Private holiday in combination with work trips

The private holiday cannot be the primary purpose. The greater the private part of the total duration of the trip is, the more it looks like a holiday trip that cannot be covered by SDU.

It resembles a holiday trip if the employee's spouse/partner, children or friends participate in the trip.

It resembles a holiday trip if the private part of the trip is decided/booked before the work-related trip.

Examples

5 days of work-related trip and 1-2 days of private holiday is unlikely to cause problems in terms of being considered work-related trip.

1-2 days of work-related trip and 14 days of private activities would argue in favour of the trip being a private holiday.

Decision

If the department Financial Services is in doubt as to whether a trip in whole or in part is a private holiday, the relevant Head of Faculty Secretariat, Head of Department or Head of Division (management level 2) will make a decision in the case. The authority to make such decisions cannot be delegated to other persons.

A statement from the Head of Faculty Secretariat, Head of Department or Head of Division must be attached to the invoice/travel reimbursement.

If an administrative employee at the department or other decentralised unit is in doubt as to whether a trip is a private holiday, the matter can be discussed with the Travel Office or the relevant manager.

If your private holiday is in the same destination as the SDU work trip, the following rules apply:

• SDU covers plane and train tickets.
• SDU covers expenses such as accommodation and meals during the period(s) when the SDU-related activity takes place.
• SDU does not cover any expenses during the period when you are on holiday.

For administrative reasons, the Travel Office requests that you do not spend your holiday in a different destination than the SDU-related trip.

If you have your holiday in a destination other than where the SDU-related activity takes place, the following applies:

• SDU will cover the cost of plane and train tickets equivalent to the cost SDU would have incurred if a private holiday had not been included.
• It is the employee's responsibility to document the amount that the cost of plane and train tickets would have been if a private holiday had not been included. The documentation must be obtained on the same date as the purchased ticket, as the prices for plane tickets in particular change very often.
• Other expenses for plane and train tickets must be covered by the employee.
• SDU covers expenses for e.g. accommodation and meals during the period(s) in which the SDU-related activity takes place.
• SDU does not cover any expenses during the period when you are on holiday.

Workflow in practice

Tickets from Denmark to the destination of the work-related trip must be procured in accordance with SDU's rules for the purchase of flights, trains, etc. including the use of SDU's travel agency, electronic invoicing and/or SDU company-issued credit cards.

Tickets from the destination of the work-related trip to the resort (or vice versa) and transport costs from the resort to Denmark (or vice versa) must be purchased by the employee outside of SDU's travel agency and not with an SDU corporate credit card or invoice/bill issued to SDU.

You must settle the SDU-related additional expenses as expenses in SDU's travel settlement system zExpense.

You request reimbursement for the transport expenses that it would have cost SDU if you had not gone on private holiday, on the same settlement in SDU's travel settlement system zExpense as for expenses for hourly and daily allowances or catering, i.e. only after returning from the trip. You must be able to document the amount.

Special rules apply to academic staff recruited abroad and where the employee's family continues to live abroad, i.e. where the employee can be said to have two residences.

It is not the employee, but the individual department or unit that decides whether an employee is covered by the rules.

Transport between Denmark, the other residence and the work-related trip

The work-related trip can begin or end at the family's residence abroad. Transport between Denmark and the place of residence is always at your own expense.

SDU is only authorised to cover additional expenses, which means that SDU can cover expenses for transport between the conference venue and Denmark with a reduction for the saved expenses for transport between the alternative residence and Denmark.

The amount of the saved expense must be documented. The documentation must be provided on the same date as the ticket is booked.

Example

An employee has an alternate residence in Hungary and is travelling to a conference in the United States. She wants to fly from Denmark to Hungary, from Hungary to the US and then back to Denmark.

• Transport from Denmark to Hungary is at the employee's own expense.
• SDU covers the transport from Hungary to the USA.
• SDU covers a share of the transport from the USA to Denmark.
  • A one-way flight from the USA to Denmark costs DKK 3,000.
  • A flight ticket from Hungary to Denmark would have cost DKK 1,000.
  • The employee is reimbursed DKK 2,000 by SDU. The amount of DKK 2,000 corresponds to her additional expenses, as she would otherwise have had to transport herself from Hungary to Denmark, which would have cost DKK 1,000.

Holiday at a destination other than the residence

The special rules do not apply to holidays at a destination other than the alternative residence where the employee's family lives. In that case, the usual rules on private holidays in combination with work-related trips apply.

If you combine your work-related trip with a private holiday before, during or after the trip, you must provide your own insurance for the holiday period.

Contact your own insurance company before the trip to make sure it covers you if your holiday is combined with a work-related trip. Some insurance companies do not cover holiday travel in conjunction with work-related trips.

As part of your agreement with Europæiske ERV, you can take out private travel insurance with them at a 15-20% discount.

The rules on combining private holidays with a work-related trip are stated in the Guide from the Danish Employee and Competence Agency (PAV):

Section 21.2.10

”If, in connection with a work-related trip, the employee wishes to take holiday at the temporary place of employment, the place of employment may approve that the departure is brought forward or the return journey postponed to take account of the holiday. Increased expenses for transport, meals and accommodation as a result of the stay being extended by the holiday shall be borne by the employee, cf. also section 21.4.2.4. Special rules apply to the taxation of leisure trips made in connection with work-related trips.”

Section 21.4.2.4

”Similarly, the right (to compensation, ed.) always lapses during holidays as well as on days off, flex days, etc. held in connection with holidays.”

This means that SDU's expenses for a work-related trip that includes private holiday before, during or after the work-related trip must not exceed the cost of the work-related trip if it had not been combined with holiday.

In addition to the PAV, SDU's internal circular on work-related trips also applies, including the rule that it is the place of employment that organises the work-related trip and the rule on additional expenses.