Preparing for OCONUS PTO or Business Travel

T-Rex policy generally prohibits accessing any company systems or data while you or your device are located outside of the United States. We also have technical controls in place to prevent login from outside the country. This rule is in place for three important reasons: First, we want our employees to be able to enjoy their PTO, resting and recharging while they are away. Second, as a general rule, T-Rex does not conduct business overseas, so there is usually no business need to login from outside the country. Third, many bad actors launch attacks against American companies from networks located outside the United States. In the past 30 days alone, T-Rex has blocked attempts to login to our systems from individuals operating in at least 10 countries, ranging from Canada to Russia. None of these were legitimate users working overseas, so blocking logins from these locations serves as an important control to protect our company, our customers, and our data from attack.

If you are planning to travel overseas and need to access any T-Rex data while you are gone, there is a process to request a waiver of this policy. As you prepare for your international travel, here is what you need to do:

If you have a government security clearance, reach out to the FSO (fso@trexsolutionsllc.com) to complete the required paperwork for cleared personnel to travel overseas.
If you are traveling for official T-Rex business, follow the process defined by your program to get permission for business travel (for example, both the DHA and TI programs use a form called a "TAR" to manage requests for approved business travel).
All international travelers who want to work from overseas (whether for personal or business travel) must request a policy waiver:
- Navigate to this form on the Service Desk website: Policy Waiver Request.
- Choose International Travel from the Policy drop-down menu.
- Complete the form, specifying the dates of travel, countries you plan to visit, and the business justification for working from overseas.
- The form will be routed to your manager for review, then to the CIO for final approval.
- Managers -- please make sure your employee really needs to work while on PTO before you approve their request. We all deserve some time to disconnect from work.
- Please submit your waiver request at least 5 business days in advance so we have a chance to review and approve it.
- In some cases, we may need to issue you a loaner laptop for your trip, which will require several days to prepare and ship to you.
If your work requires access to US Government systems/data or requires a CAC/PIV card for access, please confirm with your program leadership whether OCONUS access is permitted under the contract. Some government programs specifically prohibit access to government data while outside the US. This includes restrictions on taking your CAC or GFE device outside the country.
If you don't have a security clearance and you don't intend to work while you are out of the country, then you have no admin tasks -- just travel safely and enjoy your trip!
Regardless of why you are traveling, think ahead about your mobile phone service. Using your phone outside the US is often very expensive because the carriers charge you by the megabyte for your data usage. You can easily incur several hundred dollars on mobile phone roaming charges if you use your phone the same way you do at home. Most carriers offer a fixed price daily usage pass for overseas travel at around $10 per day, but you have to sign up in advance with your carrier.