Travel for work
For employees in Norway & Sweden
For employees in Norway & Sweden
Occasionally, it's sometimes necessary to travel elsewhere than your regular and permanent place of work. In these cases, the company covers the costs if our travel guidelines are followed. Remember that everyone is required to align any business travels with their leader prior to booking.
We only travel when absolutely necessary
We ensure that our business travel is connected to a strong business objective.
We spend money like we are owners of the company and choose environmentally friendly and cost-efficient business travel options whenever possible💚
The business travel guidelines are not fully applicable for longer assignments, in which case, accommodation and meals would be dealt with differently.
Oda covers the costs for any company-related business travel if our guidelines for business travel are followed for Transportation, Accommodation, and Meals
Travels are covered if they have a clear business objective and clear net benefit to the company:
Attending meetings where in-person attendance is required
Onboarding, training, and capability building
Employees are invited to company events outside of their usual place of work, such as Hackathons
Leaders traveling to build closeness to teams (a reasonable number of trips per annum)
Private travel: The company does not reimburse any costs associated with travel for personal, non-business related reasons. For instance, if an employee extends the business travels over a weekend, the company does not cover the costs for the extended stay, additional transportation or meals.
Non-employees: The company does not reimburse any costs associated with travels of a non-employee. However, it is reasonable to share a company-booked hotel, as long as no additional charges incur as a result of the non-employees’ stay. The employee is responsible for any expenses or damages incurred by the non-employee.
(for example for a team event/training/briefing)
If planning a trip or event that entails traveling for 2-5 people to 1 location, the trip must be approved by the country leader/platform leader who’s budget the travel is part of.
If planning a trip or event that entails traveling for more then 5 people to 1 location, the budget for this, covering travel and associated expenses, must be approved by the CXO to ensure this is within budget.
We understand the desire to travel more when a team is scattered and leaders are leading people not in the same location as themselves. Still, we need to balance this against the cost as well.
The guiding principle is that travel should always be arranged when there is a business need. Meaning that we avoid traveling purely for the sake of sitting face-to-face, but try to find occasions where we can feed two birds with one scone. Through the year, we expect no more than one such travel per tertial (either the employee or the leader) to meet for business-related activities.
Please book business travel using TravelPerk. You can find the TravelPerk tile in your Okta. If you are missing this please contact System & Access Support
Why TravelPerk? By using TravelPerk you won't need to prepay and expense later. TravelPerk allows you to have full overview over your booking and you can easily communicate with the customer service team if you need to alter your booking. TravelPerk may be used though APP or Desktop.
Some things can't be booked through Travel Perk, such as our long-stay apartments.
Tips when using TravelPerk
ℹ️ Make sure your profile data is correct the first time you use TravelPerk.
👯♀️ We pay per booking: traveling with a colleague? Add their name from the start and book together.
📅 Please book your travel as early as possible, we recommend 21 days prior.
🚫 Outside of policy does not mean that you cannot book, it usually means that you are booking later than what we recommend. However, we do ask that you try to stay withing the cost policies defined in TravelPerk
☎️ Do you need to alter/change your booking, please contact the customer service team via the “manage trip” button found in your booking.
💰Find your booking cheaper somewhere else? Please contact the TravelPerk team and request a price match - Keep in mind that it needs to be the exact same fare.
Generally, we book via TravelPerk. You do this the following way:
1) First time you use the platform, make sure your profile and especially date of birth is updated.
2) Use the platform search engine to find the flight most suitable for your travel within policy.
3) Book the travel, and await for your direct leader to approve.
4) Once approved you will receive a booking confirmation in your inbox.
Generally we book via TravelPerk, make sure to add hotel to your Trip when booking flights. In addition, we have agreements with specific hotels and providers in our locations. Please keep these in mind:
For any travel from Norway to Sweden or other sites in Norway, all Oda employees are insured through Gouda. This insurance covers employees for illness/injury; luggage lost/delays; cancellations; personal safety; accidents; liability; etc.
Please print the insurance card before travelling. This has the relevant information you will need to be able to contact our supplier.
Employees under Velocity should adhere to the travel guidelines under the contract and Expense Reimbursement Policy specific to the country of their employment.
It is the employees responsibility to ensure they meet the appropriate immigration requirements to enter and undertake the intended activities in the country where they are traveling to.
In most cases, EU/EEA passport holders can freely travel and undertake business trips across Europe
If traveling to a country that requires a visa/right to enter, the company will cover all relevant expenses associated with obtaining the visa/right to enter.
Expenses should be claimed through the company reimbursement system in Workday. For details on how to use the system to make a claim, please follow this link: Expense reimbursement policy.
Business travel should be booked economically, environmentally aware and far in advance to the travel date to ensure competitive rates. During a business trip, it may be necessary to travel between locations, e.g. between sites, business meetings, suppliers, customers. For all travels, employees should critically evaluate the need and total cost of travel of different options and choose the one that is most economical and sustainable.
🚌 Public Transportation: Whenever possible (e.g. travel between office and FC in same region, from the airport).
🌱 Book regular ticket.
If you have a monthly ticket and need to travel to another location but your location of employment: book ticket with an additional zone for the specific trip.
🚅 Train: When most economical and sustainable i.e. domestic travel between cities
Book standard class (or local equivalent) as default class of travel.
Only book comfort class if absolutely necessary for longer travels (journey exceeds 4 hours).
Frequent travelers should consider buying a discount card in cases where that will provide net savings for the company. In these cases, the discount card will be expensed
🚗 Private Car: Whenever possible and suitable choice time/cost-wise.
Use your own car.
The costs of fuel, tolls, and parking can be claimed.
Airport parking can be included when it is less than 3 days, otherwise we recommend our employees choose public transportation🌿.
🚙 Rental Car: Avoided unless critically needed, e.g. traveling with equipment (e.g. Student Fairs, company conferences) / other transportation is unavailable (e.g., no public transport, train or taxi available).
Book most cost-efficient, yet comfortable rental car option by default.
Choose car size based on the number of employees travelling with the car.
Have a valid drivers license in the country where the car is rented.
Available discounts through Visma Procurement are available in Norway. Category shall be adapted to the number of passengers and travel length, see Visma employee benefits: Useful information for people working in Nydalen.
🚕 Taxi / Car Sharing: Avoided unless critically needed, e.g., other transport is unavailable, too late or too time consuming or if there are several employees travelling together.
✈️ Flight: When most economical and efficient and the benefit really outweighs the cost.
Book economy as default class of travel.
Only book business class if absolutely necessary for long haul travels (flights above 7 hours).
Advance bookings if possible.
For overnight stays, luggage can be added to the booking.
Additional services such as fast track, VIP lounge, etc. are not covered.
Check for the cheapest option (https://www.google.com/flights) and/or utilize discounts, such as age discounts (i.e. SAS under 27, Flyr under 30), we do not have a preferred airline and should not base our decision on the motivation to collect travel points.
Deviations from the guidelines should be accompanied by strong rationale and approved in writing by the employees’ manager.
❗ While we encourage our employees to allow themselves some space for life during business trips, we do not cover any costs that are affiliated with it. For instance, if an employee decides to extend business travels over a weekend for leisure time, Oda will not reimburse any costs associated. Costs are only reimbursed if obligations to Oda make it impossible to avoid working on a weekend.
Book one room per employee.
Book comfortable rooms of a reasonable standard (unless no other room types available, do not book premium, luxury, deluxe or equivalent). You can find these in the document Booking business travels ✈️.
Where possible and subject to availability, employees should stay in accommodations near the offices/sites.
Book one room per employee.
Book comfortable apartment of a reasonable standard (unless no other apartment types available, do not book premium, luxury, deluxe or equivalent). You can find these in the document Booking business travels ✈️.
Where possible and subject to availability, employees should stay in accommodations near the offices/sites.
💶 Actual and reasonable costs of food and drinks are reimbursable
When selecting a place to eat, restaurants with a "reasonable" price level should be selected.
Breakfast can be included in the hotel rate, however cannot then be claimed as a separate expense.
Drinks with meals (mineral water, soft drinks, coffee, beer and wine) are covered to a reasonable extent when considered a natural part of the meal. Drinks and alcohol beyond what is reasonable for the meal or outside of the meal, are not covered under this policy.
Spirits/liquor are never covered by the company, even if it is a Social/ Team event.
Costs must be claimed with proof of purchase (receipts, invoices), see Process for claiming travel expenses.