9. Per diem and travel policy guidelines
2 Refer to Annex 21.36 Per diem and travel policy guidelines, which outlines a formula for calculating a travel and per diem rate for both international and national staff.
Country Offices usually already have an established travel and per diem policy for current national staff that travel within the country. However, an emergency may impact on local prices, the availability of standard accommodation, etc., so it may be necessary for an established CO to review and, if necessary, adjust its travel and per diem policy. A periodic review and readjustment may also be required to reflect the changing context and economy of the post-emergency environment.
International staff members deployed to an emergency response operation are placed on the same per diem policy that is determined by the CO, which applies to all CARE staff and consultants working in an emergency location, irrespective of variations in employment contracts with different CARE members. The CO must advise the International Members of the agreed per diem rate and any requirements for cash travel advances.
The CO must ensure that a system is in place to issue per diems efficiently so that staff do not deploy to the field before receiving per diem, and to ensure finance is not overburdened with sudden requests for issuing per diems.
Refer to Annex 21.36 Per diem and travel policy guidelines. Also see Annex 21.37 CARE Sri Lanka amended per diem form, for an example of a temporary per diem revision put in place in a CO during an emergency.
