HRD Home Site Map  

[Introduction]
[Summary of the Legal Foundation of Training]
[Legal Foundation for Training]
[Legal Foundation by Subject Area]
[Academic Degree Training]
[Assignment to Training]
[Continued Service Agreements]
[Copyright Laws]
[EEO Concerns and Merit Principles]
[Employees with Disabilities]
[Ethical Issues Related to Training]
[Expenses Related to Training]
[Interagency Training]
[Meetings and Conferences]
[Membership in Professional Organizations]
[Pay of the Employee]
[Procurement of Training]
[Records of Plans, Activities, and Expenditures]
[Required Training]
[Retraining]
[Student Educational Employment Program]
[Training Needs Assessment]
[Training of Non-Government Employees]
[Use of Government Funds for Training]
[Worksite Educational Programs]

Meetings and Conferences

Meetings and conferences often provide an important opportunity for learning information relevant to improving the conduct and/or management of agency programs. A Federal agency may pay an employee's expenses for attending a meeting or conference as a training expense authorized by chapter 41 of title 5, U.S.C. when:
  1. The purpose of the conference is educational;
  2. The content is germane to improving the employee's performance;
  3. Most of the conference consists of planned, organized exchanges of information between presenters and audience; and
  4. The employee will derive developmental benefits through attending. See 5 C.F.R §410.404 (1997).

U.S. Office of Management and Budget Bulletin 93-11 on Government Fiscal Responsibility and Reducing Perquisites (April 19, 1993), and the current U.S. General Services Adminstration Federal Travel Regulations require that agencies serve the public interest by exercising strict fiscal responsibility when selecting conference sites and scheduling employee attendance. They also identify which travel expenses may be paid and/or reimbursed.