Delayed flights? Lost luggage?
If only.
After last week’s article posted, https://bit.ly/42nfy7u, my inbox exploded. Turns out, some managers’ professionalism flies away somewhere between the boarding gate and baggage claim.
A few greatest hits:
- “Karen” refused to file PTO for travel days because she “got so much work done on the plane”—and thought the company owed her lattes and airport meals for her heroic sacrifices. Every time she flew.
- A senior manager brought a woman he’d just met on the flight to a high-stakes client dinner. She introduced herself as “a serial entrepreneur…of sorts,” dominated the table with off-color jokes, and tanked the mood faster than a missed connection.
- Another manager invited his romantic partner to share his hotel suite. His junior colleague? Banished to the couch. The front desk, mystified by three names on the reservation, accidentally checked them in as a throuple. Word spread faster than their expense reports.
- One team lead envisioned late-night tequila tastings and a rousing game of Truth or Dare as inspired team-bonding experiences.. HR had a field day with those reports.
Here’s the reality:
Business trips combine high stakes with low structure and blur the lines between work and personal decision-making. Without clear expectations, people default to what feels easy, familiar—or, in some cases, wildly reckless. If you don’t draw those lines clearly and in writing, someone else may doodle wavy ones that veer straight into trouble.
Travel policies:
Here are five rules to hand your managers and employees—before you buy their tickets:
1. Define When the Workday Actually Ends
If you expect work talk over dinner or drinks, say so. If off-hours are truly personal time, say that too. But don’t leave it vague. When a dinner still involves strategy sessions and napkin diagrams, that’s work—and whoever’s at the table impacts your team’s cohesion and confidentiality.
2. Ban Surprise Plus-Ones
Friends, dates, “connections from the flight”—none should appear without prior clearance, or you risk an unfortunate hijacking. And no overnight guests in shared accommodations. Your employees didn’t sign up for reality TV.
3. Spell Out After-Hours Conduct
Yes, adults should know better. And yet—drinking to excess, roping coworkers into uncomfortable activities, or forgetting basic professionalism at hotel bars—all may happen with your company’s reputation (and liability) on the line.
4. Clarify What’s Company-Sponsored (and What’s Not)
Make it clear what’s reimbursable. Spoiler:
- Romantic lobster dinners?
- Bottles of Dom for new “connections”?
- Third rounds of craft cocktails for non-employees?
Not on the company card.
5. Give Employees Permission to Opt Out
Not everyone wants to join the pub crawl or late-night karaoke marathon. Make it explicitly okay—to bow out without penalty or judgment.
What Happens If You Don’t?
Ask the mid-sized tech consultancy that sent three senior managers to Vegas to woo a major client. One charismatic, married manager brought a woman he’d met on the plane to dinner. Stilettos. Rhinestone mini dress. The client asked, “Do all managers at your company mix business with pleasure?”
The deal collapsed. Internally, his teammates admitted they no longer trusted him. HR opened a review. His reputation? Wrecked beyond repair.
Or the startup CEO who wanted to avoid “corporate vibes.” Two employees hooked up on a retreat; a third felt coerced into raunchy drinking games. Without a clear policy, legal wound up cutting a six-figure settlement check.
Or the regional manager who kept bringing his “friend” on trips—until employees realized she worked for a direct competitor.
The bottom line? On the road, your brand walks around in human form. Every wine-fueled joke, every unauthorized guest, every too-casual encounter leaves a mark that risks deals, talent, and trust. If you wouldn’t allow the behavior in the office, don’t turn a blind eye to it on the road.
© 2025 Lynne Curry, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
If you enjoyed this post, you might find https://bit.ly/42nfy7u useful. Or, if you’re enjoying the humor, check out “If you have to say it’s no big deal, it probably is,” https://bit.ly/42nfy7u.
This has been a while ago but a prior company sent me to a training in Reno that one of our manufacturers was putting on. A guy that worked for one of our competitors spent the entire night playing blackjack and literally got no sleep before arriving for class the following morning. He ended up falling asleep and slept through the entire class until lunch, where he disappeared and didn’t return for the rest of the day. He had a number of coworkers in our class and I was told later that he was fired for that. People need to behave on business trips with professionalism and think through the consequences of certain behaviors.
Amen. Dee, thanks for another great real-life story.
These true stories from Lynne’s inbox and titillating and would be funny, too, except they’re true. These people are why other people around them who observe their behavior, are offended by it, and have more conscience and professionalism than to engage in it themselves, want to have codes of conduct, ethical behavior training, and codes of ethics, complete with bodies to review and investigate and give consequences for breaches of ethics. And the people who have given us all this titillation are the very ones who veto and vote down ethics codes, ethics commissions, and ethics training. They don’t want it, and they’re unconcerned and in enough denial that they don’t think they need it. BIH, i say…
Suz, I love your comments/insights:)