**PAY ADMINISTRATION**

**1. REASON FOR ISSUE:** To revise Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
policy regarding the time limitation in which compensatory time may be
used.

**2. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS/MAJOR CHANGES:** This handbook contains
mandatory VA procedures on pay administration. The pages in this
issuance replace the corresponding page numbers in Part V, Chapter 2 of
VA Handbook 5007. This revision changes the time period in which an
employee may use earned compensatory time from seven pay periods to
twenty-six pay periods. These changes will be incorporated into the
electronic version of VA Handbook 5007 that is maintained on the [Office
of Human Resources Management and Labor Relations Web
site](http://vaww1.va.gov/ohrm). These provisions are effective February
18, 2007; however, compensatory time earned prior to February 18, 2007,
will continue to be used, forfeited or paid under the previous
provisions.

**3. RESPONSIBLE OFFICE:** The Compensation and Classification Service
(055), Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources
Management and Labor Relations.

**4. RELATED DIRECTIVE:** VA Directive 5007, Pay Administration.

**5. RESCISSIONS:** None.

**CERTIFIED BY: BY DIRECTION OF THE SECRETARY**

OF VETERANS AFFAIRS:

/s/Robert T. Howard /s/R. Allen Pittman

Assistant Secretary for Assistant Secretary for

Information and Technology Human Resources and Administration

\(c\) Overtime is payable for service performed in excess of 40 hours in
an administrative workweek, or in excess of 8 hours in a day, whichever
is greater, at a rate of one and one-half times the employee's basic
hourly rate of pay. **NOTE:** *For a full-time employee on a compressed
work schedule, overtime is payable for hours of work in excess of the
basic work requirement. For a part-time employee on a compressed work
schedule, overtime is payable for hours of work in excess of the basic
work requirement for a day (but must be in excess of 8 hours) or for a
week (but must be in excess of 40 hours).*

c\. **Call-Back Overtime**

\(1\) Any overtime on a day when a nurse, PA or EFDA was not scheduled
to work, or for which an employee is required to return to his or her
place of employment, shall be deemed to be a minimum of 2 hours in
duration, regardless of whether or not service is performed for a full 2
hours. When an employee is called back from an on-call status to perform
overtime work, the callback overtime provisions shall be applied upon
return to duty of the employee.

\(2\) To be eligible for the full 2 hours of overtime, employees must be
called into work at a time which is outside of and unconnected with
their basic workweek (45 Comp. Gen. 53).

d\. **Compensatory Time Off in Lieu of Regular and Irregular or
Occasional Overtime for Nurses, PAs, and EFDAs**

\(1\) An official authorized to approve overtime work may, at the
written request of eligible employees, grant such employees compensatory
time off from their scheduled tour of duty in lieu of overtime pay. The
amount of the compensatory time off will equal the amount of time spent
in overtime work. Requests for compensatory time off for title 38 and
hybrid title 38 employees paid premium pay on the same basis as
registered nurses must be in writing.

\(2\) **Limit on Compensatory Time.** The limitation on overtime pay
contained in 5 U.S.C. 5547 does not apply to title 38 employees covered
by this paragraph.

\(3\) **Time Limit on Compensatory Time for Nurses, PAs, and EFDAs**

\(a\) Compensatory time should be taken as soon as possible after it is
earned, but not later than the end of the \[26^th^\] pay period
following the pay period in which it is earned.

\(b\) If the compensatory time is not taken within the time limit
prescribed above because of exigencies of the service, the employee will
be paid for the overtime work at the overtime rate. If the compensatory
time off is not taken within this period because of personal reasons not
due to exigencies of service, the right to compensatory time off and
overtime pay for the duty is lost.

\(c\) In cases of inter-station transfers, compensatory time off must be
taken or paid for prior to the effective date of transfer. Under no
circumstances will the obligation for compensatory time off be
transferred to the receiving facility.

\(c\) In the case of an employee whose rate of basic compensation is in
excess of the maximum rate for GS-10, the official authorized to approve
overtime work may, at his or her own discretion, provide for
compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay. Such determination shall
take into account all pertinent factors, including the employee\'s
views. If, after consideration of all factors, paid overtime is
indicated, prior approval will be requested from the field facility
head. When a field facility of the National Cemetery Administration is
involved, the director of the appropriate Memorial Service Network
Office is the approving official. No such approval will be in effect for
more than 3 months without a specific re-determination. An employee for
whom compensatory time off is directed should be so notified at the time
the overtime duty is ordered.

\(4\) Time Limits on Compensatory Time

\(a\) Compensatory time off should be taken as soon as possible after it
is earned but not later than the end of the \[26^th^\] pay period
following the pay period in which it is earned. Compensatory time off
may be taken only during the employee\'s basic workweek.

\(b\) For employees exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), if
compensatory time off is not taken within the time limit prescribed
above because of the exigencies of the service, the employee will be
paid for the overtime work at the overtime rate. If compensatory time is
not taken within this period because of personal reasons not due to the
exigencies of service, the right to compensatory time off or overtime
pay for the duty performed is lost for FLSA-exempt employees. Non-exempt
employees must be paid overtime pay.

\(c\) Compensatory time off must be taken or paid for prior to the
effective date of the transfer. Under no circumstances will an
obligation for compensatory time off be transferred to the receiving
facility.

\(d\) The date of separation stated in an employee\'s advance notice of
separation due to reduction in force may be administratively extended so
as to include any compensatory time due. However, where, due to reasons
beyond the control of the employee, compensatory time off is not taken
prior to separation and no extension of the separation date is granted,
overtime compensation is payable in lieu of the compensatory time off
(26 Comp. Gen. 750).

**4. OVERTIME PAY AND COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR EMPLOYEES IN POSITIONS
SUBJECT TO THE FWS**

a\. Overtime pay is to be computed in accordance with the instructions
contained in FWS Operating Manual, section S8-4 and 5 CFR, part 551, as
appropriate. Overtime entitlement determinations for irregular and
occasional overtime and computations for Purchase and Hire (P&H)
employees shall be determined as follows, based upon whether or not the
employee's position is covered by FLSA.

b\. P&H employees in FLSA non-exempt positions (covered by FLSA) shall
receive overtime compensation in accordance with 5 CFR, part 551,
subpart E. Additional hourly compensation representing fringe benefit
considerations and paid to the employee shall be used in computing
overtime rates.

c\. P&H employees in FLSA exempt positions (not covered by FLSA) shall
receive overtime compensation for authorized work in excess of 8 hours
in any one-day or 40 hours in any one week. Such overtime will be
approved at such overtime rates as are customarily paid in the locality
of the facility for work of a comparable nature, but not less than a
rate of 150 percent of the basic hourly day rate of compensation.
Additional hourly compensation representing fringe benefit
considerations and paid to the employee shall be used in computing
overtime rates. All fractional rates shall be computed to the nearest
cent, counting one-half cent and over as a whole cent.

d\. At the request of a FWS employee, **compensatory time off** may be
authorized in lieu of payment for overtime hours. The following
provisions apply:

\(1\) For employees covered by flexible work schedules, the overtime
work need not be irregular or occasional. For other FWS employees, the
overtime work must be irregular or occasional, i.e., scheduled after the
beginning of the administrative workweek.

\(2\) The \[26\] pay period time limit for using compensatory time
applies to FWS employees in the same manner as for other title 5
employees. A FWS employee who is exempt from the provisions of the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA-exempt) and fails to take compensatory time
earned before the expiration of the \[26\] pay periods shall lose the
right to compensatory time off and to overtime pay unless the failure is
due to an exigency of the service beyond the employee's control. If
compensatory time is not used by a non-exempt FLSA FWS employee before
the expiration of the \[26\] pay periods, the employee must be paid for
overtime work at the applicable overtime rate

\(3\) Managers may not require that FWS employees be compensated for
overtime work via compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay. An
employee may not directly or indirectly intimidate, threaten, or coerce,
or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other employee for the
purpose of interfering with such employee's right to request or not to
request compensatory time off in lieu of payment for overtime hours.

**5. EXCEPTION TO THE BIWEEKLY PREMIUM PAY LIMITATION FOR
MISSION-CRITICAL AND** **EMERGENCY WORK**

a\. Title 5 General Schedule employees who are exempt from the Fair
Labor Standards Act may not receive any combination of premium pay,
including overtime pay, which, when added to their base pay, results in
total pay above the higher of two rates: GS-15, step 10, or the rate
payable for Level V of the Executive Schedule on a biweekly basis (see 5
CFR 550.105). The applicable rate for GS-15, step 10, includes any
locality-based comparability payment or special rate, as applicable.

b\. An exception to the biweekly limitation on overtime or other premium
pay cited in paragraph a above may be made when the appropriate official
determines that an emergency exists, e.g., a natural disaster, and that
an employee is performing work related to that emergency, or the
aftermath of that emergency, involving a direct threat to life or
property. In this instance, such an employee may be paid overtime, or
other premium pay, as applicable, based on an annual limitation (see
5 CFR 550.106). The annual limitation provides that in any calendar year
during which an employee has been determined to