If an employee has to travel out of town for a seminar during the weekend, will the travel time constitute "on the clock" time or will mileage reimbursement be the payment?

Travel time that incurred on behalf of the employer should be paid "on the clock" time. Mileage reimbursement is a seperate payment for the business use of the employees vehicle.

Agree, mileage reimbursement doesn't compensate for time.

Our institution pays travel time as regular time. A friend of mine at another location, though, is paid out of a separate budget for travel time that does not go into the calculation for overtime pay (she is non-exempt). I still can't figure out how that place gets away with that...

For hourly employees, travel time is paid on the clock and mileage reimbursment is seperate if they used their own vehicle.

I am working for a bank and they do not reimburse for mileage because the president says the bank is paying for the seminar and if you leave the bank you are taking that knowledge with you.
I have never worked for a bank that did not reimburse for mileage. Is this legal?

Maybe not illegal, but short-sighted of management. As has been pointed out before in this forum, does management consider the cost of NOT training and the employee DOESN'T leave?

1 Peter 5:7 Good point. In my 30 years of banking I have never run across anything like this. My previous bank was taken over by the FDIC last October and I was there for 20 years. Fortunately, I only have two more years to retirement. Hope I can last that long.
At least,I think, I can claim mileage on my tax return as non reimbursable expenses.

But only if it exceeds a certain % of your AGI, no?

don't believe there is a % threshold for business expenses

I think there is a maximum percent of your AGI that you can claim, but that may only apply to certain types of business expenses and I don't think mileage reimbursement is one of them. There is no threshhold to meet before you claim expenses though.

I'd sure like to review his expense reports to see if that rationale (such as it is) applies to him.

Does anyone fly to a seminar or conference and if so, do they pay the ticket cost, or housing or food? (On food, I already hear "you were going to eat anyway." But not necessarily at that cost.)

I've heard of banks that amortized seminar costs and required employees to repay the bank if they left within a given period, 6 mos, a year, etc. That makes more sense.

I have flown to conferences. I have a bank issued credit card for my expenses and everything goes on that, flight, hotel, food. However, if I do something that is more of a personal nature, I pay for it. For example, I recently attended a conference where I was able to meet up with a friend; when we went to dinner just to catch up and yack a little; I paid for that. If I pick up a sandwich for lunch, it's on the bank; if I decide to have drinks or a snack, I pay for it.

All expenses related to business travel, even for a training seminar, are picked up by the bank, with the exception of lunch. We stopped paying for employees lunches when certain areas were abusing the system and having very expensive lunches with "clients". Rather than punish the offenders, we punish everyone.

That's really harsh Happy...

Whenever I attend a conference the bank pays for the associated expenses to a certain point. It depends on the cost. The bank would foot the cost for breakfast, but if I decide to grab a drink in the evening, it's on me.

Our bank pays for flight, seminar, daily food expenses up to $100.00 (with receipts and not including drinks), and mileage to and from airport. I don't think it can get any better than that!

For us, travel time is considered "on the clock" for non-exempt employees; for exempt employees it counts towards our minimum of 48 hours/week. The Bank reimburses for flight, hotel and we have a per diem with specific meal limits; breakfast $10, lunch $15, dinner $25.

So you eat at McDonalds 3 times a day? That's harsh!

CBU3 - exempt employees are required to work a minimum of 48 hours a week?

Happy - We aren't required to work 48 hours a week, however it is the very well-established "expectation."

I think so too, especially after working at a Bank that perhaps erred a bit too much on the "anything goes" side of out of town expenses. Gotta love those Hyatts, Mariotts, Hiltons... (sadly waves "goodbye" to the luxury hotels and turns her eyes towards Motel 6 and Super 8)