Our usheru Employee Expense company policy outlines how we’ll reimburse employees for work-related expenses. Below, we define “work-related expenses” and set a procedure to authorize expenditure.
This policy applies to all usheru full-time employees and contractors/consultants.
Policy brief & purpose
Our usheru Employee Expense company policy outlines how we’ll reimburse employees for work-related expenses. Below, we define “work-related expenses” and set a procedure to authorise expenditure.
This policy applies to all usheru full-time employees and contractors/consultants.
Scope
This policy applies to all our employees that need to spend money for work-related activities.
Policy elements
Employee expenses fall under two categories:
Expenses that are paid directly by our company on behalf of employees.
Expenses that are paid by our employees and are reimbursable.
We’ll reimburse all reasonable business expenses, after they are approved, in part or in full as the case may be.
Travel Expenses
Travel expenses include any kind of transportation and accommodation expenses that you incur when going on a business trip. [This travel does not relate to your normal day-to-day travel to and from the workplace in your home city, or meetings in the course of regular business].
Expenses related to this category that may be fully or partly reimbursable include:
Accommodation
Legal document expenses (e.g. Travel Visa)
Air, train, ship or other transportation fares
Necessary medical expenses (e.g. vaccinations)
Local transportation during trips (taxi fares, rental cars etc.)
Other minor or per diem expenses that have been approved by an employee’s manager (e.g. meals, business material).
Travel Day Per Diem allocation
We have a per diem drink and food allocation of €52, £46 or the approximate equivalent in local currency. If another team member is paying for your food, then this is using your daily allocation, so please account for this.
In the event that you travel for work (Half-day trip), and incur a cost for just 1 meal, you should adhere to the following caps for that meal, or for a second meal:
Meal | Maximum spend to be reimbursed to individual | Requires Approval?
Breakfast | €12 | Once trip is approved by manager, this cost is approved
Lunch | €16 | Once trip is approved by manager, this cost is approved
Dinner | €24 | Once trip is approved by manager, this cost is approved
Medical care fees that are not work travel-related should be covered by your own medical insurance or by public health services, and do not come under this remit. We expect employees to take out a multi-trip type travel insurance if they are undertaking numerous work-related business trips in a year (this cost will be reimbursable and must be approved by your manager in advance)
Hotel and Flight - Cost Caps
We have agreed a cap on the per flight or per night cost that an employee can book without pre-approval:
Hotel room or similar: €140 per night - ideally this would be less than €100 using Airbnb or similar booking tools.
Flights: All flights over €250 must be pre-approved by your manager
Client entertainment
In situations where you intend to meet or entertain a client / business lead or similar, any meeting must be discussed and approved by your manager - Any expenses incurred entertaining clients that amount to over €65 ($70 USD, £57 GBP) will be rejected without the name of the client and reason for meeting noted on the Expense Report in Dext. Typically client entertainment will be planned in the team.
Minimising expenses
We want to avoid overspending or unnecessary costs. usheru is a start-up/scale-up and all additional costs incurred in expenses now, is money that could go into maintaining salaries and other business expenses down the line. We aim for the best value option always, and within reason - please note that should never be to the detriment of any employee’s personal safety.
Important guidelines for minimising expenses:
For short-hop business flights, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are often cheaper days to travel than those close to the weekend.
Please always check budget airlines such as Ryanair, particularly in summer when this makes a pronounced difference in cost.
Pre-booking flights well in advance is usually the best way to get good value.
For air travel of longer duration, we mandate booking plane tickets in economy class, unless there is valid and pre-approved reason for upgraded travel. You are free to pay upgraded charges yourself to the airline, but they will be not reimbursable.
For hotels, check last minute budget websites like hotels.com, booking.com etc for better deals. They can also often pre-book and have free cancellation until a certain date in many cases.
Try Airbnb - if this is a much more reasonable proposition for overnight accommodation, please use Airbnb where possible. We have a company Airbnb for Work account, and will give access to all employees.
Please use public transport to travel to and from airports (rather than taxis) where possible and particularly where there is a significant cost difference. Services like Uber are generally better value than local taxi services, so use these hail-riding app services where available and safe to do so.
Always note, we will not sacrifice your safety for cost, so please always ensure you are staying in a safe place and traveling in a safe way.
Non-reimbursable expenses
We won’t reimburse the following:
Expenses incurred by spouses/partners or other non-employees who accompany our employees on their travels
Un-authorized service upgrade (e.g. business class or hotel rooms)
Personal services (massages, beauty treatments etc.)
Personal purchases (gifts, clothes etc.)
Lost personal property (e.g. luggage)
Alcoholic beverages or food for friends, other than in the provable course of business development work (and approved by your manager in advance)
This list is not exhaustive. Please ask Catherine Downes or Folake Faniku if you have questions about reimbursable expenses before you go on a business trip.
What are work-related expenses?
This category includes expenses that are related to an employee either in the form of a benefit (e.g. business phone) or entertainment expenses that may occur in a business setting (e.g. professional dinners with clients or colleagues.)
These expenses may be capped and Catherine Downes will review and approve them before reimbursement. If you spend more than the approved amount, you must be willing to cover the extra cost yourself.
We won’t reimburse the following work expenses:
Unauthorised or unscheduled business meetings with clients, partners or job candidates
Fines incurred while driving a company vehicle or rental vehicle
Non-business subscriptions/ training
Personal trips
This list is not exhaustive.
The process for filing and claiming business expenses may change from time to time (depending on what software solution we may use in Finance to process these expenses and receipts). Please consult accounts@usheru.com for information on the current process.