Board Decision: Travel regulations for cancelled events 

Facts/Problem 

The current reimbursement regulation also only to reimburse actual real costs, for travel which took place. In our current case, an event was cancelled.

The Community Expansion Committee (T3CEC) informed the Board that several of its members were scheduled to attend the Transform Africa Summit (24-26 July) on behalf of TYPO3. The organizers cancelled the event on short notice, without announcing a new date. Most travel arrangements could be cancelled or rebooked without cost, but one contributor had booked a non-refundable long-haul flight, of which only a small fraction would be refunded at cancellation.

The committee asked the Board to reimburse the contributor's flight costs from the T3CEC budget, and suggested discussing a policy that allows long-haul flights to be booked as refundable tickets, even though these are more expensive.

Objective 

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Obligations to cooperate 

From the contributors' perspective, the expenses should be reimbursed, because the risk of an event cancellation should be carried by the committee and the Association, not by the individual contributor.

Some travel insurances cover expenses in case of conference cancellations, which should be investigated. For expensive trips, however, this would usually mean paying money back after a reimbursement has already happened.

Paying 10-15% on top of a regular economy class fare for a refundable ticket is a good investment in many cases. Higher surcharges should be subject to a risk assessment.

Financial and human resources impacts 

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Resolution/Petitum 

Change the Reimbursement rules to the following:

Additions in bold. There are no deletions.

2.a Participation

Expenses for travel, lodging, and food must concern participation in a TYPO3-related activity in a real and practical sense, unless participation was prohibited by unforeseen circumstances outside of the reimbursee's control and not reimbursable through insurance or compensation regulations, such as illness, urgent family matters, job-related emergencies, cancellations, or Force Majeure.|

2.c Service class

Expenses for public transportation should be for the lowest service class, such as economy class. Refundable tickets are permissible if priced within 15% of a similar non-refundable ticket. Subject to documented risk assessment and pre-approval, the budget owner may reimburse refundable tickets at a higher cost.

2.o Travel insurance

Each traveler is personally responsible for relevant insurances. Expenses incurred due to a lack of proper and valid travel or health insurance coverage will not be reimbursed.

Discarded alternatives 

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Attachments 

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Comments 

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