Tuesday, September 23, 2014

EXCLUSIVE: Employee Expense-Reimbursement Software Purposefully Difficult To Use

NEW YORK—(TYDN) Software programs millions of employers provide their employees to log into to recoup their out-of-pocket, work-related expenses is designed to make the reimbursement process  difficult or impossible, TheYellowDailyNews has learned.

According to an exhaustive and exclusive investigation by TheYellowDailyNews, millions of workers have chosen to bypass using the flawed software and have eaten the expenses themselves, valued at billions of dollars annually. The investigation found that some of the biggest names in tech, who produce great consumer products, built flawed expense-reporting software at the request of businesses whose main goal was to further cheat their employees.

The investigation concluded that the tech sector received tens of millions in kickbacks from industry to  produce the fraudulent software.

"How else could it be explained that some of the tech sector's best names in the business that offer great consumer products produce absolutely unusable expense-reimbursement software," TheYellowDailyNews investigation concluded. "It's explained by back room deals and kickbacks to employers."

Frustrated with reimbursement software, this worker became a serial killer. Photo: Sybren Stüvel/TYDN
The Federal Trade Commission was said to be on its way to Silicon Valley to probe the matter. But FTC investigators were unable to manipulate their employee software to book flights and to get reimbursed for their previous airfare and hotel expenses.

"Federal Trade Commission investigators are unable to even log into their expense-reimbursement software to even begin an inquiry to determine whether the software is fraudulent," the FTC said in an exclusive statement to TheYellowDailyNews. "Plus, the federal government and much of industry signed non-disclosure agreements preventing a public discussion about the allegedly fraudulent software."

Several employees interviewed by TheYellowDailyNews said they would often not even bother to try to recoup their expenses because the software would either fail or not be worth the frustration.

"I had several taxi rides and meals that I decided not to claim because the software is such a piece of crap," one worker in the media space told TheYellowDailyNews on condition of anonymity because of fear of retribution from his employer.

That worker, and dozens of others interviewed exclusively by TheYellowDailyNews, said they recoup their expenses in other ways.

"That's what the sick day is for," one worker said.

Another employee said that, on Fridays her employer allows her to "work" from home.

"That's when I do laundry, dust and vacuum and take extended 'work' breaks," she said.

Still, other tech-savvy employees have figured out how to manipulate the expense-reimbursement software.

"If I told you how it's done, I'd have to kill you," quipped one employee who just returned from a corporate paid, two-month vacation in the Bahamas.

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