4. Travel principles
- The safety and wellbeing of our people are of utmost importance.
- Travelling should be kept to an absolute necessity – consider the environment and whether you could use telephone or conferencing in the first instance.
- The number of attendees should be monitored closely – often it will not be necessary for there to be multiple representatives from the Department at the same meeting.
- When travelling for specific meetings, the start and finish times should be considered to allow travellers to maximise the benefits of off peak travel.
- When travelling is assessed as essential, employees should be reimbursed for extra expenses that they necessarily incur on official travel.
- Travel and accommodation needs to be claimed via ACME’s existing contracts wherever possible.
- Cancellation charges should be kept to an absolute minimum and anyone claiming T&S should fully understand cancellation clauses when purchasing tickets or booking hotel rooms.
- There may be occasions where the guidance set out in this policy may not apply. HR can help support Development Managers in interpreting the policy, and ultimately there is a test of reasonableness that applies in all claims.
- T&S claims can be advanced by booking through the Department’s official contracts, or through use of a GPC card.
- To obtain the best value for money, journeys must be arranged as economically as possible. The Department may refuse to meet any expenses that are considered unreasonable or which could have been avoided had the journey been better planned.
- Tips to employees will not ordinarily be reimbursed, however local customs and reasonableness should be taken into consideration.
