REGION 3 TRAVEL POLICY
FOR TRAVEL PLANNING AND REIMBURSEMENT
(Operations Manual -- APPENDIX B.1)
Necessary and authorized travel expenses associated with Member and Geographic Activities will be reimbursed in accordance with policy and limitations specified herein.
Necessary and authorized travel includes travel that is required in support of regional activities and objectives and that has been authorized by the Regional Director and/or the Regional Executive Committee. This travel is generally limited to travel by Regional Committee and Regional Executive Committee members in attending Regional meetings as well as travel by Area/Council Chairs and Regional Committee Chairs in carrying out their responsibilities.
Reimbursement as covered below will be made upon submission of an expense report in the IEEE Volunteer Expense Reimbursement Platform (Concur) within 30 days of the incurred expenses. The following link provides access to Concur for creating an account, training, support, and usage. There are also smartphone applications available. Expense reimbursements are made via direct deposit to the bank account associated with the user’s Concur account.
Each Concur expense report submittal requires evidence of incurred expenses such as hotel statements, travel ticket stubs, etc. on the following basis:
a. Receipts must be submitted for any single expenditure in excess of $25.00. Receipts are scanned and attached in Concur. Electronic receipts are acceptable and are attached in the Concur report. Explain any expenses that are being shared with others.
b. The reimbursement for personal auto use is the smaller of the round-trip mileage multiplied by the rate authorized by the IEEE Controller or the round-trip tourist airfare. IEEE’s car rental program can be found at https://www.ieee.org/membership/services/travel/car-rental.html.
c. The reimbursement for lodging is no more than one night's lodging for each day of the meeting as required for attendance at the meeting, at the IEEE single occupancy rate, and at the IEEE contracted hotel if any. Note that lodging tax must be entered separately within Concur.
d. Individual daily meal and beverage expenses are limited to US$100. This is not to be interpreted as a per diem amount. Expenses that exceed the US$100 daily threshold require a written explanation and Region Director approval. Where meals are provided by IEEE or the meeting, the daily limit will be reduced by $23 for breakfast, $27 for lunch, and $50 for dinner.
e. The reimbursement for ground transportation is limited to the cost of necessary taxi service, other ground transportation, and (long-term) airport parking.
f. The reimbursement for telephone calls and incidental tips is limited to $15.00 per trip.
Spouse expenses are not reimbursable. A rental car in conjunction with air transportation is reimbursable only when the cost is justifiable and with the Region 3 Delegate/Director's prior approval.
Under extenuating circumstances, the Region 3 Delegate/Director is authorized to approve expenses which vary from the above provided a written request showing justification for such variance is submitted in advance of incurring the expense.
All members authorized to travel on any IEEE activity are asked to seek the support of their employer for travel expenses and to request reimbursement from IEEE only when such support cannot be obtained.
Document Notes
If
driving to a meeting, a rental car should be used if the total cost
is less than that incurred using your personal car and claiming the mileage
rate. Midsize cars are usually available at weekend (noon Thursday thru
noon Tuesday) rates of less than $50.00 per day, all taxes and fees
included, from Hertz, National, Avis, Enterprise, Budget, and others.
Example: SoutheastCon requiring arrival before 5:00 PM Friday and departure
after noon Sunday might require car rental late Thursday and return early
Monday, incurring less than $200.00 for rental. Assuming about $14
gasoline cost per 100 miles then a rental car is less expensive than your
personal car for any trip that is over 227 miles each way (at $0.58 per mile).
Volunteers who rent cars should review the following web site. https://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/about/ieee-business-auto-liability-and-physical-damage-insurance-coverage-highlights-2018.pdf
Note: The current reimbursement rate for auto mileage used in Concur is set by the Internal Revenue Service and can be found at https://www.irs.gov/Tax-Professionals/Standard-Mileage-Rates. The same web site shows a history of reimbursement rates.
Note: The directions for completing a request for reimbursement can be found at Region 3 Volunteer Expense Reimbursement
According to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) publication 463, expense reports must be submitted within a reasonable period of time. The IRS defines a reasonable amount of time as adequately accounting for your expenses within 60 days after they were incurred. Due to the necessary approvals through the IEEE review chain, and in order to get reimbursements back to the volunteers as quickly as possible, Region 3 requires expenses to be submitted within 30 days. For expenses that were paid in advance, such as airfare, a reasonable period of time for submission is 60 days after the date of travel or the date of the event.
Please note, failure to submit travel expenses within a reasonable amount of time as defined by the IRS may result in non‐payment.
See IEEE Travel and Expense Reimbursement Guidelines at the following website for additional information including travel advance treatment.
https://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/travel-expense-reimbursement-guidelines.pdf
Updated: 14 September 2020– John Balsam