Travel costs

Agreement should be reached in advance on what travel costs will be reimbursed. The employee may have to travel to see customers so this cost should be covered in the same way as if the employee were travelling from the workplace. Usually the employee will be responsible for covering their own costs for travelling into the office but sometimes, if they are a full-time homeworker, travel to the office will be reimbursed.

At Milton Keynes Council, for the purposes of travelling expenses the council regards the premises where the homeworker’s manager is based as the employee’s “normal office base”. Therefore, the normal council policy will apply which is that mileage will not be payable when the homeworker attends the “normal office base”.

Meanwhile, at Norfolk County Council, when a homeworker is required to visit the office for team meetings, briefings or supervisory/management sessions, managers are asked to consider at the outset of the arrangement whether payment of business mileage for all such journeys is financially supportable. Where considerable cost is likely to be involved, managers should determine a specific number of home to office journeys where no business mileage will be paid. For example, six visits per month for which mileage will not be paid and, should there be a requirement for additional office visits, these would attract business mileage at the appropriate rate.