Employees using a College-owned or leased vehicle or a rental or their personal vehicle on official College business where reimbursement will be sought shall follow the instructions in the College’s Driver Approval Policy.

College vehicles (including College-owned or leased vehicles) may be used only with proper authorization. Drivers must have a valid, unrestricted, and appropriate driver’s license and an acceptable driving record, to operate a college vehicle or a personal vehicle on College business. An employee who regularly drives College vehicles or their personal vehicle on college business must immediately inform his or her supervisor and Campus Safety of any change in license status or moving violations. From time to time, the College and/or its insurance carrier may request reports from the Department of Motor Vehicles regarding the license status and driving record of employees whose job responsibilities include driving. If the license status or driving record of any employee whose job responsibilities include driving becomes unacceptable to the College or the College’s insurance carrier, that employee may be restricted from driving, reassigned, suspended, or discharged, at the College’s discretion.

Employee driving College vehicles or their personal vehicle on college business are expected to drive safely and obey all traffic, vehicle safety, and parking laws or regulations. Drivers must always demonstrate safe driving habits. The College does not reimburse employees for traffic or parking violations.

Employees are prohibited from talking on or otherwise using a hand-held mobile phone while operating a college vehicle or a personal vehicle on College business or at any time when using a mobile phone owned or provided by the College. This prohibition applies to all mobile phone use including receiving or placing calls, checking voicemail, sending, or receiving email or text messages, and accessing the Internet.

Damage to private vehicles or College-owned or leased vehicles that occur on campus must be reported immediately to Campus Safety. When damage to college vehicles occurs off campus, employees are to collect all information related to the cause of damage and contact Campus Safety within 24 hours of the incident.

Certain employees may drive their personal vehicles while conducting College business. These employees must maintain adequate personal automobile liability insurance. Hartwick College complies with the Internal Revenue Code in determining the calculation of the amount that will be reported as taxable income for employees using College provided vehicles to conduct personal business. This applies to employees issued vehicles as a provision of their employment, employees assigned vehicles in lieu of receiving “on-call” pay, and employees assigned College-provided vehicles for short-term use.

Personal use of a College provided vehicle is subject to income tax, social security tax, and Medicare tax withholding. Taxes withheld are processed through the Payroll Office at the end of the calendar year, or with the final employee paycheck. The additional taxable income and tax withholdings attributable to the personal use of a College provided vehicle will be reported on your Form W-2. Personal use of a College provided vehicle includes commuting to and from work or use for non-College purposes. Personal use does not include the use of the vehicle when the employee commutes to and from the College as the result of being called in outside the regular work schedule. Employees using College provided vehicles must maintain a daily written log reflecting the College (business) miles and personal miles driven. A separate log should be maintained for each vehicle that an employee drives for the calendar year if the employee is assigned to more than one vehicle, or if a new vehicle is issued. Additional information about the IRS guidelines for accounting for personal use of employer-provided vehicles can be found at the IRS website, www.irs.gov.