Business travel and meetings are part of the university and an important tool for creating and maintaining contacts with the outside world, sharing research findings and initiating collaborations. However, business travel requires resources – both in terms of time and money. It may also impact the environment and climate negatively. The travel guidelines ((scroll down in the document to find English version) apply to all travel conducted by employees and non-employees at SLU’s expense.
Each employee must ensure they follow the guidelines and managers must follow up compliance. This way we can all make sure that the objectives are met and that SLU’s credibility as a world-class university for life and environmental sciences is maintained as outlined in SLU’s strategy for 2021 – 2025.
It needs to be easy to do things correctly
These guidelines have been designed to help you to make decisions on how to book business travel and meetings. Travel needs to be safe and cost-effective, and take the work environment, the balance between working and private life and the climate into consideration as far as possible. Before booking travel, it is important to evaluate whether it could be replaced by a virtual meeting as described in the flowchart in the business travel guidelines (scroll down in the document to find English version).
If possible, trips should be booked 14 days in advance to take advantage of SLU travel agency discounts. Domestic travel should be by train. Occasionally, air travel may be acceptable if it saves a lot of time and the balance between the traveller’s personal life, working hours and work environment has been evaluated.
Extending business travel for personal reasons
Your manager must authorise any interruption to business travel or extending travel, such as over a weekend. Business travel can be extended for personal reasons without being taxed, as long as the travel will not generate extra costs for SLU.
Most importantly, the purpose of the travel and the choice of destination must be business-related.
Swedish Tax Agency regulations stipulate that before booking, employees must ensure that the cost of return travel is the same as it would have been if they had travelled as originally planned – in other words, the ticket must not be more expensive. You must document the price comparison and include it with your travel expense report. If the travel will be more expensive for SLU you will need to pay for the additional cost by having in deducted from your salary.
If the employee is unable to provide supporting documentation for the costs of the extended trip, a net salary deduction will be made.
The duration of the holiday must not exceed the duration of the business trip and may not exceed 14 days. For longer holidays, SLU's business travel insurance does not apply, and the employee is then responsible for taking out private insurance.
When you register your travel expense report in Primula, remember to select ‘Interruption to business travel’. This will remove the subsistence allowance or the salary allowance.