Business Trip, its Compensation Rules, and Conditions

Within the framework of this article, I will briefly explain the purpose of a business trip, the preconditions for its use, and the rules for its compensation. The article will be structured in a Q&A format to make it easier to understand;

Question 1: Which normative acts regulate a business trip, its compensation rules, and conditions?
Answer 1: Article 21 of the Organic Law of Georgia "Labor Code of Georgia," the Order of the Minister of Finance of Georgia No. 220 "On the Determination of Norms for Business Trip Expenses Paid to an Employee," and the Tax Code of Georgia.
Question 2: What does a business trip mean?
Answer 2: A business trip is the temporary change of an employee's workplace by the employer, arising from the interests of the work. According to the structure of the norm, for a business trip, there must be a temporary change of the workplace, and this must be caused by the interests of the work.
Question 3: How long can a business trip be?
Answer 3: There is no direct answer to this indicated in the Labor Code. However, if a business trip exceeds 45 calendar days (per year), it is presumed that an essential change in the conditions of the employment contract has occurred;

Question 4: What does a change in an essential condition of the employment contract mean?
Answer 4: An essential condition means that there must be a bilateral agreement regarding it; i.e., not only the employer's desire but also the employee's consent must be present. Accordingly, a person cannot be sent on a business trip for more than 45 calendar days a year unless there is an agreement between the parties.
Question 5: Who is obliged to compensate for the expenses related to the business trip?
Answer 5: All expenses related to the business trip must be compensated by the employer because the business trip is carried out for the employer's interests. At the same time, there are sometimes cases when the employee first incurs these expenses and the employer reimburses them later. However, I believe such an approach is unacceptable, and the word "compensate" means not a de facto post-reimbursement but an advance payment. (Although, conversely, the subordinate normative act, i.e., the Minister's Order, requires compensation to be made on the basis of presented supporting documents, which alters the provision of the Organic Law. Consequently, due to the supremacy of the Organic Law, I consider this provision for subsequent reimbursement to be invalid. Despite my view, the provision in the Minister's Order reads as follows: "The norms for travel and accommodation expenses are determined according to the actually incurred expenses on the basis of the presentation of supporting documents");
Question 6: Is it possible to change the essential conditions of a business trip?
Answer 6: If the parties, i.e., the employer and the employee, agree on a different rule in the employment contract, then the agreement on the different rule takes precedence over the statutory provision (referring to the rules from Question 2 to Question 5). This means that 100 calendar days, rather than 45, can be considered the necessary time for a business trip, and this agreement will not be invalid;

Question 7: Are business trip expenses considered as salary?
Answer 7: Based on Subparagraph "a", Paragraph 3, Article 101 of the Tax Code of Georgia: The income received as salary does not include: a) compensation for business trip expenses paid to the employee within the norm determined by the Ministry of Finance of Georgia.
Question 8: How is the amount of the business trip compensation determined?
Answer 8: This is determined by the Order of the Minister of Finance of Georgia No. 220 "On the Determination of Norms for Business Trip Expenses Paid to an Employee."
Question 9: How many types of business trips are there?
Answer 9: The Minister's Order conditionally divides business trips into two types: internal business trips (within the State of Georgia) and external business trips (outside the State of Georgia);

Question 10: How is an internal business trip compensated?
Answer 10: The norm for daily expenses for a business trip within the country is determined at 15 GEL. If the business trip is to a destination within a 30 km distance from the workplace, where it is possible to return to the workplace (residence) on the same day, only travel expenses are compensated.
Question 11: Are weekends and holidays presumed to be included in the days of the business trip?
Answer 11: The days of actual stay on the business trip are calculated without excluding weekends and holidays, as well as the days of departure on the business trip and return from it (this rule applies to both internal and external business trips);
Question 12: How many types of external business trips exist?
Answer 12: There are two types of business trips outside the country: short-term (up to 30 days) and long-term (more than 30 days);

Question 13: How is an external business trip compensated?
Answer 13: Travel expenses are compensated taking into account the travel cost for the respective destination, but not exceeding the cost of an economy class (or equivalent class) ticket. The norms for daily expenses are determined according to Annex No. 1 of the same Order (which lists countries and the daily compensation amount). For example: for Australia, it is determined in Australian dollars; for short-term compensation, the norm is set at 43 dollars. For employees of Georgian institutions abroad on a short-term business trip within the state where the institution is located, the norm is set at 30 dollars; and the norm for compensation of accommodation expenses per day is 135 Australian dollars.
Question 14: Are there exceptions during external business trips?
Answer 14: Yes, there are. If the employee's business trip outside the country is provided by the receiving party only with food expenses, then the norm for their daily expenses is determined as 30 percent of the daily norm provided in Annex No. 1 of the Order (i.e., if the annex states that the accommodation norm in Australia is 135 dollars, this amount will turn into 40.5 Australian dollars);