UC Travel Regulations Policy Changes

The University of California Office of the President recently announced changes to Policy G-28 Travel Regulations. The revisions became effective August 1, 2020.

Important changes were made to incorporate recommendations from UC internal audit, including the required documentation for expense reports. Beginning August 1, the following documentation will be required to process expense reports:

  • Each expense report must have documentation attached that fully describes the business purpose of each day of travel, including:
    • Meetings - documentation must specify the meeting dates, times, locations, general meeting topics, attendees, and organizational affiliations
    • Conferences - agendas, brochures, event announcements for conferences and professional events much be attached
    • Confidential meetings (ex: research subject travel) - provide as much information as possible to justify the business purpose
    • Complex travel itineraries such as a research project that involved extended travel with multiple destinations - include documentation such as a brief narrative, explaining why the traveler needed to go to each location
  • Business or first class airfare tickets in cases where an itinerary involves overnight travel without an opportunity for normal rest before the commencement of working hours
    • Documentation must be attached to support the early meeting start time and/or that alternative start dates or times are unavailable

Other policy changes include:

  • Clarification on what is included in foreign per diems
  • Language on fund source restriction for reimbursement of dependent travel and dependent care expenses while on travel status was changed to permit an allowable fund source
  • New sustainable travel suggestions
  • Gender-neutral references

The updated policy can be found on the UCOP website. Refer to the Business Travel Reimbursement Made Easy guide for reimbursement tips.