1.1. General
Except as indicated below, the County does not reimburse employees for home to work or work to home travel. Any disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the mileage reimbursement policy shall be referred to the Human Resources Department Director, whose decision shall be final. As soon as practicable after notification is received from the IRS of a change in its allowable mileage rate, the County shall change its rate to coincide with that set by the IRS.
1.2. Definition of Regular Work Location
The County facility(ies) or designated area(s) within the County where an employee reports when commencing his/her regularly assigned functions.
Any County facility(ies) or designated area(s) to which an employee is assigned for a period in excess of twenty (20) consecutive work days shall ordinarily be considered a regular work location not subject to employee mileage reimbursement. Temporary assignments which extend beyond twenty (20) days may be considered for an extension not to exceed a total of twenty (20) additional work days. Approval authority for extensions rests with the Human Resources Department Director, whose decision shall be final.
An employee is entitled to mileage reimbursement under the following conditions:
- After arriving at the regular work location, any subsequent, required, work-related travel in the employee’s own vehicle is eligible for mileage reimbursement.
- Employees using their own vehicle to travel to and from any required training program or conference are entitled to reimbursement for all miles traveled unless they are leaving directly from their residence, in which case the total shall be less the normal mileage to or from the regular work site. Employees using their own vehicle for travel to and from any optional work related training program or conference may, with department head approval, be eligible for mileage reimbursement up to the limits specified above.
- Employees required to travel from their residence to a location other than their regular work location shall be entitled to mileage reimbursement for all miles traveled, less normal mileage to or from the regular work location. For example: an employee resides in Burlingame with a regular work location in San Mateo. Distance from home to work is eight (8) miles. Due to an early meeting, the employee must travel twenty-one (21) miles from home to Redwood City. Based on the above rule, the employee is entitled to thirteen (13) miles of reimbursement. This is arrived at by subtracting eight (8) miles (normal home to work mileage) from twenty-one (21) miles (home to Redwood City).
- Employees required to engage in work-related travel at the end of the work day shall be entitled to mileage reimbursement for all miles traveled less normal mileage from the regular work location to their residence. For example: An employee resides in Palo Alto with a regular work location in Redwood City – thirteen (13) miles from home to work. The employee has a meeting in Hayward (thirty-one (31) miles) which ends at 5:00 p.m. with the employee going directly home (thirty-one (31) miles). Per the above rule, the employee is entitled to eighteen (18) miles reimbursement. This is arrived at by subtracting thirteen (13) miles (home to work mileage) from thirty-one (31) miles (Hayward to home).
1.3. Any exceptions to the above policy may be considered on a case by case basis by the Human Resources Department Director, whose decision shall be final.