Whatever will Times employees do now that they can’t expense drinks with other Times employees? And holding lunch costs to below $30? Impossible!
ENTERTAINMENT AND MEALS
Here are some general rules to keep in mind, always.
· The Times will not subsidize or reimburse business meals or drinks involving only your fellow Times colleagues. In other words, we will not absorb the costs of taking one another out for drinks, lunch or dinner. Exceptions will be made on a limited basis — an editor taking out a reporter, say, to discuss an important transfer or a promotion — and only if the host can persuade us that the outing was vital to company business that could not otherwise be conducted in the newsroom. Otherwise, these expenses will be disallowed.
· The Times will not subsidize or reimburse the cost of food delivered to the newsroom for departmental or staff meetings, without approval from News Admin. This includes departments or bureaus charging to their P-cards or to the newspaper the cost of bagel runs, supplies of bottled water, catered luncheons or any group meals for their staffs, whether the department is ordering from outside caterers and restaurants, or the cafeteria on the 14th floor. If a department is having a luncheon meeting, for example, editors should encourage participants to brown bag, bring down their own food from the cafeteria or share the cost of outside delivery.
As noted earlier, staffers seeking reimbursement of meals, including entertainment expenses, should adhere to the following general guidelines for individual meals: $15 for breakfast, $25-$30 for lunch and $45-50 for dinner. We understand that costs can vary from city to city, but filings that consistently challenge or exceed these limits may not be reimbursed, in whole or in part. And once again – receipts are necessary for any meal of $25 or more.