Frank writes in about getting reimbursed for riding Uber:
I chanced into a PA job with a very nice producer this past week. I had seen a “notice of filming” sign they post around LA, left a message on the number saying I’m an actor and am familiar with film sets if they need to hire any helping hands on set, and lo and behold, she texted back and I found myself being her PA on a modeling shoot.
I don’t have a car so I used Uber, and I made quite a few trips, spending about $100 total. My salary was $600 for 4 days. She knows I Ubered, but we never talked about compensation for travel or Ubering, and now she’s asking med to email her an invoice and W9, and said she’ll contact me again in January when they resume filming.
Should I ask for Uber compensation? Would that be appropriate?
First of all, always be careful when spending your own money on a shoot. Even on a big production, you may wind up getting screwed out of reimbursement. Prepare yourself for never seeing that money ever again.
Also, I’m genuinely shocked they let you get away without using your own vehicle. This sounds like it has the makings of a new iteration of The Bus Story. Still, if your boss was okay with you Ubering around town, that’s his business.
I’m assuming she didn’t expressly state that she’s paying for it, or Frank wouldn’t be writing to me. Therefore, I’d proceed with caution. If she doesn’t want to pay for it, even asking could cost you a job. You really have to think about whether the cost of the Uber is worth the risk of losing a gig.
On the other hand, $100 is a good amount of money, when you only make $10 an hour. If you think it won’t get rejected, itemize each Uber ride that you made for work. This does not include trips to and from work. You’re on the hook for those, just like you would be for your own car. Only request reimbursement for the trips made during work hours.
Also, see if you can figure out a way to export your Uber receipts to a file that you can attach. You don’t get reimbursed for stuff without a receipt, generally.
3 Responses
Frank used female pronouns for his boss, but you still assumed she was male.
I used “his” once and “she” three times, fuck you very much. I don’t make a habit of assuming the male gender. It’s called a typo. You’re not in your Gender Studies class anymore.
Go to uber.com, login, look at your past trips, and then you just print your Uber receipts as PDFs directly from your web browser. Attach and send away.