A business trip - how to send an employee on it
The business trip costs settlement procedure is well known to entrepreneurs. However, it is also worth knowing what actions must be taken before the employee's business trip takes place. Thanks to this, the entrepreneur will not be exposed to possible shortcomings and - additional costs.
Business trip - definition
A business trip has a definition that is extremely important. It happens that some journeys on which the employee is sent cannot be considered business trips, in accordance with the Labor Code. This, in turn, means that the diet assigned to the subordinate is subject to income tax and ZUS contributions must be paid from it.
For a trip to be considered a business trip, its purpose must be to perform a business task at the employer's request outside the place where the employee has a permanent place of work or where the employer's registered office is located. As a rule, it cannot last longer than three months, because then it is a trip treated as a temporary change of workplace.
Therefore, it is important at this point to define the scope of travel and the scope of the subordinate's work. A trip in which only one of the four days will be spent on professional tasks, while the remaining days will be free time, will not be considered a business trip. Similarly, if an employee lives in a different city (X) than he works (Y), and he is posted to his place of residence - then the route from city X to Y will be his journey, the route from Y to X and back - a business trip, and return home to city X - private access again. However, if it turns out that the workplace of this employee is not one city, but the entire specified province within which cities X and Y are located, none of the routes can be considered a delegation.
Who can go on a business trip?
As a rule, the delegated employee cannot refuse to leave. Employers are not obliged in this matter by private plans, family matters or additional forms of earning an employee. It is important that the delegation does not deprive the subordinate of the right to rest.
There are, however, two exceptions in which the employee must obtain permission for a business trip. This applies to pregnant employees and employees who care for a child under 4. If the employer wants to send an employee who is in one of these two situations on a business trip, he should obtain his consent. Ideally, this should be given in writing so that you have clear evidence of consent. It is also important that consent should be granted for each delegation separately - one collective consent obtained from an employee is unlikely to be used.
Business trip - departure order
The provisions of the Labor Code do not require the employer to prepare a departure order in writing. However, it is necessary to document the employee's delegation, therefore, in practice, departure orders are made in the form of a written document, which includes:
- the purpose of the trip - with details of the city, tasks, etc.,
- the place where the journey begins and ends,
- Duration,
- mode of transportation,
- advance payment for travel expenses.
Sometimes employers require the employee to obtain a signature or seal on the received order upon arrival at the destination. Such a requirement is not included in the provisions of the labor law, but may be included in the internal regulations of the company.
A business trip and the need to make an advance payment
An employee going on a business trip is entitled to benefits to cover his / her needs during the trip. These include diets and reimbursement of travel costs, communication within the destination, accommodation and any other necessary expenses.
Costs of this type are finally settled after the employee returns from a business trip, however, he should receive an advance payment before departure. If the business trip is abroad, the entrepreneur is obliged to issue an advance payment, in the case of a domestic trip - he is obliged to do so by the employee's request. However, such a request does not have to be formal, it can even be a simple oral request.
The employer should make an advance payment based on the calculation of the travel costs. While some of the costs cannot be predicted in advance, a large part of them is obvious in advance - e.g. the cost of travel by public transport or already booked accommodation. In such a situation, the funds transferred to the employee must cover at least these obvious costs. It is not possible to provide an advance payment only to cover a part - the employee cannot contribute from his own funds to cover the employer's goals.
In a situation where an employee would like a business trip to take place by private means of transport, the entrepreneur may - but does not have to - consent to it. Then, before departure, the amount of travel expenses should be reimbursed.
