International Travel, Vacations, Reimbursement, and Working in Self-Isolation

On March 7, HSE University instituted a number of protective measures in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. Among these measures is a ban on all international business trips for HSE employees and students until further notice. Below, the university administration provides answers to HSE community members’ most frequent questions about how to cancel their travel plans and work in self-isolation.

If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact Vice Rector Evgeny Artemov at eartemov@hse.ru or Chief of Staff Irina Martusevich at imartusevich@hse.ru.

1. How long will the ban on international work-related travel (‘business trips’) last? Does it apply to all HSE campuses?

The travel ban includes all business trips to all countries outside of Russia. The ban therefore includes even countries that are not included on the official list issued by the Moscow Ministry of Health, which requires that all returning travelers from specified countries self-quarantine for two weeks. HSE’s ban on international business trips will last indefinitely until further notice. If you have a business trip departure date planned earlier than June 30, 2020, you must cancel your trip. These measures apply to all HSE campuses (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm).

Updated March 20: 1.1 Are business trips around Russia also suspended?

 

It is recommended to refrain from sending HSE University staff members on business trips around the Russian Federation until June 30, 2020. Such business trips must be approved by a specially created commission.

For the documents to be considered, please send the draft of the memo on proposed business trips justifying the need for them at mlitvintseva@hse.ru and asudarikov@hse.ru.

2. How can I find out if a certain country is on the Moscow Health Ministry’s list of countries most affected by the virus? Where is the list available?

You can find out what countries are currently on the list by calling the Moscow Government hotline by phone +7 (495) 870-45-09. As of March 16, the list includes USA, UK, all countries of the European Union, all non-EU European countries, Ukraine, Belarus, Iran, China, and Korea. If you do not speak Russian, please ask your coordinator at the faculty or a lab manager for assistance in finding the current list of countries.

3. What should I do if I am currently on a business trip in a country that is classified as a country with ‘unfavorable conditions’?

Complete your trip as planned (do not return to Russia earlier than the arrival date that was approved by HR on your business trip request).

After returning to Russia, you must self-isolate and notify your supervisor and Human Resources at personal@hse.ru. You can send confirmation of your trip by sending a photo or copy of the page in your passport that contains the exit and entry stamps you received when crossing the border.

The HR Department will send you a supplemental agreement to your employment contract that provides approval for working from home for the required quarantine period. Upon receipt of the supplemental agreement, you must send an email with the following text in the body: ‘I have received the supplemental agreement. I have no objections. I will sign the agreement upon returning to my normal work schedule.’

To make arrangements for remote work, please contact your supervisor and the IT Office (for remote access to HSE information systems). Submit your trip expense report in accordance with standard protocol.

Updated March 18: 4. How do I self-isolate?

If you HAVE to self-isolate (you have returned from abroad or you live together with somebody who has just returned from abroad or was mandated to self-isolate or if you have received a self-isolation notice), there are three options:

1. International faculty and staff should contact their supervisors or coordinators for translation assistance if they would like to receive sick leave. HSE Employees in Moscow who speak Russian can receive sick leave papers (which, under normal circumstances, are issued by your doctor or clinic) without visiting a doctor by following the instructions provided on the website (in Russian) of the Moscow City Health Administration (https://mosgorzdrav.ru/). Campus workers in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Perm can obtain sick leave certificates in accordance with regional recommendations.

If you are an HQS-specialist, please contact your coordinator at the faculty or a lab manager for further details regarding sick leave options

2. Work from home. Report this to your supervisor and the HR Department at personal@hse.ru. You can provide confirmation of your trip by sending a photo or copy of the page in your passport that contains the exit and entry stamps you received when crossing the border.

The HR Office will send you a supplemental agreement to your employment contract that provides approval for working from home for the required quarantine period. Upon receipt of the supplemental agreement, you must send an email with the following text in the body: ‘I have received the supplemental agreement. I have no objections. I will sign the agreement upon returning to my normal work schedule.’

To make arrangements for remote work, please contact your supervisor and the IT Office (for remote access to HSE information systems). Submit your trip expense report in accordance with standard protocol.

3. Per agreement with your supervisor, arrange an annual paid leave request. 

If you have any symptoms of the disesase (fever, cough (80% of cases), shortness of breath (55% of cases), more about the symptoms here).

1. Stay at home and notify your immediate supervisor.

2. Call an ambulance and contact the hotline of the regional Ministry of Health. If you do not speak Russian, ask your faculty coordinator for assistance.

3. Self-isolate (according to the recommendations above).

Updated March 18: 4.1. How do I get approval for working remotely?

 

To get approval for working from home, HSE employees must submit a home office approval request («Об оформлении дистанционного характера работы») on SDOU (Document Management System). Employees can do this independently or in coordination with their faculty programme coordinator.

On the approval request form, employees must indicate their immediate supervisor and the supervising vice rector responsible for their employee rights and benefits. All home office requests will be approved and signed by HR Director Elena Molodykh. To access further instructions and download the request form (in Russian), click here . 

Updated March 18: 4.1. What should I do if I am healthy and not required to self-isolate but would like to self-isolate anyway, and my work is not impacted if I work remotely?

 

Information for teachers, researchers, experts

Coordinate your work mode with your immediate supervisor and programme study office (if you have classes to teach) and, if there are no objections, continue to work from home. If necessary, contact the IT Office to get remote access to HSE University information systems.

Important: if for any reason you are planning trips (around Russia), then you must first coordinate your departure with your supervisor and arrange a business trip or vacation in the prescribed manner.

5. Will I be paid for the days I am in self-isolation?

 

If you arrange sick leave, the days of your self-isolation will be paid by the Social Insurance Fund in accordance with Russian legislation.

If you are working from home, the days of your self-isolation will be paid as regular working days.

If you have arranged with your supervisor to treat your self-isolation as paid vacation, you will be compensated for your days off in accordance with standard annual vacation compensation protocol.

6. What should I do if I returned from a business trip abroad and already went back to work before March 7?

In this case, you can continue to work on campus and do not have to self-isolate. However, be vigilant and take measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus (take your temperature, wash your hands, follow the recommendations of government agencies and HSE University, etc.))

7. Does the HSE international business trip travel ban apply to countries that are not on the official list of countries with ‘unfavorable conditions’ with regard to the spread of the virus?

Yes, the ban applies to business trips to all foreign countries.

8. Is it possible to arrange long-term foreign business trips (for example, an internship on a special grant for 1.5 months at the expense of the host country) to countries both included and not included on the list of most affected countries?

No, the ban applies to all business trips abroad, regardless of their duration.

9. What should I do if I have a business trip abroad already planned?

 

If you have already submitted your business trip request and received approval:

If you have already submitted your business trip papers and received approval for international travel in the period from March 7, 2020 to June 30, 2020, your travel approval issued by the HR Department will be automatically cancelled. You and your supervisor will be informed of the cancellation via email.

In order to be reimbursed for your travel expenses, you must immediately contact the service providers (airline, hotel, etc.) with whom you made arrangements and request a refund.

If the provider does not to give you a refund, HSE University will reimburse you for the costs incurred. To be reimbursed, submit an expense report in accordance with standard protocol for the canceled trip with the required supporting documents attached. The expenses will be paid by the unit or programme budget that was originally allocated for it. For this reason, the original designated source of funding for the cancelled trip should be indicated in the expense report.

If you have not yet filed your business trip request paperwork:

If you independently purchased tickets and/or incurred other expenses for a planned international business trip (with a departure date in the period from March 7, 2020 to June 30, 2020), and you did not file a business trip request form before March 7, 2020, you should immediately contact your service providers (airline, hotel, etc.) and request a refund.

If the supplier refuses to give you a refund, HSE University will reimburse employees for their travel costs on a case by case basis as per the decision of a special commission chaired by Vice Rector Alexey Novoseltsev. To apply for reimbursement, fill out a memo addressed to Alexey Novoseltsev and signed by the head of your structural unit. The memo should confirm that the trip was planned and include a request to reimburse the costs incurred (indicating the amount to be reimbursed). Primary documents (which you usually attach to the expense report) and confirmation of the service providers’ refusal to provide you a refund must be attached to the memo.

If the commission rules to reimburse you, the expenses will be compensated from the unit or programme budget that otherwise would have paid the expenses had you filed the business trip paperwork.

Updated March 16: 9.3. What is the deadline for submitting reimbursement applications for cancelled international business trip expenses? How do I submit my documents?

 

If your business trip was approved before March 7, 2020 and then cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, you can file your expense report using the usual protocol. If you are able to provide the usual required supporting documents, special approval from the commission is not required and you will be reimbursed for the trip as if it took place. The expenses will be paid by the unit or programme budget that was originally allocated for it.

Note that before you submit your expense report to HSE, you should first try to get your funds refunded by the service providers you used for your trip (i.e., airlines, hotels, travel grants, etc.). Cancelled trip expenses will be refunded on the basis of the HSE University order on suspension of business trips issued on March 7, 2020.

The deadline for submitting your expense report to the accounting department is generally within three days of the scheduled departure from Russia. This deadline is extended for employees who are in self-isolation until the end of their isolation period.

If you had to cancel a business trip that was not approved before March 7, 2020, and you have already paid for the trip out of pocket, you may still get reimbursed for expenses that service providers have refused to refund with special approval. In these instances, special approval will be granted by a reimbursement commission headed by Vice Rector Alexey Novoseltsev. Note that you must first try to get a refund from the relevant service providers.

To apply for reimbursement approval by the special commission, you must submit a memo to the head of your department indicating the amount to be reimbursed and the funding source that was originally allocated to the trip. If the commission approves your reimbursement request, the funds will be reimbursed to you from this source. All reimbursement applications must be submitted to the commission by June 30, 2020.

The required documents (the request memo from your department head in addition to the usual expense report and usual supporting primary documents) can be submitted electronically through SDOU (Document Management System) to Vice Rector Alexey Novoseltsev.;

Your documents will be reviewed by the commission after your expense report is reviewed by the accounting office for accuracy as well as by the manager of the originally allocated budget (if different than the applicant’s department). Upon receipt of approval from the commission, the applicant must submit all original documents to the accounting office. Note that reimbursements will only be granted if the applicant can provide original copies of the required invoices and documents.

Updated March 16:  9.4. When will the commission begin reviewing reimbursement applications?

 

The commission will begin reviewing reimbursement applications on March 23. The commission will meet once a week.

Questions regarding applications will be submitted to the next meeting of the commission as soon as the corresponding sets of documents are ready.

The commission will provide decisions in accordance with the following categories:

• Approved (as per the application);
• Partially approved (with additional information provided);
• Rejected (the grounds for refusal are listed below).

In addition, in some cases, the commission may issue a recommendation to the manager of the budget that was originally allocated for the trip to consider additional reimbursement options (e.g., if the event is rescheduled for a later date).

An application may be rejected for the following reasons:

• the request does not fall within the purview of the committee (e.g., the trip cancellation is not due to reasons related to the coronavirus outbreak);
• the amount of the request indicated in the memo from the head of the unit is not supported by the expenditure amounts indicated on the supporting primary documents;
• the application does not include written confirmation from service providers (airlines, hotels, tour operators, etc.) stating that they will not refund the expenses;
• the travel request was approved by March 7, 2020 (in which case, approval by the special commission is unnecessary, and the expense report must be submitted to the accounting office in accordance with usual protocol).

The commission may wholly or partially reject reimbursement applicaitons for the following reasons:

• the trip budget manager did not confirm information regarding the originally allocated funds for the trip (including the approved amount and dates);
• written approval for the funds originally designated for the trip prior to the applicant’s application to the commission is either not included or was never obtained in the first place;
• the application does not include documents confirming that the employee paid trip expenses in advance.

Applicants can check SDOU to find out:

• whether their applications have been rejected for review by the commission, and if so, by what grounds. This notification will be available within three days of submitting the application (starting March 23);
• whether their application is included on the agenda of the upcoming commission meeting. This notification will be available within three days of a positive review of the application by the accounting office;
• whether the commission has approved, partially approved, or rejected the application. This notification will appear within three days of the meeting at which the decision was made.

Updated March 16: 9.5. How do I find out whether my application was approved or rejected?

 

After consideration by the commission, memos with the appropriate resolution will be sent via SDOU for execution to the accounting department with simultaneous notification to the applicant. In the case of a positive resolution of the commission, the applicant must provide a full set of original documents (the official memo from the department head, the expense report signed by the employee, and all necessary supporting documents) to the accounting office (which is located at Krivokolenny pereulok, 3, room 414k for employees of HSE’s Moscow campus).

If you have any questions about the special commission’s review process, please contact the Enge Iskhakova, Commission Secretary and Assistant to Vice Rector Alexey Novoseltsev. If you have questions about whether your application documents are completed correctly, please contact Larisa Pirskaya or Elena Kravtsova at the accounting office. If you have questions about how to provide documentation confirming the originally allocated source of funding for your travel expenses, contact the department head or administrator of the appropriate university programme.

Updated March 16: 9.6. If my application is approved, when will I receive my reimbursement?

 

Applicants whose applications have been approved will receive their reimbursement payment within 5 working days after they have submitted the required original documents (the official memo from the department head, the expense report signed by the employee, and all necessary supporting documents) to the accounting office.

The funds will be automatically deposited into the employee’s bank account (the same account in which his or her salary is usually deposited). Reimbursement payments can also be received in cash at the HSE cashier’s desk if an applicant wishes. In this case, the applicant must indicate this on his or her application.

10. What should I do if I return from a country that is not on the list of countries determined to have ‘unfavorable conditions’ with regard to the spread of coronavirus?

If you are returning to Russia from any country before June 30, 2020, you need to inform your supervisor and the HR Department (personal@hse.ru) about this. If necessary, your supervisor may be asked to provide confirmation your trip. Confirmation may be a photo or copy of your passport page with the exit and entry stamps you received when crossing the border.

March 11, 2020