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01
Issue Purpose AFU January, 2006
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document shall not be altered without formal approval of the document Custodian.
Procedure on International Business Visit Allowance (IBVA) Rev 03
Content:
1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 PURPOSE.................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 SCOPE........................................................................................................................................ 4
1.3 TERMINOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 USER NOTES .............................................................................................................................. 4
2 RISKS AND CONTROLS ............................................................................................................. 5
3 RESPONSIBILITIES..................................................................................................................... 6
4 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 7
5 WORKFLOW................................................................................................................................. 8
6 CONTENT ...................................................................................................................................... 9
6.1 IBVA RATES ............................................................................................................................. 9
6.2 ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS ........................................................................................... 9
6.3 EXAMPLES ............................................................................................................................... 10
6.4 QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 10
7 ATTACHMENT 1 EXAMPLE IBVA FORM ........................................................................ 11
1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this procedure is to recognize employees’ disruption to home life caused by
high levels of international business travel, including short term and temporary international
assignments of up to six months. This includes travel for training purposes.
1.2 Scope
The procedure covers all Shell secondees, SEIC expatriate direct hires and RF permanent
and fixed term employees based in the Russian Federation, up to and including Salary Group
B who undertake international business travel that involves spending nights away from home.
The allowance covers both short business trips and temporary assignments of up to six
months. For those undertaking international assignments of six continuous months or longer,
expatriate terms should apply. This also includes employees on international training courses.
Other aspects of temporary assignment policy, for example the frequency of trips home, are
not covered by this procedure and are subject to the relevant business/country policy.
1.3 Terminology
Key terminology in this document is defined at its first appearance.
A controlled copy of the current version of this document is located in LiveLink and is available
via the SEIC website. Before using this document it is the User’s responsibility to ensure that
any hard or electronic copy is current. The Document Custodian should be contacted for
assistance and any feedback.
3 Responsibilities
Employees are responsible for keeping records of their international business trips, including
the number of nights spent away from home per calendar year and for claiming for IBVA.
The Line Manager is responsible for approving the number of nights applicable to IBVA each
month, recorded on the IBVA form.
4 References
Other applicable documents that should be read or referenced in conjunction with this
document include:
5 Workflow
Not applicable to this document.
6 Content
A certain amount of international business travel is covered by normal compensation. This is
defined as 40 nights per calendar year. IBVA becomes payable for each night away from
home on international business above 40 nights.
Continuous trips of seven nights or more are an exception. In this case payment of IBVA
commences on the seventh night, with the first six nights (but not the nights paid) counting
towards the 40-night threshold. Once the 40-night threshold is reached, all nights after that
are payable.
A higher rate of IBVA applies for 100 nights or more per year. This will be double the
standard IBVA rate set for each country.
The IBVA rates for both RF and expatriate employees are based on common pay levels in the
country in which the employee is employed.
For Russian Federation staff, these net rates will be grossed up for tax to set the actual gross
rates. The net rates will apply directly for expatriates employed under net pay terms, i.e.
EBAS, US Balance Sheet programs or expatriate direct hires, since they will be grossed up at
the time of payment.
The gross rates are applicable to Russian Federation employees, while the net rates are
applicable to those employed in the country under EBAS, US balance sheet or expatriate
direct hire arrangements.
The higher IBVA rate applicable for 100 nights or more is double the standard rate shown.
IBVA Standard Nightly Rates Effective 1 January 2006 until 31 December 2006
RUSSIA USD 79 72
An example IBVA form is attached to demonstrate how the spreadsheet works. See
Attachment 1 Example IBVA Form.
• On completion of each international business trip the employee must submit the IBVA
Form to their Line Manager. This can be an electronic or hard copy. The Line
Manager is then responsible for checking that the correct number of nights has been
entered by the employee. No further action is required at this point. The Line
Manager is not required to initiate payment of the IBVA until 31 December.
• At the end of each year, the employee must provide a hard copy of the IBVA Form to
their Line Manager if they qualify for payment of the IBVA. The employee must print
and sign their name at the bottom of the form. The Line Manager must then print and
sign their name at the bottom of the form and submit to HR Business Services for
payroll processing.
If an employee leaves the company during the year, the steps above must be followed
before departure from the company to ensure payment can be made.
• Forms that are not signed by both the employee and the Line Manager will not be
processed.
• From 1 January, the IBVA ‘clock’ starts again. Nights accrued in the previous year are
not carried over to the next year – the number of international nights spent away starts
at zero.
• Payment will be made with the employee’s salary early in the following year, either
through SEIC Payroll or Expatriate Central Payroll.
6.3 Examples
The following example may be useful in ensuring that the procedure is applied correctly in
respect of banking nights towards the threshold:
a) Away from 1-31 Jan; 30 nights. 1st 6 nights go into bank, 7th to 30th night paid IBVA
b) Away from 1-25 Mar; 24 nights. 1st 6 nights go into bank, so total now 12 nights, 7th
to 24th night paid IBVA;
c) Away from 31 Mar-5 Apr; 5 nights. All 5 nights go into bank, so bank total is now 17
nights
d) Away 15 Apr to 22 Apr; 7 nights. 1st 6 nights go into bank, so bank total is now 23
nights, 7th night paid IBVA
6.4 Questions
• What happens if I spend more than 40 nights a year away from home on domestic, or a
mixture of domestic/international travel? Will I be compensated for this as well?
The policy would apply for those nights spent on the international leg of the travel itinerary.
Domestic nights would not apply. For example, if you are traveling to Rijswijk and
overnight in Moscow during the visit, this night would not be counted.
• If my line manager is not familiar with IBVA, whom should I contact for approval?
You still need line management approval before processing. Your line manager should
contact HR for instructions.