Travel on behalf of employer
Such travel is undertaken as part of an individual’s role at UiA.
Travels carried out to present individual and/or research group/department papers are normally travels on behalf of UiA. Should an employee wish to stay at a conference longer than what is needed to present the paper, parts of the trip can be defined as grant-funded travel. Normally, conference stays longer than 3 days will be considered grant-funded travel.
Travelling on grant funds
Grant-funded travel is not undertaken on the request of manager but approved by manager. A grant-funded trip is not required by UiA, and employees are not entitled to travel or to have all their expenses covered. Preapproval of grant-funded travel must include details about what is covered.
Our regulations regarding travel on grant funds are independent of the source of funding. External funding may have requirements in addition to our regulations.
Grant-funded travel is not defined based on whether a set amount/grant is given or expenses are reimbursed.
Terms for grant-funded travel
The tax authorities’ terms for approving grant-funded travel are:
- The travel must be necessary for work
- The trip must be pre-approved
- The grant must only cover additional expenses incurred because of the trip
- The grant must not be remuneration/salary (which means that compensation supplement can never be paid for grant-funded travel among other things)
- The employee must set a budget before payment can be made
- After the trip, the employee must describe in detail what the grant was used to pay for.
If these conditions are not met, you may have to pay tax for the entire amount received.
Grant-funded travel: Residence for study purposes
Self-initiated study stays must have academic relevance in order to be approved. Academic relevance will normally mean collaboration with the university or research environment in question. In addition, there may be collaboration with other Norwegians at Norwegian institutions which have collaboration agreements with UiA. In order to justify the trip, the benefit of the collaboration between the employee and the university or research environment must exceed the cost.
Xristos
The university director has given special approval to Xristos as a place for self-initiated study stays, without the trip in itself having academic relevance. A prerequisite for travel to Xristos is that the direct additional costs of accommodation and travel are justifiable in line with the financial regulations.
Subsistence allowance for stays at Xristos follows the same principle as for other study stays abroad.
Two options:
- You can claim subsistence expenses if they are supported with receipts, limited to the daily rate for subsistence allowance in Greece.
- If the expenses are not supported with receipts, the tax-free part of the subsistence allowance for overnight stays in guesthouses is paid.
Other destinations
The faculty directors are authorised to approve research/writing/collaboration stays away from the university, and the faculty can, through its own funds/KFU funds, cover costs associated with such trips/visits. The scheme is only open to academic staff.
The location you travel to should have satisfactory facilities for the work to be undertaken - the university's HSE responsibility must be assessed. It is emphasised that stays that bear the stamp of a personal holiday/leisure trip must not be approved, and costs in connection with travel/stays in employees' own holiday homes or similar will not be covered.
Grant-funded travel: Research stay
Self-initiated research stays must have academic relevance in order to be approved. Academic relevance will normally mean collaboration with a university or research environment the employee interacts with through their research.
The faculty directors are authorised to approve research/writing/collaboration stays away from the university, and the faculty can, through its own funds/KFU funds, cover costs associated with such trips/visits. The scheme is only open to academic staff.
The location you travel to should have satisfactory facilities for the work to be undertaken - the university's HSE responsibility must be assessed. It is emphasised that stays that bear the stamp of a personal holiday/leisure trip must not be approved, and costs in connection with travel/stays in employees' own holiday homes or similar will not be covered.
Insurance coverage for grant-funded travel
UiA has decided that employer has the same obligation to cover damages and losses for grant-funded travel as for University business travel.