§ 301-7.2 - Employee and agency responsibilities.

(a) Employee responsibility—(1) Duty to exercise care in incurring expenses. An employee traveling on official business is expected to exercise the same care in incurring expenses that a prudent person would exercise if traveling on personal business and expending personal funds. Excess costs, circuitous routes, delays, or luxury accommodations and services unnecessary or unjustified in the performance of official business are not acceptable under this standard. Employees will be responsible for excess costs and any additional expenses incurred for personal preference or convenience. (See § 301-1.3(a).)

(2) Duty to record pertinent dates. The date of departure from and arrival at the official station or any other place at which travel begins or ends must be shown on the travel voucher. This same information also must be shown for points at which temporary duty is performed or for a stopover or official rest stop location when such arrival or departure affects the per diem allowance or other travel expenses. Other points visited also should be shown.

(3) Fire safety responsibilities. An employee traveling on official business is strongly encouraged to stay at an approved accommodation as defined in § 301-17.2(c) of this chapter.

(b) Agency responsibilities—(1) Authorizing/approving rates. It is the responsibility of the head of each agency, or his/her designee, to authorize or approve only those per diem allowances that are justified by the circumstances affecting the travel and are allowable under the specific rules in this part. However, the per diem rates provided for under these rules represent the maximum allowable. To prevent authorization or approval of per diem allowances in excess of amounts required to meet the necessary per diem expenses of official travel, consideration shall be given to factors such as those listed in this paragraph that reduce the necessary expenses of employees (see specific guidelines in § 301-7.12 of this part for reducing rates):

(i) Known arrangements or established cost experience at temporary duty locations showing that lodging and/or meals can be obtained without cost or at reduced cost to the employee;

(ii) Situations in which special rates for accommodations have been made available for a particular meeting, conference, training or other temporary duty assignments;

(iii) Traveler's familiarity with establishments providing lodging and meals at a lower cost in certain localities, particularly where repetitive travel or extended stays are involved;

(iv) Modes of transportation where accommodations are provided as part of the transportation cost; and

(v) Situations in which the Government furnishes lodging, such as Government quarters or other lodging procured for the employee by means of an agency purchase order (see § 301-7.12(a) of this part).

(2) Fire safety responsibilities. Each agency, as defined in § 301-17.2(a) of this chapter, is responsible for influencing its employees who require commercial lodging when performing official travel to stay at an approved accommodation as defined in § 301-17.2(c) of this chapter.