Allowable Food Expenses

J-PAL is happy to pay for food in a variety of work-related situations. These include:

• Buddy coffees

  • Reimbursement is limited to $20 per assigned buddy pair per quarter. Employees should pay out-of-pocket and then submit a RFP (see instructions here) for reimbursement.

    1. NOTE: Please write 'Buddy Coffee' and the names of the attendees on the receipt prior to submission. This assists with financial reconciliation.

• Candidate lunches

  • Employees who have a Travel Card or P-Card may use them to purchase a meal or coffee during a candidate interview. Those who do not should pay out-of-pocket and submit a RFP (see instructions here) for reimbursement. In all cases, please provide an itemized receipt and a list of meeting attendees.

• Meeting meals

  • Must include an outside party (external to MIT) and be pre-approved by your vertical lead.

  • Employees who have a Travel Card or P-Card may use them for meetings with external parties. Those who do not should pay out-of-pocket and submit a RFP (see instructions here) for reimbursement. In all cases, please provide an itemized receipt and a list of meeting attendees.

• Travel meals

  • Meals consumed while traveling outside of the Cambridge area should be charged to the employee's MIT travel card. If an individual does not have an MIT travel card, the employee should pay for the meal themselves and then request reimbursement. Please see additional information in the Travel Reimbursement Basics section.

• Monthly Birthday Lunch

  • When in the office, the F&O Team will purchase food for this event. During the flexible work from home period, staff can purchase whatever food they would like and submit via the general reimbursement process for reimbursement of up to $15.

• Bagel Tuesdays

  • When in the office, the F&O Team will purchase bagels for delivery on Tuesday mornings.

• All-staff social gatherings (including happy hours)

  • The events team will be responsible for planning and purchasing of food and beverages for all-staff social gatherings. The events team should work with Sarah Orzalli to confirm a budget for the social gathering in advance of the event.

• SD lunches

  • When in the office, the F&O Team will arrange biannual all-staff lunches with the scientific directors.

• Events

  • The events team will be responsible for planning and purchasing of food for events based on the specific needs and budget for each event.

J-PAL will not reimburse for alcohol purchases, and it should not be purchased using either MIT Travel cards or P-Cards. Alcohol may only be purchased for a limited number of events. If you would like to include alcohol at an event you are planning, please reach out to Sarah Orzalli to determine if this is possible with available funding.

    Retreats

• J-PAL will host one full-staff retreat per year, plus one vertical-level retreat for each of the 3 verticals per year. Allowable budgets will be determined on an annual basis depending on available funds. For FY25, expenses are limited to $125/person for the full-staff retreat, and $75 per person for each vertical retreat. Please speak with Sarah Orzalli prior to booking any retreat-related activity.

Given our current available funding, J-PAL NA will not provide funding for meetings or retreats beyond what is described above.