Business travel and expenses – what applies?

The following is a clarification of the rules that apply for personal expenses and when you extend a business trip for private reasons. We also inform you about the planned spot checks of travel expenses.

Extending business travel for personal reasons

If an employee wants to extend their business trip for private reasons, for example to take a holiday before or after the business trip, their line manager must approve this before the trip is booked. If approved, the employee must be able to prove that the trip will not involve additional costs for SLU. This must be documented before the trip is booked and attached to the travel expenses report. If extending the trip does not involve additional costs for SLU, there will be no additional tax to pay for the employee.

If the trip does become more expensive, the additional cost will be subject to benefit taxation, or a net salary deduction will be made. 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.

Own expenses

It is important that SLU employees primarily use the agreements and systems in place and that purchases are made via the e-commerce system if possible, secondly by invoice or, exceptionally, via expenses.

When purchasing or booking travel, this should be done in the following order:

1. Via our framework agreements/e-commerce systems
2. Via invoice
3. Exceptionally, via own expenses.

Some purchases, such as bus tickets or emergencies, may require out-of-pocket expenses and are considered reasonable. It is a good idea to make a note in the travel expense report of why you have paid for something yourself.

As a public authority, we have to follow the regulations that apply.

Spot checks

As all travel expenses are now digitalised in Primula, the Payroll Unit will carry out random checks from May 2025 to ensure compliance with current regulations.