have it cut for the rest of the financial year.
Travel allowance is always adjusted if plans change for my work. If something happens and a trip is extended you get more. If the trip us shortened or cancelled, you need to pay it back. Usually it's deducted from our wage. I work for the government so you can guarantee it's signed off by fair work.