Per Diem

A per diem is a daily allowance for expenses. For instance, many municipalities will pay a meager per diem to individuals serving jury duty. The per diem is common in business, where the employer picks up expenses of an employee. The per diem is especially common with employees who are traveling on business. For instance, the US federal government sets a standard per diem for all government employees traveling on business. One per diem is given for lodging and another per diem for meals and all other incidental expenses. The per diem varies by location. The US federal government per diem for Manhattan in the first 4 months of 2005 was up to $177 per night for lodging and up to $51 per day for meals and incidental expenses. Many companies set either a small per diem or have none at all, paying most expenses directly by issuing a corporate charge card to the employee instead.