When travel is required in the regular performance of your duties as an NEW Solutions Enrollee, established NEW Solutions Program policies will apply. These policies are based on excerpts from the federal regulations governing travel under federally funded grants. Enrollees should:
Enrollees are not to represent themselves at any time as government employees to obtain discounts.
Definition
Business travel that does not involve an overnight stay.
Authorization
Your position description should reflect travel expectations. All travel must be budgeted for in advance by your ACES State/Center Coordinator and receive the prior approval of your Monitor.
If your position description did not initially reflect travel requirements but business needs dictate a change in that status, your Monitor must request a modification to your position description through your ACES State/Center Coordinator. The State Coordinator is responsible for informing NEW Solutions of any travel status changes and for budgeting accordingly.
Ground Transportation
Allowable means of transportation include limousines, taxis, buses, or subways. Preauthorization by your State Coordinator is required for the use of Government Owned Vehicles (GOVs), Privately Owned Vehicles (POVs), and rental vehicles. Rental vehicles may not be used unless budgeted for in advance by your ACES State/Center Coordinator and authorized in advance by your Monitor.
If your PD states that travel is included, you have prior authorization to drive a POV, GOV or a rental vehicle.
Reimbursement
A completed Enrollee Local Travel and Expendable Supplies Expense Statement must:
Original documentation, to be included with the travel expense form, is listed below. Reimbursement will be delayed when appropriate documentation is not attached, such as:
Important! For continuous travel of more than 12 hours, but less than 24 hours with no lodging required, reimbursement for Meals & Incidental Expenses (M&IE) is allowed. In these instances, enrollees must submit both the “Enrollee Travel Authorization and Advance Request” form and use the “Enrollee Travel Expense Statement” form instead of the Enrollee Local Travel and Expendable Supplies Expense Statement form.
Definition
Business travel that involves an overnight stay.
Authorization
Advances
Enrollees may request travel advances up to 85% of anticipated expenses or $1,000 (whichever is smaller) to help defray costs of preauthorized travel.
A completed Enrollee Travel Authorization and Advance Request form must:
Travelers must submit receipts within 30 days of the conclusion of travel. Enrollees are also required to return to NEW Solutions any unspent portion of the advance within 30 days.
Non-compliance
If any unspent monies are not returned within the 30-day time limit, the enrollee and the Accounts Payable Specialist will then establish a payment plan under which the amount owed is deducted from the enrollee’s paycheck(s) when necessary. If for any reason a payment plan cannot be established (e.g. separated enrollee), the amount(s) in question will be recorded as taxable income to the enrollee.
This policy is designed to comply with the accountable plan rules of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Treasury Department
Direct Deposit for advances is available. Click here to print a copy of the Direct Deposit Form. If you need assistance, please contact your NEW Solutions Field Office.
Ground Transportation
Enrollees are urged to use mass transit systems whenever available rather than rental cars or taxis to keep costs to a minimum.
Reimbursement
A completed enrollee Travel Expense Statement must:
Original documentation, to be included with the travel expense form, is listed below. Reimbursement will be delayed when appropriate documentation is not attached, such as:
Items not reimbursable: club memberships, personal phone charges in excess of the $6.00 allowed per overnight, gifts, family/friends’ expenses, entertainment, pay-for-view movies or other personal expenses other than transportation, food, lodging and business expenses.
Definition
Business travel in Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Possessions and territories.
Please follow instructions in the Travel With Overnight Stay section.
When combining personal travel with business travel, additional non-business overnights and expenses will be considered personal expenses. A note of explanation (such as “personal” or “provided”) must be made on original receipts and expense forms to break out personal costs.
Effective January 1, 2019, the rates for the use of the following modes of transportation are:
| Privately Owned | Reimbursement Rate |
| Automobile | .58 cents per mile |
| Motorcycle | .55 cents per mile |
| Airplane | $1.26 per mile |
Enrollees should:
Read this section thoroughly regarding your personal insurance requirement before you agree to drive a Government Owned Vehicle (GOV). In every case, you should contact your insurance professional to make sure that you, your family, and your assets are adequately protected.
As a general rule, Enrollees with business travel requirements will be authorized by their Monitors to operate a Government Owned Vehicle (GOV). Thus funds need not be budgeted for travel expenses.
Enrollees must provide proof of a valid state driver’s license before driving a GOV.
It is important to recognize that there is nothing to prevent another person from suing whomever they want. Having personal liability insurance is strongly recommended for all Enrollees who drive GOVs. It is wise to check with your insurance professional to ascertain whether you have adequate protection. Although laws vary from state to state, in general, if you are involved in an accident that caused injury to another or their property, one or more of the following may apply:
As a general rule, the use of POVs for business purposes is discouraged and should be a rare occurrence. Reimbursement from NEW Solutions for POV usage must be budgeted for by the NRCS State/Center Coordinator in advance of Monitor approval for such travel.
When operation of a POV is required for business use, the Enrollee must carry valid liability and property damage insurance that covers BUSINESS use of the vehicle. Enrollees need to consult with their insurance professional to ensure they have adequate coverage to include:
Enrollees who are preauthorized to use a commercial airline for business travel may either:
Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) vs. Air Travel
To assure the most cost-effective method of travel is utilized, documentation must be submitted with the expense report to verify that travel by the POV does not exceed the cost of a round trip coach class airfare. When a POV must be used and the expected cost of mileage exceeds the cost of a round trip coach class airfare, advance approval from the Enrollee’s Monitor and the NEW Solutions Field Office must be submitted with the expense report.
Direct Billed Tickets
Enrollees who want to direct bill airline tickets are required to register with American Express Business Travel Center. For instructions on how to register, please contact the Accounts Payable Specialist at NEW Solutions Headquarters by telephone (703-558-4200).
Important!
Enrollees may not purchase airline tickets more than thirty (30) days in advance of the travel departure date through the American Express Business Travel Center.
Your NEW Solutions Field Office will have the details about how to contact the American Express Business Travel Center.
The American Express Business Travel Center will:
To cancel direct billed airline tickets:
Enrollee Purchased Tickets
Enrollees are required to:
To cancel enrollee purchased airline tickets:
If airline policy allows the cancelled ticket to be applied to a future trip, NEW Solutions will hold the ticket for re-issuance. When rescheduling the trip, the Enrollee should call the NEW Solutions Accounts Payable Specialist for assistance.
Enrollee Responsibility for Cancelled Tickets
When cancellations are not attended to promptly, the Enrollee could be liable for the ticket charge and in that case, the ticket becomes the property of the enrollee.
Rental of cars by NEW Solutions Enrollees can be utilized only within the context of preauthorized business assignments.
When rental cars are necessary, the Enrollee must rent from a nationally recognized agency to avoid service problems often associated with smaller local rental firms. Travelers are directed to always accept both the rental agency’s Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) insurance, which will cover collision damage to the vehicle and the additional liability coverage which covers injury or damage to the other party in case of an accident. NEW Solutions will reimburse these additional charges. No other additional insurance charges, such as medical insurance, will be reimbursed.
The Enrollee is expected to make advance reservations for economy model automobiles and to compare rental plans carefully in order to obtain the most economical package.
Enrollees on business travel outside of the 50 States or the District of Columbia should purchase additional rental car insurance coverage for damage to or loss of the vehicle and pay the additional fees. If rental or leasing agency requirements, foreign statute or legal procedures of the foreign country could cause extreme difficulty to an Enrollee involved in an accident, an Enrollee on foreign business travel should purchase the full insurance coverage offered by the rental car company.
Personal phone calls may be reimbursed to a maximum of $6.00 for each overnight stay and should be itemized on the Enrollee’s expense form.
Business phone calls may be reimbursed by submitting a documented phone bill with the business calls highlighted.
NOTE: When a phone bill arrives after submitting your travel expense report, a memo referencing the appropriate trip/dates attached to the phone bill will suffice for reimbursement purposes.
Lodging:
Taxes are treated separately as a miscellaneous expense and not part of the room rate.
Expenses (excluding taxes) which exceed the maximum lodging amount allowed, must be approved by the Monitor in advance of travel. The Monitor’s written approval and justification must be submitted with the travel expense statement.
Meals and Incidental Expenses:
NOTE: For computing M&IE allowances, official business travel begins at the time you leave the office, home or other point of departure and ends when you return to the point of origin at the conclusion of the trip.
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | |
| A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| B | Continuous Travel > 12 hrs < 24 hrs ELIGIBLE for 75% M&IE | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| C | Travel Begins ELIGIBLE for 75% M&IE | Full Day Travel ELIGIBLE for 100% M&IE | Full Day Travel ELIGIBLE for 100% M&IE | Travel Ends ELIGIBLE for 75% M&IE |
| D | Travel Begins ELIGIBLE for 75% M&IE | Travel Ends ELIGIBLE for 75% M&IE | N/A | N/A |
Furnished Meals reduce your M&IE as detailed in the following chart. If ALL meals are furnished, you receive a daily amount of $5.00 for incidental expenses.
| M&IE Amount | |||||
Meal Furnished | $46.00 | $51.00 | $56.00 | $61.00 | $66.00 | $71.00 |
Breakfast | $7.00 | $8.00 | $9.00 | $10.00 | $11.00 | $12.00 |
Lunch | $11.00 | $12.00 | $13.00 | $15.00 | $16.00 | $18.00 |
Dinner | $23.00 | $26.00 | $29.00 | $31.00 | $34.00 | $36.00 |
Incidentals | $5.00 | $5.00 | $5.00 | $5.00 | $5.00 | $5.00 |
NEW Solutions follows the Federal GSA and Department of Defense per diem (lodging and M&IE) rates for travel within the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. Although NEW Solutions Enrollees are to use these government standard per diem rates, Enrollees are not Federal employees and must not represent themselves as Federal employees while traveling.
Click here to access per diem rates for travel within the United States. On this page, select the year your travel is occurring (the GSA page can display both current and past per diem rates), and then click on the state you are visiting on the map. If you are visiting outside the “lower” States, click on the link just below the map.
Important Note: Travel to a location not listed in the above per diem rate tables requires an Enrollee to use the Standard CONUS (Continental United States) rates for lodging and M&IE listed at the beginning of each state’s rate table.
Travel to Foreign Locations
To obtain the approved per diem rates covering Puerto Rico, the Northern Marianas, U.S. Possessions and foreign locations, contact the Accounts Payable Specialist at NEW Solutions Headquarters by telephone (703-558-4200).
NEW Solutions provides government agencies experienced workers using cost-effective, flexible, innovative and contemporary staffing options.
3811 North Fairfax Drive Suite 900 Arlington, VA 22203
Phone: (703) 558-4200
Email: hq@newsolutions.org
www.newsolutions.org