Training Policy Handbook

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 Title 5 USC §4110 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 Title 5 CFR §410.404.

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.