Expenses policy

• Travel expenses undertaken in the course of work, except travel to and from an employee’s home and their normal place of work.
• Subsistence if an employee’s work requires that they are not in their normal place of work, where the employee is working at a location that is not their normal place of work for in excess of 5 hours.
• As a result of our Hybrid workplace, some employees will be required, at times, to stay overnight for in-person work. In this case, a contribution of €80 per night will be given to any staff member who incurs such costs. This applies once the overnight location is more than 30km from the employee’s home or normal place of work. This contribution will be towards overnight costs only and will need to be vouched with receipts.  There may be occasions where additional contribution to costs are required. This will be agreed between the employee and their line manager and will be approved by the Director of Finance or CEO. 

• The Wheel workplace is 48 Fleet Street and Revenue does not allow travel costs to & from work to be claimed, so travel to & from The Wheel office cannot be claimed in expenses, regardless of where a staff member’s home base is
• Travel that can be claimed is the lower of:
• the distance between the staff member’s home and the location of the meeting
• the distance between The Wheel office and the meeting

Employees are expected to use the most appropriate form of transport when travelling for business purposes. 

 All Employees are expected to act prudently when on business travel and only to incur expenses which are necessary, reasonable and appropriate. Consideration of environmental concerns should also be assessed in conjunction with the effect on cost. 

 Employees must obtain approval from their line manager prior to travelling. Travel will be reimbursed by The Wheel according to the following rates:

• Cycling: 8c per km.
• Public Transport: Actual cost of Fare. 

Employees should travel economy class at all times unless agreed with the CEO/Director of Finance in advance. 

• Car: 33c per km. 

Mileage will be paid in respect of all driving undertaken by an employee in the course of employment in their own personal vehicle

• Taxi: Actual cost incurred. 
• Airplane: Cost price of the most cost effective available ticket. 

 In addition, The Wheel will also reimburse car rental costs that are work-related, once the car rental has prior approval from the Director of Finance/CEO. Parking and toll charges incurred will also be reimbursed.

Fines of any sort will not be paid, except in very rare circumstances with the agreement of the Director of Finance and CEO. 

The subsistence allowance is intended to subsidise meal costs/ overnight accommodation. The Wheel reserves the right to review subsistence payable in individual circumstances, with particular reference to the location and duration away from the normal place of work / home. All claims of subsistence must be accompanied with relevant receipts for all expenses. 

 The Wheel subsistence rates provide for reasonable rate of subsistence, which takes account of the voluntary nature of The Wheel. The current civil service rates are used as a guide for these rates. 

A maximum lunch rate of €17 is applicable, and a maximum evening meal rate of €23 is applicable. 

Outside of these parameters, there may be exceptional circumstances that incur additional subsistence costs. Such costs require approval from the Director of Finance.

Snacks or Incidentals are not a reimbursable expense. 

• Valid and original receipts must be submitted along with a completed expense claim form. Credit card statements or credit card receipts are not acceptable as a form of receipt. 
• If an original receipt is lost, and a copy cannot be obtained, the expense will not be reimbursed except in exceptional circumstances.   
• Where employees are making a claim of expenses relating to mileage allowances, diligent records must be maintained by the employee. Mileage claims should be based on widely available information such as Google Maps. 
• All expenses will need to be verified and approved by each employee’s line manager, and in turn by the Finance team. 

Procedure

Employees should submit their expense claims on the appropriate claim form on a quarterly basis. Any expenses received by the 14th of the month will be paid in that month’s salary run, (assuming receipts etc. are in order). After that date, they will be paid the following month. 

Employees are asked to submit expenses regularly, and at least every three months. With that in mind, expenses that are over nine months old are not normally payable. 

The Wheel needs to report to Revenue certain expense payments it makes to staff. This is done via our payroll software provider, Thesaurus. There are three categories of expense/benefit that will need to be reported on: 

1. Travel and subsistence: date paid and amount.  
2. Small benefit exemption: date paid and amount. 
3. Remote working daily allowance: date paid, amount, and number of days paid.   

At present, only category (a) is relevant to the Wheel but if Revenue requirements change this may include categories b) and c) at a later stage. 

To allow for this reporting, employees are asked to divide their expenses into certain categories:

1. Mileage (“unvouched” travel)
2. Subsistence, food, travel: all of which should be vouched, i.e. with receipts 
3. Phone expenses
4. Others   

(1 and 2 are currently reportable to Revenue but this may expand to include 3 and 4 at a later stage.)