– per the office of the CFAES vice president and dean
We hope you are looking forward to our college-wide holiday open houses in December, as well as the holidays with your families and friends. In addition, we’ll have treats and the holiday giveaway available at the Dec. 10 Extension conference for the statewide employees who may not be able to attend one of the open houses.
Departments/units may also decide to schedule holiday events in addition to the college-wide gatherings. Events must adhere to the university Expenditure Policy and other related policies. Current expenditure policy can be viewed at Ohio State Expenditure Policy, and Employee Recognition Guidance can be found at Employee Appreciation Guidance.
Listed below are college guiding principles for planning holiday events or gifts. Seek assistance or clarification from department CCM or the CFAES Service Center regarding the applicable university policy requirements.
Event costs:
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The university allows an annual limit of $75 per person for employee recognition and appreciation.
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The annual $75 limit applies collectively to all recognition and appreciation expenses coordinated by both college and department/unit levels.
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If a department/unit is planning multiple employee recognition and appreciation events throughout the year, holiday event expenditures may need minimized to stay within the collective annual $75 per person limit.
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The college-wide open houses and giveaway will consume approximately $15 per person of the university’s annual $75 allowance.
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Department/unit per person costs must be all-inclusive of both direct and ancillary event costs (e.g. food and beverage, paper products, decorations – see the employee appreciation guidance).
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Leaders of departments/units with various locations should apply reasonable judgment to determine if multiple holiday events are warranted and necessary. If so, then each event should be comparable in planning and costs.
Locations/times: It is recommended that departments/units schedule holiday events in college-owned facilities/buildings and during normal business hours.
Alcohol: No alcohol is permitted to be purchased with university funds. Alcohol may not be made available for employee consumption during normal university business hours.
Attendees: Attendees should only include employees.
Holiday event OR gift: Departments/units should not provide both a holiday event and gift to employees. Only one option is permitted (event or gift). Care should be taken whenever giving gifts to employees due to IRS tax implications.
Employee mileage to events: Employee attendance at holiday events is optional. Thus, mileage reimbursement is not to be requested. This includes employees who may be teleworking, or those traveling to the event’s location.
Telework environment: For those in a telework environment, it is acceptable to send employees small dollar ($20 per person or less) consumable gifts such as cookies, fruit, cheese/crackers, etc. Do not send gift cards to employees or non-cash items such as apparel. Also, do not have food delivered to homes except for those items listed herein. There may be IRS tax implications with gifts; seek guidance from department CCM.