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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 073-10 • RESOLUTION BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of Rochester that the City adopt a personnel policy regarding Travel. A copy of the policy is attached. PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA, THIS lbi DAY�-OF I)Wpcd , 2010. PRESIDENT OF SAID COMMON COUNCIL ATTEST: �vd CITY CLERK APPROVED THIS 2ud DAY OF d / , 2010. • MAYOR OF SAID CITY (Seal of the City of Rochester, Minnesota) Res 10\Adopt.PersPolicy.Travel • . r CITY OF ROCHESTER ORGANIZATIONAL POLICY • TRAVEL Purpose This policy applies to trips that involve an overnight stay by City employees to accomplish City business; to attend professional association meetings; to acquire job-related knowledge or skills; or to reimburse job candidates residing outside the immediate geographical area, for tra- vel expenses related to recruitment (reference Section IV). The City generally pays for or reim- burses the ordinary and necessary costs, including the cost of travel, meals, lodging and related costs, of such travel if the trip is approved in advance by the employee's direct supervisor or his/her designee. The following outlines requirements for reimbursement of such travel. For reimbursement of business meals that do not involve overnight stay, please refer to section be- low—VI. Business Meal Expense. Polic I. Prior Approval All out-of-state travel by the Mayor or City Council members must be for the purpose of offi- cial City business and be either pre-approved through the annual budget process or through subsequent council action. Business travel by all other City employees and eligible lob applicants shall receive prior su- pervisory approval (by the City Administrator for Department Heads; by Department Head, or his/her designee as appropriate for all others). II. Advance for Expenses/Employees Only An advance (minimum amount is $50.00) for expected lodging, meals and related costs may be requested by the employee from Finance by completing a voucher with an attached "Ad- vance Expense Allowance Request" signed by the appropriate supervisor. This section of the travel policy does not apply to iob candidates they may only be reim- bursed for actual expenses incurred following participation in the interview process. III. Expense Reimbursement—Transportation, Lodging and Miscellaneous Receipts are generally required for all travel costs including shuttle service or taxi fare, park- ing ramp fees, lodging and program materials. Meals and incidentals are addressed sepa- rately in the next section. A. Transportation Airfare: If airline travel is utilized, the City will pay the cost of a round-trip coach airline fare. Any benefits received from airline frequent flyer programs or other airline travel credit pro- grams must be consistent with Minnesota State Law. A copy of the ticket receipt is required for reimbursement. • Rental Vehicles: A copy of all vehicle rental documents is required. The cost of renting a vehicle at the employee's travel destination will only be covered up to the amount of the cost CITY OF ROCHESTER ORGANIZATIONAL POLICY • for a round trip airport shuttle or taxi fare to the employee's lodging plus the cost of taxi fare from/to the hotel, to/from the training facility, or other work-related venues. When applica- ble, employees must accept the car rental agency's insurance coverage (if offered) as the City's liability coverage cannot be utilized if this option is waived. Personal Vehicle Use: If the employee's personal vehicle is driven, mileage reimbursement is paid at the mileage rate that equals and does not exceed the federal standard mileage rate. Reimbursement for use and parking charges of a personal vehicle cannot exceed the cost of taking commercial air transportation to the destination plus the cost of local transpor- tation fees. If an employee chooses to drive a personal vehicle or travel by train to the busi- ness destination rather than utilizing airline travel, he/she must use vacation time for hours beyond one business day (8 hours) travel time to the destination and one business day tra- vel time (8 hours) to return to Rochester. B. Lodging Lodging Expenses: The City will reimburse for the standard room rate at conference hotels. If there is an incremental nightly charge by the hotel for additional non-City travelers, that charge must be covered or reimbursed by the employee. Communications Charges: Long-distance phone call charges will be reimbursed if they are incurred regarding a City business matter. One "safe arrival" call and /or "change of plans" call will also be reimbursed. Reasonable internet access and service charges related to City business will also be reimbursed. • Extended Stay: If an extended stay ensures a less expensive airline fare, the employee may request approval for an extra night(s) of lodging and meal expenses as long as the sav- ings on the airfare is more than the extra cost for lodging and meal expenses. Miscellaneous Lodging Charges Not Covered: The City does not reimburse airline or in- room movie charges; cost of personal reading materials; or expenses related to a non-City employee accompanying the employee. All costs.related to spouse or other travel guest must be fully covered by the employee. Stay with Friend or Relative Not Reimbursed: An employee, traveling on behalf of the City and choosing to stay with a friend or relative, at/near his/her business destination, may not request lodging expense reimbursement. Receipt Exceptions: No receipts are required for related travel costs for tolls or gratuities (15% for meal service and generally accepted amounts for baggage handling or maid ser- vice). IV. Expense Reimbursement— Meals and Incidental Expenses (M&IE) The City will allow two methods for employees to be reimbursed for meal and incidental (M&IE) travel expenses. All hotel expenses require actual receipts for reimbursement, how- ever, for M&IE, employees must choose, for each travel event, and for that entire travel event, from one of the two following reimbursement methods: • Per Diem rate for M&IE by IRS-designated high-cost/low-cost city of travel, or CITY OF ROCHESTER ORGANIZATIONAL POLICY • Substantiated actual costs up to the maximum daily limit Under IRS rules, tax-free reimbursements for meal expenses can be made only for out-of- town trips that involve an overnight stay. See Business Meal Expense Reimbursement for business meal expenses or travel not involving an overnight stay. An employee incurring meal expenses during an overnight stay that also qualifies under IRS regulations as a "business meal' and as defined in City policy Business Meal Expense Reimbursement, may elect to follow those guidelines in seeking reimbursement for that particular meal. Refer to section IV. - Business Meal Expense for procedures. A. IRS Per Diem Rate Method for High Cost/Low Cost Cities An employee may choose reimbursement for M&IE expenses under the IRS Per Diem rate in existence at the time of travel. No receipts are required under this method be- cause the IRS reasonably assumes that this limited amount was spent on meals and in- cidental expenses. Employees will receive reimbursement as follows: 1. . For travel to the IRS-designated "high-cost cities" -The IRS-posted "high-cost" (cur- rently $58/day). 2. For travel to all other cities -The IRS-posted "low-cost" rate" (currently $45/day). • Substantiation of expense under this method requires only documentation of dates and location of travel. B. Substantiated Actual Cost Up to Daily Limit Method After the travel has occurred, receipts are required to be submitted for meal costs (res- taurant or room service meal charges) incurred up to $85.00 for each full day of travel for breakfast, lunch and dinner (including a maximum 15% gratuity, or a gratuity amount fixed by the restaurant, and applicable taxes). The City does not reimburse the cost of any alcoholic beverages. The $85.00 limit for meal costs may be adjusted periodically by the City Administrator in accordance with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations on employer accountable travel expense plans. The $85 daily limit will be reduced when: • The travel consumes only a portion of a given day (e.g., covers only lunch and dinner), and/or • Meal or meals are included and provided in the conference registration fee. • A meal or meals during travel qualify as a "business meal' expenditure under Section VI. and is reimbursed through that method. For those meals determined to be ineligible for reimbursement, the $85 daily limit will be reduced by the appropriate amounts listed below: • Breakfast $15.00 Lunch $20.00 CITY OF ROCHESTER ORGANIZATIONAL POLICY • Dinner $50.00 The spending limit is subject to change administratively on a periodic basis according to changes in the CPI index that have occurred since adoption of this policy. IV. Job Candidates In an effort to support the recruitment efforts of the City of Rochester, job candidates may be reimbursed for related travel expenses. To qualify for this reimbursement, candidates must travel from outside a 100 mile radius of the City and have been invited to interview for an exempt-level position vacancy. Candidate expenses will be charged to the hiring department and may include: mileage in- curred using a personal vehicle airfare at the economy or coach rate, shuttle fares, taxi fares parking fees hotel/lodging expense for one evening (providing the accommodations are made by the City) and miscellaneous tips paid for service rendered. The procedures and supporting documentation for reimbursement of candidate expenses are the same as that required for City employees. Reimbursement checks will be mailed directly to the job candidate. Requests for procedure exceptions related to job candidates must be approved by the Hu- man Resource Director with the understanding that such requests are reasonable and ne- cessary. • V. Procedure Within thirty days after travel on behalf of the City has been completed, required receipts should be attached to the "Personal Expense Invoice" and submitted to Finance. If the employee received a travel advance and travel-related expenses were more than the advance, the employee will receive a check for the difference. If the employee's advance was greater than actual expenses, the employee should submit a check payable to the City of Rochester for the difference. In the event an employee is unable to complete the business trip for unavoidable and/or emergency reasons and has already incurred registration cost, hotel expense, or other re- lated expense(s), the City Administrator may approve the expense reimbursement if a letter explaining why the travel could not take place is submitted along with the expense reim- bursement request. VI. Business Meal Expense Reimbursement Purpose: A.City employee may have cause to schedule a meeting for the purpose of dis- cussing City business involving a meal in a restaurant or other dining establishment in order to create a more amenable and amicable business atmosphere. Policy: Federal tax code requires reimbursed travel or meal expenses to have a clear busi- ness purpose. The City will reimburse the employee for expenses of the official participants connected with meetings that include a restaurant meal during which City business is con- CITY OF ROCHESTER ORGANIZATIONAL POLICY • ducted. Costs of alcoholic beverages are not considered necessary or ordinary expenses for conducting a business meal and will not be reimbursed. Cost associated with spouses or other guests not required for the business purpose of the meeting will not be reimbursed. Procedure: The Business Meal Expense Reporting Form must be completed by the em- ployee seeking reimbursement within thirty days of the event and signed by his/her supervi- sor. The form will provide information for Finance to calculate reimbursement for the in- curred meal and gratuity expense of up to 15% or a fixed gratuity amount. Meal receipts and substantiating information including the names of business meeting par- ticipants, reason for meeting, and receipt(s) must be attached to the Business Meal Ex- pense Reporting Form. Revised 12/19/05 Revised/Adopted 2/20108 Revised 2/01/10