Travel Expenses Policy

Effective Date: June 26, 2025 | Date Issued: June 26, 2025 | Last Version: May 12, 2025

Policy Summary

  1. Local AE staff may be paid for work-related travel expenses at the current government-designated rates; staff must be conservative and select lower-cost options.
  2. Local AE staff must have TDLWD approval before traveling out of state.
  3. Meals and incidentals can only be claimed when overnight stays are involved; first and last days of travel can only be claimed at 75% of the full amount; when two or more meals are provided in a day, the cost of the meals must be deducted.
  4. Mileage reimbursement is based on an employee’s designated official station; regular commuting from home is not reimbursable.
  5. Local providers must use their agency’s internal processes and controls for approving and paying travel expenses; travel records must be maintained.

Revisions Summary

  • Clarified mileage reimbursement rules.

Policy

1. Allowable Travel Expenses

Local Adult Education (AE) staff may be paid for travel expenses incurred while carrying out the program’s activities. Only expenses related to AE activities may be paid by the AE grant.

In general, the following travel expenses may be relevant to AE staff:

  • Mileage reimbursement for employees who drive their own car
  • Lodging
  • Meals and incidentals
  • Parking
  • Air travel and shuttles/taxis/rideshares for out-of-state conferences

The AE grant will only pay for expenses up to the amount of the current government-designated rates for mileage, lodging, and meals and incidentals. These rates are found at:

Travel expenses must be necessary, reasonable, and allocable. When traveling, staff must be as conservative as circumstances permit, and the lower-cost options must be selected whenever practical.

2. Out-of-State Travel Rules

Local staff must receive approval from TDLWD prior to making plans to travel out of state for conferences or any other AE-related purpose.

3. Meals and Incidentals Rules

The AE grant will only pay for meals and incidentals if there is overnight stay involved. For the first and last day of multi-day trips, the grant will only pay 75% of the meals and incidentals per diem. If two or more meals are provided on a given day at a state-sponsored event, then the cost of those meals must be deducted from per diem claims.

4. Mileage Reimbursement Rules

The AE grant will only pay for mileage reimbursement based on the rules outlined below:

Designating Official Stations

A. Official stations must be designated for employees to use as a starting/ending point for calculating mileage. The official station should be the place where the employee typically spends a majority of their work time — not counting work-from-home. Normal commuting between an employee’s home and their designated official station is not reimbursable.

B. If an employee does not have a readily apparent official station due to working in multiple locations throughout a given day or week, then the program director must designate a practical location as the official station (e.g., if a teacher teaches at three locations, one location could be their designated official station). The official station can be a different location on different days, or always be the same location, depending on the need and what is most practical.

C. Program directors must use their best judgment in determining official stations and approving mileage reimbursements. There may be circumstances where it’s unclear how to reimburse an employee; program directors should consider what is reasonable, practical, and fair for employees when determining what is reimbursable in a given circumstance.

Reimbursement Rules

A. If an employee drives from their home to a location other than their official station, they may be reimbursed for mileage driven between home and the destination or the official station and the destination, whichever is less.

B. If an employee drives between their official station and another destination (there and back), they may be reimbursed for actual mileage driven.

C. If an employee takes a detour during their regular commute (between home and their official station) to go to a different location, reimbursable mileage is determined by deducting the normal commuting mileage from the actual mileage driven.

D. If an employee drives between destinations (that are not home or their official station), they may be reimbursed for actual mileage driven between those destinations.

E. If an employee drives to a location(s) other than their official station, and the distance driven for the day is equal to or less than the normal commute (between home and their official station), then mileage reimbursement should not be requested.

5. Internal Processes and Controls

Local providers must use their agency’s internal processes and controls for approving and paying AE-related travel expenses—AE staff should follow the same processes as the agency’s other employees. These processes and controls must include oversight and documentation of travel approvals and payments.

The agency must maintain records that indicate who received payment, how much they were paid, what travel categories they were paid for (e.g., mileage, hotel, etc.), the purpose of the travel, and the date the travel occurred. The agency must also maintain verifying documents — either paper or electronic — to support travel payments (e.g., a map or description of places driven for mileage reimbursement, a hotel bill, a parking receipt, etc.).

Governance

Local program directors are responsible for disseminating this policy to their staff members and for providing staff with associated training, checking for understanding, enforcing compliance, and seeking technical assistance from TDLWD staff as necessary. Program directors must ensure that the agency’s travel expense and payment processes are followed and that employees do not abuse travel-related payments for their personal advantage.

To ensure compliance with this policy, TDLWD staff will (1) inspect expenditure reports, payments, and supporting documents related to travel; and (2) review local providers’ internal controls and processes related to travel expenses.