Community Care expects to reimburse employees for expense incurred as a
direct result of job duties, as approved by the supervisor, as outlined within
policy and procedures for reimbursement, and as mandated by Community Care
regulatory bodies. Community Care expects employees to use resources, including
but not limited to mileage, in the most cost-effective manner possible (for
example, using the most efficient or direct route and/or car pooling with fellow
employees, whenever possible). Starting with pay period September 2nd
– 15th, 2012 and going forward: Mileage reimbursement requests
must be submitted in the pay period where mileage was incurred, or at the latest
two business days following pay period end date (the day after the pay period
closes) which would be by Tuesday (11:59 p.m.). All other reimbursement requests need
to be submitted within sixty (60) days of invoice date.
Mileage Reimbursement
Community Care will reimburse staff for mileage accrued while using their
personal vehicles to conduct agency business away from their primary work
location while adhering to the Agency’s Vehicle Use and Access policy.
Community Care will reimburse only pre-approved mileage. Reimbursement will be at the
established rate per mile. Employees must enter mileage into the mileage
database with purpose of the date of the trip and clearly indicating
destination, starting point odometer reading, end point odometer reading, the
purpose of the trip, the department in which cost was incurred, and receive
approval by their supervisor. If the business trip is starting from home if not
your base, then deduct miles equal to distance from home to the base from the
beginning odometer reading. The number of miles traveled will calculate
automatically. Mileage is reimbursed in biweekly pay checks.
All incurred mileage must be recorded in the mileage data base within the pay
period it was incurred or at the latest at close of business Tuesday, two
business days following close of the pay period.
Due to payroll processing deadlines and
to administer a Q/A check of all mileage submissions, there will be a one pay
period lag from time of submission to payment at pay date – (similar to
incentive paid in productivity programs).
For example, mileage incurred from September 2nd – 15th,
2012 will have the deadline of submission by 11:59 pm, September 18th
and paid on October 5th.
Employees working within the productivity pay system will not be paid mileage to
correct documentation errors (e.g. returning to a client to obtain a signature
on a direct service log.) This
activity is considered hours worked and should be recorded on the timesheet, but
no mileage expense will be reimbursed.
Community Care encourages all employees who are reimbursed for miles driven to
keep a mileage log to protect them in the event of an IRS audit.
Individuals driving on Agency business may claim reimbursement for parking fees
and tolls actually incurred. The Agency will not reimburse for parking tickets
or any other motor vehicle fine i.e. speeding tickets, etc.
Time spent by nonexempt employees in driving on Agency business during normal
working hours is considered hours worked for pay purposes. Commuting time before
the start and after the end of a workday is not treated as work time for pay
purposes.
How to calculate mileage for reimbursement:
|
|
Mileage Reimbursed
|
Example
|
|
Traveling from home to various work locations, other than primary work location,
and returning home
|
|
Commuting distance from home to primary work location equals 20 miles and
distance from home to other work location equals 27 miles, reimbursement for 7
miles
|
|
Traveling from primary work location to other work and meeting location and
returning
|
All mileage
|
Traveling from Care Maine to DHS Office and return, reimbursement for entire
trip, 24 miles
|
|
Office-based employee: working at
home and traveling to various work locations and returning to home
|
Total traveling mileage for the day (start and end at home) minus commuting
mileage (round trip distance from home to primary work location)
|
Traveling to two clients’ homes
and Care Maine office for a meeting and return home, reimbursement for total day’s mileage
(73 miles) minus commuting mileage (29 miles) equals 44 miles.
|
Telephone/Cell
Phone Reimbursement
Community Care will reimburse business calls at $.10 per minute or the actual
cost per minute, whichever is lower.
To calculate the rate to be charged to Community Care per minute
a. Traditional Telephone bills: Take the long distance charge divide by
the long distance minutes, this equals the actual rate per minute.
b.
Cellular Phone Bills Minutes
Itemized: Take the total of the bill; subtract all other charges (i.e.
insurance, special features, etc) that are not related to calls, as other
charges are the individual’s responsibility. Divide the total charges for
outgoing calls by the total minutes of service. The reimbursement rate will be
the lower of actual cost per minute or $0.10 per minute.
Example: The total cell phone bill was 19.95 with a plan charge of $15
for 200 minute, insurance $1.95, special feature is $3.00. The calculation would
be as follows: $19.95 - $1.95 - $3.00 = $15. The $15 is divided by 200 minutes =
$0.08. The $0.08 is the rate Community Care will reimburse for business calls.
c. Cellular Phone Bills
Minutes Not Itemized: If you are on a plan such as 500 minutes for $35
($35.00 divided by 500 = $0.07). This is the rate Community Care will reimburse
per minute for business calls. If there are minutes over the base plan, add $35
plus cost of calls over the 500 minutes and divide by the total number of
minutes. The reimbursement rate will be the actual cost per minute or $0.10 per
minute, whichever is lower.
Requesting Reimbursement
a. When the cellular or telephone bill is received, highlight the business calls
and identify the individual or agency called. Please write the name of the
contact beside the telephone number. This is required for audit purposes.
b. Add the
minutes of calls made for Community Care business.
c.
Community Care will reimburse business calls at $.10 per minute, or the actual
cost per minute, whichever is lower.
Multiply the calculated rate per minute (see above for instruction) by
the total number if reimbursable minutes. This is the total amount you are
requesting to be reimbursed.
d. Complete a employee expense reimbursement form. This form is available in
Public Folders/Type-On Forms.
e. Submit a copy of the cellular or telephone bill attached to the employee
reimbursement form to your supervisor for approval. The approved form and bill
will be forwarded to the payroll department for processing in the next payroll
cycle.
Reimbursement for Subpoena Testimony at Court:
Any time Community Care employee is required by subpoena to testify at court,
the employee will be paid for their travel and time through the payroll and
mileage reimbursement process. When an employee also received a check from the
person(s) or organization who initiated the subpoena for time and/or mileage the
check should be signed over to Community Care. The check and a copy of the
subpoena are submitted to the Community Care finance office.
Meals:
No meals are reimbursed without prior permission by the Executive Director.
Other Types of Reimbursements:
Any other type of reimbursement that an employee might seek, such as for
training, tuition costs, approved purchases made on behalf of Community Care, or
other types must receive prior approval through the supervisory process. The
finance office ultimately determines what expenses are reimbursable.