Definition of a business journey | Finance Division

To determine which journeys may be regarded as business journeys the following rules apply. A business journey is one undertaken by an employee to:

• carry out his or her duties for the University; or
• to attend training courses or conferences necessary for the performance of those duties.

Travel between the permanent workplace and a temporary workplace, or travel between home and a temporary workplace, or travel between two temporary workplaces are all considered business journeys.

Temporary Workplaces

Sometimes an employee may change their workplace for a temporary period without that change having any substantial additional cost or effect on their journey to work.

E.g. They are normally based at the Old Schools but they are seconded to the RGO for a six month project.

In these cases the change is ignored and both sites are classed as a single permanent workplace and therefore the employee can not reclaim the cost of travelling from home to either workplace because it will be treated as ordinary commuting.

However, if an employee attends the same temporary workplace for 24 months or longer they are said to be on ‘detached duty’, and their temporary workplace will be regarded as their new permanent workplace.