General Meal Information
- Employees will be paid a daily per diem amount designed to cover the cost of meals (including tax and tips).
- For trips involving multiple travel destinations, the effective per diem rate will be based on where the night was spent as follows:
- Departure Day - where you spend the night
- Return Day - where you spent the night before returning to home base.
- Employees are not eligible for reimbursement of meals if one is provided by the hotel, meeting, conference or any other source. This includes continental breakfast and receptions.
- A copy of the official conference/meeting agenda is required.
- If reimbursement is requested for a provided meal, employee must include a separate written justification indicating the reason the traveler was not able to eat the provided meal.
- For overnight travel, employees are eligible for 75% of the total per diem on the first and last day of travel. Travel start and end times are no longer required.
- For single day trips, employees are eligible for 75% of the total per diem if the travel was more than 50 miles from home or office and the traveler is away for more than twelve (12) hours. For single day trips, start and end times are required.
- A 75% checkbox is available on the PeopleSoft system meal detail page to reduce the daily per diem rate by 75% when applicable.
- The In-State per diem rate does not include incidental expenses. Those expenses (tips to porters, baggage carriers, etc) may be reported and reimbursed separately. The Miscellaneous expense type should be used for this reimbursement.
- For out-of-state travel, $5 per day may be claimed to cover any incidental expense incurred. A traveler may not claim incidentals as individual items on the expense report. Expense type (Emp Meal Incidentals) in the PeopleSoft system can be used to request this reimbursement.
- In-State High Cost Counties are: Chatham, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Glynn & Richmond.
- If a meal is provided on the depart or return day, the amount reimbursed is reduced by the full meal per diem rate after the 75% proration. For example, if the per diem allows a $28 total reimbursement, and lunch was provided at no cost on a travel departure or return day, the total allowable reimbursement for that day would be $14 [$28*.75) - $7 lunch = $14)]. The chart below will assist in the calculations. The column on the left will indicate the meal that is provided by the hotel, conference, etc. Find the row with the meal provided and move to the right to the applicable daily per diem rate. The amount indicated on the column/row intersection will be the amount available for reimbursement for the other meals not provided on the depart/return day.
|
Meal Provided |
$28 |
$36 |
$41 |
$46 |
$51 |
$56 |
$61 |
$66 |
| Breakfast | $15.00 | $20.00 | $23.75 | $26.50 | $29.25 | $32.00 | $34.75 | $37.50 |
| Bkfst/Lunch | $8.00 | $11.00 | $12.75 | $14.50 | $16.25 | $17.00 | $18.75 | $19.50 |
| Bkfst/Dinner | $0.00 | $0.00 | $.75 | $.50 | $.25 | $1.00 | $.75 | $1.50 |
| Lunch | $14.00 | $18.00 | $19.75 | $22.50 | $25.25 | $27.00 | $29.75 | $31.50 |
| Lunch/Dinner | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Dinner | $6.00 | $7.00 | $7.75 | $8.50 | $9.25 | $11.00 | $11.75 | $13.50 |