Joint Accounts
Should Your Boss Always Pay for Lunch?
The tricky etiquette of figuring out who foots the bill during work outings
Welcome to Joint Accounts, a weekly advice column about money and relationships of all kinds. Have a question? Email jointaccounts@medium.com.
Dear Joint Accounts,
How do you deal with social situations with co-workers when one of you obviously makes more? Something like a one-on-one lunch with a supervisor, for example, can be strange: Obviously my supervisor makes more, but if they pick the place for lunch during the workday, should they pay? Should I pay? What about group meals or activities? Occasionally the place is out of my budget, but I don’t want to be the only one in the office who says no.
— Employee on a Budget
As with all matters of etiquette, there’s no etched-in-stone rule for who should pay for lunch in this scenario. Everyone has different ideas about the social norms of footing the bill in various situations.
That said, your boss should probably pay.
In my 15-plus years of working, if a boss wanted to meet with me to talk business, she always covered both of our orders. This was never something I asked for or confirmed ahead of time…
