Frequent Flyer miles and no company policy?

[hambirg]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I have a friend who has worked at a company for 2 yrs. Her boss (he's the owner) came to her and said that he wants her to transfer her ff miles to him. . he will pay for the transfer. Now it's my understanding that a company can capture ff miles for the trips they paid for, but doesn't that have to be a policy? There is no current policy and her ff miles account (with Continental) is mixed with miles earned from personal and business trips. I told her I didn't think he could do that. . .especially retroactively. He would have no idea if she even had any. Am I wrong? I think he's being a jack*ss. Of course, wrong or right, he's her boss and could make things difficult for her. What should she do?

Also, sorry if this is in the wrong spot. . .I thought it was the closest fit.

 

[pattytx]

To him personally? That stinks. Probably no law against it, though, not until the IRS definitively rules that FF miles are taxable income (which they haven't yet done).

And what if your friend doesn't?

 

[cbg]

There is no law that there must be a policy in place before an employer can require something, if that is the question.

 

[hambirg]

To him personally? That stinks. Probably no law against it, though, not until the IRS definitively rules that FF miles are taxable income (which they haven't yet done).

And what if your friend doesn't?

Yeah, to him personally. The terms for Continental's ff program, state that companies and corps. can't accrue miles, only individuals. She thinks he wants to use her miles to get some level of elite status, but the terms prevent that too. . .no transferred miles can be used for status levels. I just don't get it. . .the miles are basically useless to him. . it will cost more to transfer them than just paying for a flight. The part that I'm really wondering about is can he make a company policy retroactive? If he wants a policy from here on out than fine, but there has been no policy for the last 2 years, and he has no idea how many miles she's earned on business travel. I told her to tell him she used them, or donated them to make-a -wish, lol. I don't think he would have any recourse if she did.

 

[hambirg]

There is no law that there must be a policy in place before an employer can require something, if that is the question.

Ok. . .but can it be retroactive?

Just as an example, at my job we are issued these safety belts. If we lose ours then we have to pay $10 to get a new one. I guess that policy has only been around for about 3 yrs. When they started this, they couldn't go back and charge employees that had been there for several years the $10 for belts they were given say 8yrs ago, right? Besides the fact that the company wasn't even keeping track and has no idea how many belts an employee has been given over the years.

 

[cbg]

There's no law that says it can't be.

I think your boss has a lot of gall, but he's not doing anything illegal.

 

[hambirg]

There's no law that says it can't be.

I think your boss has a lot of gall, but he's not doing anything illegal.

Ok, thanks. It's not me, but a friend, and I'll pass that along to her.

 

[Zigner]

To be clear: There is also no law requiring the employee to agree to transfer the miles. And there is also no law preventing the employer from firing the employee for refusing to transfer them.

 

[davew128]

Tell your friend to ask her boss to pay the transfer fees. As you point out, every FF program I am enrolled in, it costs more to buy/gift miles than it does to pay for the flight.