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Expense rules get strange when generosity suddenly becomes the problem.

While traveling for work, one employee usually eats cheaply and uses the leftover meal allowance to leave generous tips.

Then HR decides tips are no longer reimbursable, even though the full food budget is still perfectly acceptable.

See the full breakdown below.

“You cannot use your allotted meal budget to tip.”

I travel a lot for work, and my company agreement is that I get a set amount for food everyday.

I don’t have a knack for fancy foods, so I typically just get what I get, and I tip heavily to maximize the dollar amount.

This man was told not to spend on tips anymore.

This was never a problem in the past, but my company got acquired, and the new company is aggressively cutting costs.

Someone from HR emailed me to tell me I was financially on the hook for tips. I couldn’t expense them anymore.

So he now uses his food allowance to buy food for his co-workers.

So now, I just buy the food I eat from the grocery store and eat cheaply.

Then, I spend the rest on donuts and coffee for all of my co-workers everywhere I travel.

There is a set budget for food everyday.

If you’re going to be a penny pinching POS, I will find ways to spend that money within our agreement to give to others.

He plans to also feed the homeless next time.

Next time, I think I’ll feed the homeless.

Need I remind my company that I’m doing them a favor by traveling because they don’t want to pay full-timers in these areas?

Don’t be cheap!

Not allowing him to expense tips was a bad idea!

Let’s read the responses of other people on Reddit to this story.

This person shares a related story.

Here’s a valid point from this person.

LOL. How about using ChatGPT to justify your expenses?

Finally, this person gives their honest opinion.

OP stopped using the meal budget for tips and instead spent the remaining allowance on groceries, coffee, and donuts for coworkers while traveling.

The company still paid out the full permitted amount, just with far less of it going toward the savings HR apparently wanted.

They banned generosity at the table, so OP simply moved it to the break room.