COVID-19 Safety & Success

OSU will reimburse employees for expenses attributable to conducting OSU business from their personal residence during the COVID-19 crisis as follows.  To qualify for reimbursement, expenses must be reasonable and incremental costs based on OSU-related business occurring in personal residences due to COVID-19.

Examples of expenses that qualify for reimbursement include:

• A prepaid cell phone can be paid for with university funds to cover the period that employees are required to work from home in accordance with OSU COVID-19 guidance.  Supervisors should authorize the purchase of the appropriate number of minutes and data based on each individual employee’s anticipated workload and job requirements.
• The cost of internet for employees who don’t otherwise have an internet connection can be paid for with university funds for the monthly periods that employees are required to work from home in accordance with OSU COVID-19 guidance.  However, prior to purchasing home internet services for their staff, supervisors should consider the feasibility of accessing a local hotspot or obtaining “free or discounted internet” that may be available from various internet service providers as part of their response to COVID-19.  For more information on these options see this article.  For general information about working from home, please visit the COVID-19 Safety & Success for Employees website.
• Office supplies such as paper, pens, notepads, webcams, printer cartridges, staplers and file folders.

Examples of expenses that will NOT be reimbursed as business expenses include:

• Utilities such as electricity, water and gas.  These costs cannot easily be allocated between personal and business consumption and are typically incrementally insignificant.
• Normal household expenses such as rent, depreciation, insurance, mortgage payments, and maintenance.
• Meals and refreshments.