GM releases details on corporate expenses, as recipient of billions in taxpayer aid

General Motors releases expense policy

DETROIT — General Motors Co. said it would continue to restrict the amount of money it spends on events, sponsorships and corporate travel Tuesday, as the automaker made its expense policy public, a requirement for companies receiving government aid.

GM is placing more scrutiny on sponsorships, events costing more than $10,000 and corporate travel, all which must be approved by senior management officials and justified as beneficial in selling more cars.

GM is among several companies to release details of their expense policies this week.

The company posted the policy on its Web site. Most of the rules are guidelines the automaker has been following for months, as it lost billions, requested government aid and filed for bankruptcy protection. By the time the company exited bankruptcy, it had received about $50 billion in government aid.

Employees — excluding the CEO and highest management executives — must fly economy class and purchase the cheapest tickets available. Flights lasting more than eight hours can be upgraded to a higher class.

Employees are not allowed to travel on private aircraft operated by vendors or other partners. GM got rid of its own private aircraft after former CEO Rick Wagoner was chastised by members of Congress for using the jet to fly to Washington last December to ask for aid.

Rental cars, undoubtedly, must be GM cars, and must be the lowest class car available to shave costs. Hotel rooms must be standard, single rooms.

The use of consultants and office renovations will also come under deeper scrutiny by GM management.

GM employees participating in events and conferences must do so under their regular work duties, and are not allowed to accept gifts from promotional activities unrelated to company-sponsored events.

“GM recently adopted an expense policy that consolidates and simplifies existing policies,” said GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem in a written statement. “In addition to the policy itself, GM has adopted internal processes and controls to ensure compliance with the policy by all employees.”