Where does an employee’s commute end and business travel begin? 

It used to be a relatively straightforward question. Employees generally traveled from home to a designated workplace, while trips to clients, conferences, or other business locations were handled as business expenses. 

Hybrid work has made those boundaries harder to define. 

An employee may work primarily from home but visit an office twice a month. Another may split the week evenly between home and an assigned location. Someone else may travel from home directly to a client site without stopping at the office. Add internet service, home-office equipment, parking, mileage, and meals to the mix, and even routine expenses can become policy gray areas. 

Without clear guidance, employees are left to interpret those situations for themselves. Managers and approvers may reach different conclusions about similar claims, creating inconsistent reimbursements, administrative work, and frustration across the organization. 

A thoughtful hybrid expense policy can give employees clearer answers while helping the business apply its standards more consistently. 

Why Hybrid Work Complicates Employee Reimbursements 

Hybrid work is not one uniform arrangement. The term can describe employees who work from home occasionally, teams that follow a set office schedule, and fully remote employees who travel to a company location only for specific events. Those employees may have different designated workplaces, travel expectations, and business needs. 

That makes one of the most important policy questions surprisingly difficult: 

What is considered an ordinary personal expense, and what is an expense the employee incurred for the business? 

The answer can affect: 

• Whether mileage, airfare, parking, or transit costs qualify for reimbursement 
• Which home-office purchases are covered 
• How expenses should be documented and approved 
• Whether similarly situated employees are treated consistently 
• How reimbursements are handled for tax and payroll purposes 

Legal obligations can also vary based on where employees work. California, for example, requires employers to reimburse necessary expenses employees incur while performing their duties. Organizations with employees in multiple jurisdictions should work with their legal, HR, payroll, and tax teams to understand the rules that apply to each workforce location. 

The goal is not necessarily to reimburse every cost associated with working away from the office. It is to define the organization’s responsibility clearly enough that employees and approvers can make consistent decisions. 

The 3 Most Common Hybrid Reimbursement Gray Areas 

1. Travel between home and the office 

For many employees, travel between home and a regular workplace is considered an ordinary commute rather than business travel. IRS guidance generally treats transportation between a residence and one or more regular places of business as commuting. 

Hybrid schedules can make the meaning of a “regular” workplace less obvious. 

Consider an employee who was hired as fully remote but is asked to attend an in-person planning session. Their trip to the office may feel different from the commute of an employee who is expected onsite every Tuesday and Thursday. 

Policies should explain how the organization handles situations such as: 

• Scheduled travel to an assigned office 
• Occasional travel to a company location 
• Required team meetings or training sessions 
• Voluntary office visits 
• Travel to temporary work locations 
• Trips that begin at home and continue to a client or event 

Rather than relying only on how frequently an employee visits the office, consider the employee’s documented work arrangement and the business purpose behind the trip. 

2. Home-office and connectivity expenses 

Hybrid employees may use personal internet service, mobile devices, furniture, equipment, or office supplies to complete their work. Yet the costs associated with those items can vary widely. 

A policy that simply promises to cover “home-office expenses” may raise more questions than it answers: 

• Does the company reimburse part of an existing internet bill? 
• Are desks and chairs covered? 
• Who owns purchased equipment? 
• Is preapproval required? 
• Does the same policy apply to fully remote and occasionally remote employees? 
• Are employees given a fixed allowance or reimbursed for actual costs? 

Some organizations provide a one-time home-office setup budget, while others establish monthly connectivity allowances or annual limits for supplies. One SAP Concur Community member, for example, described considering a one-time setup budget alongside monthly internet and phone limits and an annual office-supply allowance. 

There is no single structure that works for every workforce. What matters is that eligible items, limits, documentation requirements, and employee groups are clearly defined. 

3. Travel from home to another business location 

A hybrid employee may leave home and travel directly to a client, supplier, conference, training site, or another company office. That raises several practical questions. Should the employee claim the entire distance? Should the mileage of their normal commute be deducted? Does the answer change when the employee has no assigned office? 

In an SAP Concur Community discussion about hybrid work and mileage, one participant shared that their organization reimburses travel to a client or event from wherever the employee begins the trip, provided the mileage is substantiated and has a business purpose. 

Another organization may choose to reimburse only the distance above an employee’s normal commute. Either approach can work operationally when it is clearly documented, legally reviewed, and applied consistently. 

A Framework for Building a Fair Hybrid Reimbursement Policy 

Fairness does not always mean providing every employee with the same reimbursement. Employees with different work arrangements may incur different business costs. A stronger standard is consistent treatment for employees in comparable circumstances. The following questions can help organizations establish that consistency: 

1. What is the employee’s designated work location? 

Document whether each role is office-based, hybrid, remote, or field-based. Avoid leaving that designation informal or dependent on a manager’s interpretation.  

The designation can help determine what counts as a regular commute, when travel begins, and which remote-work expenses may qualify. 

2. Was the expense required for a business purpose? 

Separate necessary business expenses from optional choices or personal convenience.  

For example, a required trip to a client meeting is different from an employee choosing to work from a coffee shop. An employer-mandated monitor may be treated differently from an employee upgrading a functional home-office setup for personal preference. 

3. Did the employee receive advance direction? 

When possible, tell employees what will be covered before they spend their own money. Clear preapproval rules are especially useful for: 

• Furniture and technology purchases 
• Travel to an office outside the employee’s usual schedule 
• Overnight accommodations 
• Coworking spaces 
• High-cost or unusual expenses 

Pre-approval cannot resolve every unexpected situation, but it reduces preventable confusion. 

4. How should the employee substantiate the expense? 

Organizations should identify the documentation required for each expense type, such as receipts, mileage records, dates, destinations, attendees, or a written business purpose. 

Under IRS rules, reimbursements made through an accountable plan generally require a business connection, timely substantiation, and the return of excess amounts. Payments that do not meet the accountable-plan requirements may be treated as taxable wages. 

5. Would another employee in the same situation receive the same answer? 

This is a useful final test. If reimbursement depends primarily on which manager approves the report, how persuasively an employee explains the expense, or whether an approver remembers a past exception, the policy may need more detail. 

Best Practices for Managing Hybrid Reimbursements 

Create policies around work arrangements, not individual preferences

Define meaningful employee categories and connect reimbursement rules to those categories. One suggestion shared in the SAP Concur Community is to designate employees as work-from-home, hybrid, or office-based so mileage rules can be applied according to the employee’s documented arrangement. Keep the categories limited enough that employees understand them and administrators can maintain them. 

Use realistic examples

A rule is easier to apply when employees can see how it works. Include examples such as: 

• A hybrid employee attending their regularly scheduled office day 
• A remote employee required to attend an annual company meeting 
• An employee driving from home to a client 
• An employee purchasing an ergonomic chair without pre-approval 
• A team member traveling between two company locations during the workday 

Examples also help reveal gaps before they turn into repeated exceptions. 

Define how normal commuting distance will be handled

State whether employees can claim the full distance of qualifying business travel or must subtract their ordinary commute. Explain how the rule applies to employees without a regularly assigned office. Mileage rates and tax guidance can change, so the policy should identify who maintains the applicable rate rather than embedding a figure that may quickly become outdated. The IRS, for example, publishes standard business mileage rates and may revise applicable guidance. 

Establish limits without eliminating flexibility 

Reasonable thresholds can help control costs and reduce low-value approvals. However, rigid limits may create problems when an employee incurs a necessary expense that falls outside the standard scenario. Create a defined exception process, including who can approve an exception and what documentation is required. Then review exceptions periodically. Repeated exceptions often point to a policy that no longer reflects how employees work. 

Communicate changes across functions 

Hybrid reimbursement policies often sit at the intersection of finance, HR, payroll, tax, legal, travel, and people management. Employees should receive one coordinated explanation rather than different guidance from each team. Managers and expense approvers also need training, since they are often the first people employees ask about uncertain expenses. 

Review outcomes, not only compliance 

Track where employees are confused, which claims are frequently returned, and where exceptions are concentrated. A policy may appear clear on paper while still creating inconsistent outcomes. Employee questions, rejected reports, approval times, and recurring expense types can show where clarification is needed. 

How Technology Can Support Greater Consistency 

As hybrid arrangements expand across locations and employee groups, manually applying every reimbursement distinction becomes difficult. Expense-management technology like SAP Concur solutions helps organizations: 

• Capture the business purpose and required documentation 
• Apply rules based on employee groups or work arrangements 
• Flag expenses that fall outside established limits 
• Route exceptions to the appropriate reviewer 
• Maintain a clearer record of reimbursement decisions 
• Identify patterns that may require a policy update 

Technology should reinforce the policy rather than define it. Organizations still need to decide which costs they consider business expenses, how fairness will be measured, and where exceptions are appropriate. 

Clear Reimbursement Policies Build Employee Trust 

Hybrid work has created more flexibility, along with more situations that fall between traditional expense categories. Employees should not have to guess whether a required office visit is a commute, whether a client trip qualifies for mileage, or whether a necessary home-office purchase will be covered. Approvers should not have to reinvent the answer each time an expense report arrives. 

By documenting work arrangements, defining business purpose, clarifying eligible expenses, and reviewing how policies perform in practice, organizations can make reimbursement decisions more predictable and consistent. That clarity supports more than cost control. It helps create a hybrid-work program employees can understand and trust. 

To learn more about how SAP Concur can help support your company through these changes, watch this short video. 

This article provides general information and is not legal or tax advice. Organizations should consult qualified advisers regarding reimbursement requirements in the jurisdictions where their employees work.