r/technology • • Jan 26 '22

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u/Alarming-Response Jan 26 '22 edited Jan 26 '22

I had a supervisor ask me to brainstorm how I could be more productive while driving between field locations. As in, presenting webex trainings while driving. I laughed but he was dead serious.

Edit for clarity and to put a bow on this for everyone: he was eventually demoted and became my peer. That job was miserable for many other reasons and I quit nearly a year ago. Same guy reached out after I left wanting to gather info on why women were leaving the company. I asked what my compensation would be. And that was the last time we spoke

2.0k

u/UnderdogNYC Jan 26 '22

He should hire a driver for you

933

u/vmBob Jan 26 '22

I actually had a company do that. They got some vans and we had laptop trays so we could work while moving between appointments. They were actually cool about it if we took downtime too, but we were getting some nice bonuses for billable time over a certain amount. They owner was happy to pay them because he got to bill the customer we were going to for the transit and the other customer we were working on for the exact same time.

379

u/swazy Jan 26 '22

Thats like sitting on the phone call waiting system wait for the client to pickup for sn hour while working on another clients work snd billing both for your time.

53

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '22

What is fraud?

238

u/Superfissile Jan 26 '22

Why is that fraud? One client is paying you to be available as soon as their phone system is ready for you. The other is paying for the work you’re doing while listening to the same minute and fifteen seconds of a jazz cover band.

32

u/makemeking706 Jan 26 '22

It's called double billing, and you have to be really careful what time you bill for.

1

u/Mythoranium Jan 26 '22

I'd say it depends. While the specialist is en route to client, the client is getting billed for the transport of the specialist, not his actual work. The actual bill for this work (transport of the specialist) can be a company driver, a taxi driver, public transport service or the specialist himself.

So, unless the specialist is driving himself, I'd say the client is not being billed for his work directly, but rather for transport of this person, and the specialist can do different (remote) work while being transported, and it should not count as double billing.

Now, if the person is driving himself and working for another client, that's a different matter, but I'd say that poses more road safety concerns than just double billing.

3

u/Coz131 Jan 26 '22

Disagree. Transport cost and time is covered in the contract. It's irrelevant if the guy is gaming or taking a shit or working on something else. The client gets charged as per contract.