Human Resources

Purpose

To control expenditures, establish equitable standards, and achieve consistent and fair treatment of all trustees, officers and employees in the reimbursement of travel and other business expenses incurred by employees on behalf of the College. Persons traveling on official College business or spending funds on behalf of the College shall do their utmost to minimize cost of those expenses.

Policy

Under this policy, Wagner College will reimburse all pre‑approved reasonable and necessary travel and meal expenses incurred during a Wagner College business trip.  The College will also reimburse all reasonable business expenses incurred by a trustee, office or employee provided the expenditures were made on behalf of the college and have a legitimate College purpose. 

All reimbursable expenses submitted must be reasonable and in compliance with IRS regulations. The most economical means of obtaining transportation, lodging, and meals should be determined and used.

General

As a member of professional organizations, Wagner College encourages its trustees, officers, and employees to utilize the services of these organizations to enhance their professional status and increase their skills to perform the duties and responsibilities of their positions.

Appropriate approvals must be obtained from the employee’s supervisor prior to travel if the traveler seeks to have the college reimburse for expenses. Approval for attendance by an employee at a conference or meeting for which reimbursement of expenses will be sought shall be given to the supervisor to whom the employee reports. Approval for a vice president’s expenses should be sought from the President, and approval of the President's and trustees' expenses should be given by the Chairperson, or his or her designated representative.

All travel requires the submission of Wagner College Personal Expense Voucher after the travel has occurred, whether or not the expenses were paid in advance by the college, paid with a college credit card, or paid through personal funds of the traveler.  Similarly, all expenditures, other than travel made on behalf of the College for legitimate business purposes also require the completion and submission of a Wagner College Personal Expense Voucher. 

Where the cost of a meal(s) and/or lodging is included in the cost of a conference, seminar, course, or other program that is reimbursable under this provision, no reimbursement will be made for substituted meals or lodging which represent additional costs to Wagner College.

If an employee is provided with a Wagner College credit card and incurs travel or related expenses on legitimate college business, the employee should use the college credit card.  When a college credit card is used, receipts must be obtained and attached to a Personal Expense Voucher.  Failure to submit receipts will result in the loss of college credit card privileges.  If an employee pays for travel expenses themselves, the employee must obtain and submit receipts for all expenses incurred.  All receipts must be attached to a Personal Expense Voucher, appropriate signatures must be obtained, and then the form should be submitted to the Business Office for payment.  Under the heading “Purpose of Expenditure” the employee should include a short statement that states the purpose for the travel.  All receipts submitted for reimbursement or for verification of business related expenses must be originals – no copies will be accepted. 

For any expenditures for which the employee has no receipts, whether paid for with a college credit card or out of employee personal funds, the date, purpose, amount, and the location for the expenditure must be detailed on the Personal Expense Voucher.  A notation should be included stating “receipts missing” or “receipts lost.”  See Section 3A and 3B of this document under Reimbursement.

In general, all reimbursements for lodging, meals and incidental expenses will be done at the lower of actual expense incurred or the per diem rate for the city visited.  The college approved per diem rates can be found on the Human Resources website along with the Personal Expense Voucher.  

Travel and Entertainment Expenses

1.1:     Air Travel

• Reservation – Employees should arrange for their own airline reservations.

• Economy Fares - Economy class air transportation shall be the designated means of transportation. Advance booking requirements for airlines should be used to take advantage of promotions and other reduced fares.

• Insurance – An employee’s personal credit card may provide air flight insurance coverage if tickets are charged on it.  Purchase of any travel insurance is a non‑reimbursable personal expense.  

1.2     Lodging

• Reservations ‑ Employees should arrange for their own hotel/motel reservations.
  

• Type of Room ‑ A hotel‑standard single room should be booked. Request for government, non-profit or corporate rates should be made where available. Should an employee upgrade, the employee will be responsible for any additional charge.

• Verification - When checking in, the employee should verify the room rate.  A receipt must be obtained and verified when checking out.
  

• Spouse/Family Expense ‑ Expenses incurred by a spouse, family member or companion are not reimbursable.

• The maximum reimbursable amount is that allowed by IRS per diem guidelines.  The actual amount reimbursed for lodging will be the lower of the IRS per diem allowance or the actual cost incurred.  Please see the IRS approved per diem rates. 

1.3     Rental Car

• Reservation ‑ Employees should arrange for their rental car reservation and seek an appropriate discount.

• Alternative Transportation ‑ Since a rental car is generally the most expensive mode of transportation, it should be used only when suitable and less expensive means (such as a taxi or airport/hotel shuttle) are not practical or available.

• Limousines ‑ Limousines will be reimbursed at taxi/shuttle rates in the area in which the limousine was hired.  Any excess cost above the taxi or shuttle rate will be the personal responsibility of the employee using the service.

• Type of Rental Car ‑ Unless a car will be used to transport several persons, an employee should rent only a compact or intermediate size car.

• Verification ‑ When checking out a rental car, the employee should confirm that they are obtaining the lowest available rate. If the agency is offering a lower promotional or special rate, that should be requested.

• Insurance – The employee should decline the "Collision Damage Waiver” in the standard rental car agreement as well as any other insurance offered by the car rental agency. Any insurance purchased at the time of the rental will not be reimbursed, or if paid for with a college credit card, the amount charged will be recovered from the employee.

• Travel Insurance ‑ Wagner College will not reimburse employees for "Personal Accident Insurance" also available in the standard rental car agreement.

• Personal Use ‑ Any charges related to personal use will not be reimbursed.

• Refilling of Fuel Tank ‑ Almost all rental car agencies add an excessive charge to the bill for refilling the fuel tank. To avoid this excessive charge, employees should refill the gas tank prior to returning rental cars. Employees will be reimbursed for payment if an appropriate receipt is submitted with the personal expense voucher.

1.4     Personal Automobile

• Reimbursement - The use of a personal car for business travel, when authorized, will be reimbursed at the current IRS standard.  If travel by a personal car for a trip in excess of 200 miles from Wagner College is authorized, the reimbursement cost of the trip (including lodging, meals, mileage, and all other expenses) should not exceed the cost of air/rail fare.

• Insurance ‑ In accordance with New York State law, minimum insurance coverage must be maintained.

1.5     Meals

•  While Traveling – An employee may seek reimbursement for reasonable meal expenses incurred during a trip.   Depending upon the circumstances of a particular trip, the cost of one, two, or three meals per day may be appropriate. The maximum reimbursable amount is that allowed by IRS per diem guidelines.  The actual amount reimbursed for meals will be the lower of the IRS per diem allowance or the actual cost incurred. 

• Wagner College Officers and Employees ‑ Business meals involving only Wagner College trustees, officers, and employees are not reimbursable unless authorized by the Chairperson or the President. Such circumstances would involve special situations where the breakfast, luncheon, or dinner meetings are clearly in Wagner College's best interest. Such business meals should take place at the campus or, if that is not practical, only at a club or restaurant where the atmosphere is conducive to a business discussion.

• Outside Business Associates ‑ Reimbursement of the expense for an employee meal and meal expenses of outside business associates is permitted, if reasonable in nature, provided that (1) the purpose of the meal was for discussion directly related to the active conduct of furthering Wagner College’s interests, and (2) the meal is held in an atmosphere conducive to a business discussion.

1.6    Entertainment

• Wagner College does not consider entertainment to be a usual and normal reimbursable expense.

2.     Miscellaneous

• Payment – Trustees, officers and employees are called upon to personally pay hotel bills, restaurant charges, airline charges, car rentals and other travel expenses, and to seek reimbursement upon submitting an expense report.  In some cases, the college may pay for travel in advance which would mean an employee would not have to pay in advance.  If an employee has a college issued credit card, they may use that to pay for expenses in advance.  An employee that has made arrangements in advance may submit a voucher to pay for hotels, conferences and air or train travel subject to approval by their supervisor.  Checks produced from those vouchers would then be submitted to the individual vendors in advance. 

• Personal Expenses ‑ Any expense for which you seek reimbursement should be reduced by all personal expenses, such as hotel or meal charges for a spouse or other family member.

• Non‑Reimbursable Expenses ‑ There are specific types of expenses that are considered to be of a personal nature and are not reimbursable. These include:
• Personal toiletries
• In‑room movie charges
• Travel insurance
• Airline clubs
• Rental car over standard vehicle model or rental level
• Laundry, dry‑cleaning (unless charges are incurred in connection with a business trip of 5 or more days duration)
• Credit card membership dues, annual or other fees
• Sundries, newspapers, magazines

3.     Reimbursement

• Reimbursement by Expense Account ‑ A Wagner College Personal Expense Voucher form is to be used to obtain reimbursement for all expenses actually incurred by a Wagner College trustee, officer, or employee. The Personal Expense Voucher form is also to be used for reporting travel expenses paid for directly by the college, or those paid for with a college credit card, such as registration fees, and other advance payments made on behalf of the officer or employee. The form should be submitted no later than thirty (30) days following the end of the trip.  All reimbursements will be made by a college check which will be sent to the employee’s home address via US mail.
   
• Receipts‑ Original receipts are required for all reimbursable expenses.   No copies of receipts will be accepted.  In the case of purchases by cash, the original receipt should be attached to the Personal Expense Voucher, and that receipt should suffice as proof of the expenditure.  In the case of purchases by credit card, original receipts are required and sometimes a copy of the employee’s credit card statement may be required.  Generally, if the original receipt includes the employee name or is signed by the employee and the signature is legible, the receipt alone will suffice as proof of expenditure.  However, if the receipt does not include the employee’s name or the signature is illegible, a copy of the employee’s credit card statement may be required in order to reimburse the expenditure.  In such cases, the employee may cross out all but the last 4 digits of the account number on the statement, any charges that are not business related and any other information, provided the employee name, the card name, the statement date and the detail of the expenditure for which reimbursement is being sought are clear. 

• Approval ‑ The President shall approve an expense report submitted by a vice president of Wagner College, or any other person reporting directly to the President. The Chairperson, or his or her designee, shall approve an expense report submitted by the President and all other trustees. All other expense reports must bear the signature of the supervisor of the person submitting the Personal Expense Voucher.  The Business Office will not pay any amount claimed unless the expense report bears the appropriate approval(s).
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4.     Completion of Personal Expense Voucher

• The Personal Expense Voucher can be obtained via e-mail from the Business Office.