TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE POLICY TELECOM
TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE POLICY
STATUS: Old Policy
UPDATED TO: Policy was mainly replaced on 1-9-97
COMMENTS: This is the Policy as published by Telecom. It is
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
DO NOT USE AS ERRORS
EMPLOYEE TRAVEL COSTS ALLOWANCE POLICY
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Where, upon approval, an employee is absent from home overnight
whilst travelling on duty, or whilst on short term transfer (ie
less than 3 months) at another work location, the employee will be
eligible to be reimbursed for costs actually incurred for
accommodation, meals and incidentals in the form of a flat "per
night" rate of allowance.
Before being eligible for payment of this allowance:
1. Employees on short term transfer are expected to be absent from
home for up to 12 hours, provided
2. Unreasonable work or travel stress does not result.
In certain circumstances:
Overnight absences may be approved where daily travel on a short
term transfer is for periods of less than 12 hours; or
Daily travel absences from home to temporary work location may
exceed 12 hours by agreement between the delegate and the
employee, or
The allowance may be payable whilst working at headstation.
To limit the social impact of employees being away from family and
friends for extended periods, Telstra will, where practicable, pay
for the weekly weekend return visits of employees to their home.
Where weekly return visits or return visits of other intervals are
impracticable, Telstra will pay for the return of employees to
their home every fourth weekend regardless of cost.
EMPLOYEE TRAVEL COSTS ALLOWANCE POLICY
RESPONSIBILITIES
Delegate
1. Before authorisation is given to travel in accordance with the
general principles;
Considering alternative arrangements to the transfer of an
employee as part of their resource management responsibilities;
Considering whether the transfer will, or is likely to, extend
beyond 3 months;
Evaluating the cost effectiveness of daily travel vs travel costs
allowance payment;
Making a balanced judgement whether an employee would be required
to be absent overnight for operational reasons having regard to
all factors including:
normal period of absence from home and mode of travel at
headstation amount of additional travelling time involved the duration of the transfer traffic and road conditions health and safety of employees prevailing weather conditions the suitability/availability of temporary accommodation urgency of projects and operational requirements2. Once satisfied that overnight travel/absence should be
approved;Authorising the period of transfer in the approved corporate
format;
Authorising the mode of travel to and from the temporary work
location;
Determining the employee's return home arrangements for the period
of transfer;
Advising the employee of their rostered return home arrangements
prior to transfer and arranging advance payment of the allowance
where requested by the employee
In borderline cases, detailing the reasons for decision for audit
purposes
3. At the conclusion of the period of transfer;
Ensuring the employee has submitted an allowance claim for the
approved period of transfer in order to recover any outstanding
advance amount;
Approving claims once satisfied that the employee was absent in
accordance with the approved travel arrangements and that
associated costs have actually been incurred.
Employee
To be eligible for payment of travel costs allowance the employee
must:
Be authorised to travel by the delegate;
Be absent overnight in accordance with the approved travel
arrangements;
Actually incur costs directly associated with the period of
travel;
Submit a claim for the allowance to the delegate within one month
of the conclusion of their transfer.
EMPLOYEE TRAVEL COSTS ALLOWANCE
OPERATIONAL POLICY
1. PURPOSE
This document prescribes the Corporate Travel Costs Allowance
policy for operational application purposes.
2. SCOPE
This policy applies to award based employees within Telstra unless
otherwise provided for in their employment contracts.
This policy applies only to travel within Australia and it
territories.
This policy applies to employees on short term transfers for
periods of up to three months (13 weeks).
The principles prescribed in the previous Telstra Travelling
Allowance Policy will continue to apply to all medium/longer term
transfers longer than, or likely to extend beyond three months,
until reviewed.
This policy does not apply to employees who are transferred at
their own request.
3. AUTHORITY
This policy replaces the Telstra Travelling Allowance Policy in
its entirety other than for those employees on medium/longer term
transfers.
This policy will take effect from 1 September 1997.
4. DELEGATIONS
The authority to approve short term transfers, subsequent travel
costs allowance claims and fixation of home and headstation can be
found in the relevant Business Unit delegations.
5. POLICY
Where, upon approval, an employee is absent from home overnight
whilst travelling on duty, or whilst on short term transfer (ie
less than 3 months) at another work location, the employee will be
eligible to be reimbursed for costs actually incurred for
accommodation, meals and incidentals in the form of a flat "per
night" rate of allowance.
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Before being eligible for payment of this allowance:
1. Employees on short term transfer are expected to be absent from
home for up to 12 hours, provided
2. Unreasonable work or travel stress does not result.
In certain circumstances:
Overnight absences may be approved where daily travel on a short
term transfer is for periods of less than 12 hours; or
Daily travel absences from home to temporary work location may
exceed 12 hours by agreement between the delegate and the
employee, or
The allowance may be payable whilst working at headstation.
To limit the social impact of employees being away from family and
friends for extended periods, Telstra will, where practicable, pay
for the weekly weekend return visits of employees to their home.
Where weekly return visits or return visits of other intervals are
impracticable, Telstra will pay for the return of employees to
their home every fourth weekend regardless of cost.
6. ELIGIBILITY
Employees are eligible for travel costs allowance where an
authorised transfer from home extends overnight and costs directly
associated with the period of travel are incurred. As a general
principle there is no entitlement to travel costs allowance if
absent from home but not headstation, however in some
circumstances the delegate may approve payment of travel costs
allowance whilst the employee is working at headstation. In cases
where travel costs allowance is paid whilst the employee is
working at headstation, the allowance should not normally be paid
for a period longer than one week.
The determination of home and headstation should not be artificial
or contrived to ensure a travel costs allowance entitlement.
An authorised transfer is one which:
Is approved by the delegate in the standard corporate format;
Authorises the employee to enter into accommodation at the
temporary work location, whilst in transit to or from this
location or, in certain circumstances, at headstation;
Details the rostered return to home arrangements during the term
of the transfer; and
Remains effective for the duration of the transfer unless varied
by the delegate.
7. RATE OF ALLOWANCE
The rates of travel costs allowance are reviewed by a Joint
Council Sub Committee for Travelling Allowance in May and December
each year. Current rates appear at Appendix A.
These rates are considered as being "reasonable" by the Australian
Taxation Office. Telstra is not therefore required to deduct
income tax or disclose payments on employee group certificates.
8. CAPITAL CITY/ELSEWHERE DEFINITION
Melbourne50km radius of GPOSydney029 telephone codeBrisbaneAs defined by Brisbane City CouncilAdelaide088 telephone codePerth089 telephone codeHobartAustralian Standard Geographical Classification DarwinN/ACanberraN/AElsewhereAny location other than the above 9. PAYMENTSProvided costs are actually incurred, an eligible employee is
entitled to travel costs allowance at the daily rate prescribed in
Appendix A, for each overnight absence from home and headstation,
travelling to or whilst at the temporary work location or, in
certain circumstances, whilst working at their headstation.
Employees are not entitled to travel costs allowance payments for:
Part days, or where an overnight absence from home is not
involved;
Overnight absences away from home when rostered to return home;
Beyond, or likely to exceed a continuous period of three months at
a single temporary work location
Delegates must only approve claims for travel costs allowance
where they are satisfied that:
They have authorised the travel arrangements; and
The employee has actually spent the night/s away in accordance
with the approved travel arrangements; and
Associated costs have actually been incurred.
Delegates may approve claims for travel costs allowance, for a
period not normally greater than one week, where an employee is
working at their headstation and the employee's home has been
closed for an indefinite period due to a previous temporary
transfer. The period of one week is considered sufficient time to
allow the employee to arrange reconnection of utility services
thus enabling them to return home and travel daily to their
headstation.
Employees unable to secure suitable overnight hotel/motel style
accommodation due to the location and nature of their work and who
are not covered by the conditions of the Telstra Camping Allowance
Policy, are required to make a subsidy of 10% of the applicable
daily rate of allowance to contribute to the acquisition, repairs
and maintenance of Telstra equipment provided to assist with
employees living conditions in these situations.
Travel costs allowance claims are to be submitted for payment to
Employee Relations Service Operations in the corporate standard
format immediately upon the conclusion of the transfer or
fortnightly pay period. In order for payment to be made, claims
must be accompanied by a travel authority that corresponds to, or
encompasses, the claim period.
10. PERIODICAL RETURN TO HOME
Telstra is mindful of the social impact of employee being away
from family and friends for extended periods.
Delegates approving short transfers will therefore attempt to
organise work rosters to ensure that all employees have the
opportunity to return home on weekends, except where the distances
or remoteness of the temporary work location make it impractical
or unsafe to do so.
Employees travelling on a continuing basis (ie over weekends
and/or public holidays) shall be subject to an approved roster
which must detail the weekends that they are to return home.
The determination of home and headstation should not be artificial
or contrived to ensure a travel costs allowance entitlement.
In developing the roster, the delegate shall take into account:
Where employees are working in a group the return home roster will
apply to the group as a whole;
The practicality of returning employees to home, having regard to
the savings in travel costs allowance and the cost of vehicles,
fares, excess travelling time, overtime or any other cost involved
over the period of the roster;
The health, safety and work performance factors associated with
travel to and from home;=====
The general wishes of the work group.
The following principles will also apply:
Remote area packages (rosters) for Network Design & Construction
employees will still be available;
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Telstra will pay for the cost of transport and any excess
travelling time or overtime involved in travel from and to the
temporary work location where applicable;
A Telstra vehicle must be driven by a licensed employee where
available for use;
An employee will be entitled and expected to return home, every
fourth weekend of a short term transfer, regardless of cost,
provided they had not returned home at Telstra expense at any time
during the previous four weeks;
In developing the return home roster, the delegate shall have the
discretion as to whether the employee's costs should be paid for
travel between headstation to home and return.
This policy does not seek to prevent employees from returning home
at weekends in their own time/expense where it is determined that
it is not practicable for Telstra to pay for their return. In
these circumstances travel costs allowance is not payable for the
period the employee is absent overnight from their temporary work
location.
Telstra will not authorise an employee's return home where travel
involved may affect the employee's work performance, health and/or
safety.
Telstra will not partially pay for an employee's return home.
11. ADVANCE OF ALLOWANCE
The delegate may grant an employee covered under this policy an
advance payment of 100% of the amount likely to be payable for
travel costs allowance in order to meet immediate travel costs. No
greater than 4 weeks travel costs allowance should be advanced at
any stage.
In order for any advance payment to be acquitted a travel costs
allowance claim will be required to be submitted by the employee
within one month of the end of the period of travel to which the
advance payment relates.
An advance payment will be recovered in full from the employees
salary, if
after the one month period mentioned in the previous paragraph has
elapsed; and
the delegate and employee have been formally notified that the
advance is still outstanding; and
agreement has not been previously reached between the delegate and
the employee to a recovery rate; and
the advance is not, as soon as practicable, acquitted by a claim.
12. TEMPORARY WORK LOCATION ACCOMMODATION
Employees on short term transfer should, upon arrival at their
destination, endeavour to secure reasonable standard accommodation
appropriate to the duration of their transfer and within
reasonable proximity to their work location.
Employees may choose accommodation as they wish, however, any
accommodation entered into must take into account the daily
allowance rate applicable to that work location and should not as
a general principle give rise to a claim for insufficient
allowance.
A list of discount accommodation establishments is attached at
Appendix B. These accommodation providers will provide discounted
accommodation rates for business as well as private use of Telstra
employees and their immediate families. These are Telstra
customers and therefore it is expected that employees support
these businesses.
13. INSUFFICIENT OR EXCESSIVE ALLOWANCE
Where the delegate is satisfied that the payment allowable to the
employee for the duration of the short term transfer is
insufficient to cover expenses that have been, or are likely to be
reasonably incurred, the delegate may authorise payment in excess
of the prescribed daily rate.
Each claim for payment of increased allowance must be fully
supported by receipts/supporting documentation that itemise the
amounts expended on accommodation and subsistence.
The costs incurred over the full period of travel to which the
claim relates must be greater than the amount of travel costs
allowance paid for the same period in order to establish an
eligibility for additional allowance.
Where the delegate is satisfied that the amount allowable to the
employee for the duration of the short term transfer is excessive,
the delegate may direct that the employee be reimbursed actual
costs incurred, in lieu of the daily allowance, to meet the
employee's travel expenses.
14. HEADSTATION DEFINITION
Headstation is defined as "the place at which an employee
ordinarily performs duty or, in the case of an employee who does
not ordinarily perform duty at any one place, the place at which
the employee is ordinarily required to report for duty".
A headstation must be determined by the delegate when an employee
is recruited, transferred or promoted into a work assignment. For
the purposes of application of this policy a notional headstation
(normally capital cities or provincial towns) is required to be
defined for employees who perform normal duties at temporary work
locations and are seldom, if ever, required to work at their
notional headstation. Headstation is regarded as home for the
purposes of employees with no fixed home address.
Where upon recruitment, transfer or promotion:
an employee's home and headstation is determined; and
this determination would not normally give an entitlement to
travel costs allowance when working at headstation; and
the employee subsequently moves their home to a location that
would give rise to a travel costs allowance entitlement when
working at headstation;
the employee will not normally be eligible for payment of travel
costs allowance when working at headstation.
15. MODE OF TRAVEL TO TEMPORARY WORK LOCATION
Employees on short term transfer are required to travel to their
temporary work location by the most expeditious means of transport
approved by the delegate.
However, the delegate may approve travel to the temporary work
location by other means, provided the total amount payable does
not exceed the amount that would be payable had the most
expeditious means of transport been used.
This clause should be read in conjunction with Telstra Travel
Procedure Document X.
16. DETERMINATION OF ALLOWANCE WHILST TRAVELLING
The rate to be paid per overnight absence is dependant upon the
location an employee spends each particular night in temporary
accommodation.
Where an employee is accommodated overnight in an establishment
within the area defined as a capital city (see Clause 8 of this
policy), the employee will be paid at the particular capital city
rate for that night. If the overnight absence is anywhere but in
an area defined as a capital city, the "elsewhere" allowance rate
will apply.
17. ALLOWANCE WHERE ACCOMMODATION AND/OR MEALS PROVIDED
Travel costs allowance is not payable for periods where an
employee is provided with accommodation and/or meals at Telstra
expense.
In these circumstances, employees may be reimbursed, upon
production of receipts/documentation, personal expenses incurred
for accommodation, meals and/or incidentals up to the limits
prescribed in Appendix A. Incidental expenses should only be
reimbursed for items such as telephone calls and laundry where
they are necessary and reasonable.
18. TRANSFER OF FAMILY TO TEMPORARY WORK LOCATION
The cost of transferring an employee's family to a temporary work
location will only be borne by Telstra where the transfer is for,
or may extend, beyond three months. See Clause 2 of this policy.
19. OVERTIME MEAL ALLOWANCE PAYMENTS
Employees are not entitled to overtime meal allowance payments for
any periods during which travel costs allowance is also payable.
20. ALLOWANCE PAYMENTS DURING LEAVE
Employees are not entitled to travel costs allowance during
periods of leave with or without pay.
Where an employee is unable to return home due to illness, travel
costs allowance will continue to be payable provided the employee
remains at the temporary work location and continues to incur
costs for meals and accommodation. Arrangements should be made to
return the employee to their home or headstation where an illness
is likely to prevent an employee from working for a week or more.
21. EMPLOYEE PROMOTED OR PERMANENTLY TRANSFERRED TO TEMPORARY WORK
LOCATION
Where an employee in receipt of travel costs allowance is promoted
to a work assignment in the same locality to which they had
previously been temporarily transferred, payment of the allowance
shall cease from the date the promotion is confirmed.
Where an employee is permanently transferred to a work locality to
which they were formerly on short term transfer and in receipt of
travel costs allowance, payment of the allowance will cease from
the date the employee is notified in writing that their permanent
transfer is approved.
Where an employee is transferred to a locality with a view to
promotion or permanent transfer in the short term furure they will
be entitled to transfer expenses in accordance existing Corporate
policy There is no entitlement to travel costs allowance.
Any claim for expenses beyond these dates is covered by the
Telstra Transfer Policy.
22. TRAVEL COSTS ALLOWANCE AND DISTRICT ALLOWANCE
An employee in receipt of travel costs allowance on a short term
transfer to a locality which attracts a district allowance is not
entitled to payment of that district allowance.
23. INACCURATE OR FRAUDULENT CLAIMS
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Employees found to be submitting inaccurate or fraudulent
travelling allowance claims will be subject to the Corporation's
disciplinary provisions.
Appendix A