FAQs on work-related travel

Work-related travel involves traveling to take care of work-related business outside of your regular place of work; it must be confirmed in writing or authorized (Section 2 subsection 2 sentence 1 of current travel expense regulations—Hamburgisches Reisekostengesetz, HmbRKG).

Professors at Universität Hamburg are only required to notify the University of travel-related work.

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A Dienstgang is a short trip in the vicinity of your regular place of work or residence in order to take care of work-related business outside of your regular place of work (within greater Hamburg on the public transportation system). It must be confirmed in writing or authorized. A temporary residence for the purpose of work-related business is equivalent to your regular place of residence (Section 2 subsection 3 HmbRKG).

Travel for the purpose of advanced training involves trips by University staff who have finished their professional training and who would like to gain further skills, experience, and qualifications in areas relevant to their work. They also include trips to adapt to new workplace requirements or to prepare for new duties (Section 23 subsection 2 HmbRKG).

a. Exception: University professors (see number 7).

Universität Hamburg staff are required to submit a work-related travel application before traveling. This includes all civil servant staff at Universität Hamburg (as per Section 1 subsection 1 of current travel expense regulations—Hamburgisches Reisekostengesetz, HmbRKG), all staff employed under wage agreement contracts, and student employees (pursuant to  Section 23 subsection 4 collective wage agreement for the public sectors of the German states (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder, TV-L)).

Student assistants may not currently submit applications for work-related travel. If necessary, there is a separate procedure. Following confirmation by or an invitation from your superior or professor, you may accompany members of the University on trips or take part in conferences. You are insured through your student health insurance policy.

Short summary: if you are employed by Universitat Hamburg pursuant to an employement contract under the TV-L, you must submit an application for work-related travel before traveling.

Important: Indicate the complete travel period, including arrival and departure date, in your work-related travel request form.

Authorization for work-related travel forms the basis for subsequent travel expense calculations and the reimbursement of travel costs. When work-related travel is authorized, the applicant also receives confirmation that expected costs will be reimbursed. This is why the funding source (cost center or PSP element) needs to be provided. Accident insurance for travelers only becomes valid when the trip has been authorized in writing.

1. The applicant signs the first page, thereby applying for authorization.
2. His or her superior signs the second page (overleaf), thereby authorizing the trip, and agrees to the provision of funding (person responsible for budget = project leader, cost center authority, etc.).
   Once the person responsible for the budget has signed, the application has been authorized and you can commence your trip.
3. If your superior is not responsible for funding (e.g., he or she is only responsible for part of a project or is a team leader or section head), he or she will need to sign the first page.
4. If there are no travel expenses or if you choose to waive your claim to reimbursement by the University, your superior only needs to sign the first page.

University professors only need to notify the University of their travel plans. To do so, they can submit the proper form to the respective faculty office (office of the dean, departmental office, etc.).

1. Cost effectiveness and thrift
   Travel expenses are reimbursed if the expenditures and length of the trip were necessary to take care of business (Section 3 subsections 1 and 2 HmbRKG).
2. Beginning and concluding work in question
   The points at which the traveler assumes and concludes duties at the event or institution in question mark the beginning and end respectively of the work.
3. Beginning and concluding work-related travel
   The points at which the traveler departs from and returns to his or her residence or regular place of work in order to commence with or to conclude the work requiring travel constitute, respectively, the beginning and end of work-related travel.
4. Compensation for commuting
   Compensation is available to those who use their car for work-related travel as follows:
   • Use of own car for compelling reason:
     – own vehicle €30 per km
   • Use of own car without compelling reason or for purposes of advanced training:
     – own car/motorcycle/moped €20 per km
     – bicycle €.05 per km
5. Compelling reasons for using your own car
   Work-related as well as serious personal issues may constitute compelling reasons, e.g.:
   • the work site is difficult or impossible to reach in a timely manner using regular public transportation;
     you need to transport heavy (at least 10 kg) or unwieldy luggage;
   • someone else traveling for work-related purposes is accompanying you for a least half of the trip;
   • you have a disability signficantly limiting your mobility (proof required).
6. Justifying travel by plane or rental car
   According to the HmbRKG, necessary costs can be reimbursed. You must justify the necessity of plane travel (e.g., savings on time, costs). If reasons are obvious (e.g., overseas travel, intercontinental flights, etc.), you do not need to provide a reason. You need to justify use of a rental car (e.g., usage by several travelers would be cheaper than public transportation).
7. Accident insurance for work-related travel
   Accident protection is provided in accordance with current regulations on protection for civil servants (Sections 33 et seq Hamburgisches Beamtenversorgungsgesetz, HmbBeamtVG) or the Social Security Code, Article VII (SGB VII).
   • Sections 33 et seq HmbBeamtVG
   • SGB VII
8. Work-related travel during parental leave / partial retirement
   Regardless of whether or not the employee is currently required to work, he or she still has a contract with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Thus, Section 1 subsection 1 HmbRGK applies. Contact the responsible HR staff about planning any work-related travel.
9. Advance payments
   Upon application, an advance payment of up to a maximum of 80% of expected travel costs may be granted.

If work-related travel is combined with vacation lasting longer than 5 working days, the trip will be seen as primarily private in nature. In this case, additional travel expenses will be reimbursed only if they specifically necessitated by your work. The duration of the work is irrelevant. If the primary interest is private in nature, no travel expenses for trains or planes can be reimbursed.

If you do not claim expenses in writing within six months of the day you conclude your work-related travel, your claim expires (Section 3 subsection 5 HmbRKG). Any installments paid by the University need to be paid back in full if a final accounting is not submitted to the Travel Management Team (731) by the six-month deadline.

When calculating a daily allowance, the point at which you cross the border is decisive. For land routes, you must submit the exact time at which you cross the border. If flying, you need to sumbit the time of the first landing at your final destination (lay-overs are not taken into account unless they require an overnight stay). For return trips, the time of the first landing in Germany needs to be submitted.

You can use a cafeteria if the institution you are visiting has one and you can eat there.

A private overnight stay at your place of business (e.g., with friends) constitutes an overnight stay without receipt. You can claim a flat rate of €20 per night (current flat rate in Germany). In this case, it is not necessary to provide information about breakfast.

An overnight stay without expenses involves an overnight stay for which a third party has paid your expenses. In this case, you need to provide information about whether you have also been given breakfast.

An overnight stay is free of charge if an opportunity to stay overnight (e.g., provided by the institution or person inviting you, such as a project partner, etc.) is offered at no charge.

In accordance with Section 10 HmbRKG, necessary overnight expenses will be reimbursed.

Without being subject to closer scrutiny, the following overnight stay expenses within Germany are considered necessary: up to €90 per overnight stay without breakfast and up to €100 per overnight stay including breakfast. If costs are higher, reasons must be provided.

If domestic travel is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the following overnight stay expenses are deemed necessary (without being subject to closer scrutiny): up to €70 per overnight stay without board and up to €98 per overnight stay including board. If costs are higher, reasons must be provided.

For travel abroad, other regulations on necessary overnight stay expenses apply. You can find these on our homepage: Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift über die Neufestsetzung der Auslandstage- und Auslandsübernachtungsgelder (PDF, in German only). If overnight stay expenses exceed those set forth for the destination in question, reasons must be provided.

Overnight stays in your own residence do not involve additional expenses. Traveling to a place with a second (or alternative) residence is thus calculated as a "Dienstgang."

In countries outside the Eurozone (e.g., Great Britain, China, etc.), it may be possible, if using a credit card, to pay the hotel bills in euros rather than in the local currency. As soon as the traveler agrees to this and pays in euros, he or she is given a receipt explicitly stating that he or she has agreed voluntarily and irrevocably to pay the bill in euros.

On the basis of the traveler's explicit agreement, hotels charge a foreign exchange fee. Overnight expenses and the exchange fee are generally listed as a single sum.

In accordance with travel expense legislation with regard to travel expense reimbursement, these exchange fees may not be reimbursed as they do not meet cost-effectiveness and thrift criteria. By contrast, bank fees for the international use of a credit card can be taken into account as "incidental costs" in final travel expense calculations.

In accordance with the Hamburg Travel Expense Act, necessary travel costs may be reimbursed. For plane travel in Germany and Europe, you must fly tourist or economy class. In accordance with regulations on foreign travel expenses, you can be reimbursed for business class on transatlantic, intercontinental, and long-distance flights.

Taxis are hired privately and do not qualify as regular means of transportation. If for compelling reasons you need to take a taxi, these expenses can also be reimbursed, for example:

• excess baggage, e.g., excessive or oversized luggage
• use of a taxi between midnight and 6 am
• unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate public transportation, e.g., long stretch of walk, multiple switches, long waiting periods
• compelling personal reasons
• further reasons (individual check)

Invalid reasons:

• lack of local knowledge
• bad weather conditions

When renting a car, renters often receive further offers with additional fee obligations when they sign the contract or pick up their car. Unfortunately, these cannot be reimbursed as they generally do not meet cost effectiveness and thrift criteria. If you rent a car, you must have compelling reasons similar to those for using your own car. If you do, the following expenses can be reimbursed:

• comprehensive insurance / theft protection (as a rule, in rental fee including deductible)
• premium location fee
• necessary one-way rentals
• necessary drop-off and pick-up of rental vehicle

Only those costs required by your work may be reimbursed. Private telephone calls and Internet use cannot be reimbursed.

Unfortunately, no. Travel insurance expenses can under no circumstances be reimbursed. If you cannot travel due to professional, health, or other reasons (cancellation of a conference, etc.), necessary preparation costs can be reimbursed upon proof.

Prior to a trip abroad, you need to clarify with your insurance provider whether you have sufficient coverage. Foreign health insurance expenses will not be reimbursed as travel expenses.

Vaccination fees can be reimbursed as incidentals in accordance with Section 14 HmbRKG if you are traveling to an infection and/or endemic region. We refer to the country-specific recommendations issued by the Foreign Office when reviewing the possibility for reimbursement.

You will be authorized a BahnCard Business upon application and on the basis of a calculation by Universität Hamburg. To calculate this, we require a list of planned work-related travel, planned travel dates, and planned routes (within the BahnCard Business’s period of validity).

You can use Deutsche Bahn’s online BahnCard Business calculator to determine which card is best for you.

You must also provide us with the following information for the application:

• first name and last name, date of birth, home address
• date on which the BahnCard Business should become valid
• the funding source (WBS element or cost center)
• approval of the required amount by the person responsible for resources.

A private BahnCard Business will be reimbursed without exception once amortization has taken place. The following documents are required for this:

• a copy of the BahnCard Business pass (front)
• list of planned trips (place, dates of future or already-completed trips—please use a separate piece of paper)
• invoice for BahnCard Business pass
• the funding source (WBS element or cost center) with approval of the person responsible for resources.

Unfortunately, no. The Travel Expense Act applies only to the reimbursement of costs, i.e., only those costs actually accrued when traveling. If you have a Bahncard 100, there are no actual train travel costs and reimbursement is not possible.

YES! You can apply for reimbursement of a BahnCard if the purchasing costs amortize within the validity period. In order to prove this, you need to list completed train trips within the pass's validity period.

• For every trip taken (round-trip), you need to submit the respective gross fee, i.e., the price of the train ticket if not using a BahnCard, and the paid fare.
• You need to submit an informal application for reimbursement with information about the nature and validity period (in the form of a copy of your BahnCard, front and back, and the invoice of your BahnCard to the Travel Management Team).
• This informal application must contain your current valid home address and bank information (IBAN)!
• When submitting the application, provide the funding source (WBS element or cost center) and the approval of the person responsible for resources.

Status: 2023