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Almost half of all Australian employees feel anxious about getting reimbursed for work expenses, says DiviPay.
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Virtual corporate cards ‘a risk-free perk’
11 July 2022
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9 minute read
Forcing staff to dip into their own pockets for business expenses should be a thing of the past as companies strive to retain employees, says DiviPay.
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Anxiety about reimbursements affects almost half of those staff who have to pay upfront, according to DiviPay research, while 37 per cent admit putting off work-related purchases to avoid out-of-pocket spending.
Russell Martin, co-founder and CTO of the virtual corporate card expense management company, said executives had different views to employees when it came to expenses.
“I’ve met with many CEOs and CFOs in my time and there’s definitely a disconnect when it comes to the importance of a streamlined expense management process,” said Mr Martin.
“Employee wellbeing and job satisfaction have catapulted up the priority list with many companies offering a myriad of perks to bolster culture, engagement, trust and productivity – yet somehow work reimbursements seem to slip through the net.”
The survey also found that up to 67 per cent of employees paying for business expenses had failed to expense the full amount back to their company with 46 per cent saying it was not worth the effort.
“Our research has shown that employees are experiencing high levels of anxiety when claiming back work expenses but this is something that is easily fixable,” said Mr Martin.
Among staff with access to a corporate credit card, 70 per cent found it convenient and 59 per cent said they would preference working for a company that provided one.
However, business executives hesitate to offer them due to concerns that they will be used for non-work purchases.
The report suggested those fears were well founded, with 37 per cent of workers from mid-sized companies admitting they had put non-work expenses on a corporate card.
DiviPay said its virtual corporate cards eliminate misuse by adding rules about which websites and suppliers are acceptable.
Mr Martin said that something minor like removing the stress of expenses could help companies with employee satisfaction.
“Having a robust, easy-to-use platform for corporate claims may seem like a small initiative but it can make all the difference to an employee’s job satisfaction and will be crucial for employee retention,” said Mr Martin.
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