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Recently I've been working projects the next town over. It takes 2 hours to get there. I'm a salaried employee. It's been causing some disagreements between me and the managers. I have been working 10 or 12 hours a day on these projects, but they kind of hint they want 14 or 16. People seem pretty sour when I work 8 (4 hours travel, 4 hours productive labor)

Anyways, we have a few days scheduled in row next week and the coordinator told me we're getting hotel rooms and asked would I like one. I said sure. She came back later and said OK, you will be sharing a co-worker X. I said no thank you, cancel it, I'll drive.

So now I'll be driving my own vehicle and getting re-imbursed for 4 60 mile trips and working less hours (which they bill about $150 an hour for) on the project.

What in the world? Who shares a room for work?

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    The Navy. Army, .... – Ed Heal Jun 11 '16 at 11:56
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    but what is your question? – mhoran_psprep Jun 11 '16 at 12:06
  • It's in your company's interest that they charge $150 four times a day because you have to drive. It's less work that you do for the client so it will take longer for you to complete the job, so they'll be making more money from that client :P – user48138 Jun 11 '16 at 12:23
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    Pro athletes. College athletes. I have done it working trade shows. – paparazzo Jun 11 '16 at 12:37
  • @AlexandreVaillancourt I read that as the company is not billing for travel time (EG working less hours). But when billing $150/hr thats less than 1/2 hr of billable time for one hotel stay per person. IMHO the company is cheap-ing out and is headed towards en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail especially if they fire the OP or he quits. But if they do pay the hotel then productivity is multiplied by a huge amount. It's win/win for the company to pay it. – Peter M Jun 11 '16 at 13:28
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You asked "Who shares a room for work?"

You were not required to share the room.

As stated army, navy, and pro athletes.

Many start ups with equity positions will do this to save money. Not a hard requirement but something people do as it is good for the company.

When I did a lot of field work there were people I would share a room and car with to save the customer money. The customers appreciated it and many of my contracts were extended as they got more value out of us. We could book nicer hotels - even a suite with a separate bed rooms for less money.

For company expenses like a trade show we would a volunteer as it just made the budget go further. It was not a requirement but it was appreciated.

I get that some people would not do it and for most jobs you should not be forced to do it. But you asked who shares a room for work and lots of people do.

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    A lot of weekly residence hotels have suites with two rooms for very affordable rates. It's not the Four Seasons, but the shower's hot and the bed is clean, which is all I really care about in hotel rooms, anyway. – Wesley Long Jun 11 '16 at 20:28
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They're trying to do it as cheaply as possible. Is it normal? Sure, in some places it is for a short term contract job and even for longer ones I have seen.

I have seen up to eight staff members sharing a big house for a year or two if they're from Overseas, and several times been one of two sharing a hotel room. If I'm there to work and I'm being well recompensed I couldn't care less, it's not a holiday.

You're not looking at it from their point of view, to you it's 8 hours work, to them it's only four which is a huge difference and would definitely impact on any decisions they might make regarding keeping you on.

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  • Comments removed as they weren't adding any value to either the question or the answer. – Jane S Jun 11 '16 at 22:21
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I haven't been asked to share rooms when I was a student and worked at trade shows to make some money. If any employer asked me today to share hotel rooms I would seriously doubt their sanity.

As far as driving and salaried employee is concerned: You are supposed to work as necessary. But there are many, many ways to work remotely in many jobs, so the travel is not necessary. If your employer insists on you travelling when it's not necessary, they should pay.

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