**BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION**

**HUMAN RESOURCES**

**Portland, Oregon**

**PERSONNEL LETTER NO. 550-1 (Revised) DATE:** June 10, 2005

**SUBJECT:** Overtime, Compensatory Time, Premium Pay, and Adjustment of
Work Schedules for Religious Observances

**I. PURPOSE**

This Personnel Letter covers the rules, policies, and procedures in 5
CFR, Part 550, Pay Administration for: (a) overtime, compensatory time
off, and other premium pay to annual employees; and (b) adjustments of
work schedules for religious observances for all employees.

##### PURPOSE OF REVISION

> This Personnel Letter is revised to: (a) address the regulatory
> prohibitions against paying premium pay to FLSA-exempt employees for
> most time spent in training; (b) address the new authority (in Section
> 203 of Public Law 108-411) to provide compensatory time to annual
> employee for official travel during non-duty hours; and (c) make other
> minor or corresponding changes. This Personnel Letter supersedes
> Personnel Letter No. 550-1, Overtime, Compensatory Time, Premium Pay,
> and Adjustment of Work Schedules for Religious Observances, dated
> January 30, 2004.

###### COVERAGE

> For annual employees, the provisions of this issuance apply to
> employees covered by Subchapter V of Chapter 55 of Title 5, United
> States Code.
>
> For hourly employees, overtime and premium pay are paid under the
> provisions of the BPA-Columbia Power Trades Council Collective
> Bargaining Agreement. However, Sections VII. and XV., Approval and
> Documentation of Overtime, and Adjustment of Work Schedules for
> Religious Observances, respectively, do apply to hourly employees.

##### REFERENCES

> A. 5 U.S.C., Chapter 55, Subchapter V, Premium Pay
>
> B. 5 U.S.C., Chapter 61, Hours of Work

## C. 29 U.S.C., 201, Fair Labor Standards Act

> D. 5 CFR, Part 410.402, Premium Pay for Training
>
> E. 5 CFR, Part 550, Pay Administration (General)
>
> F. 5 CFR, Part 550, Subpart N, Compensatory Time Off for Travel
>
> G. 5 CFR, Part 551, Pay Administration under the Fair Labor Standards
> Act
>
> H. 5 CFR, Part 610, Hours of Duty

####### I. Personnel Letter 312-1, Establishing Team Leader Positions and Assigning Team {#i.-personnel-letter-312-1-establishing-team-leader-positions-and-assigning-team .unnumbered}

####### Leader Duties {#leader-duties .unnumbered}

####### J. Personnel Letter 410-1, Employee and Organizational Development and Training {#j.-personnel-letter-410-1-employee-and-organizational-development-and-training .unnumbered}

####### K. Personnel Letter No. 550-2, On-Call Work Assignments and Scheduling for Annual {#k.-personnel-letter-no.-550-2-on-call-work-assignments-and-scheduling-for-annual .unnumbered}

####### Employees {#employees .unnumbered}

####### L. Personnel Letter 551-1, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) {#l.-personnel-letter-551-1-fair-labor-standards-act-flsa .unnumbered}

####### M. Personnel Letter 610-5, Hours of Duty {#m.-personnel-letter-610-5-hours-of-duty .unnumbered}

#####   {#section .unnumbered}

# INTRODUCTION

A.  **[FLSA Status]{.underline}.** The rules for overtime/compensatory
    time under 5 CFR Part 550 Subpart A, and other premium pay (not
    including compensatory time for travel under 5 CFR Subpart N) are
    tied to whether an employee is covered by the Fair Labor Standards
    Act (FLSA), as explained below and in the chart at the end of this
    section.

B.  **[Overtime]{.underline}.** For annual employees, this Personnel
    Letter addresses overtime earned under 5 CFR, Part 550, Subpart A,
    regulations, and applies to all annual employees. Employees who are
    exempt from the FLSA always earn overtime under such Title 5
    regulations described in this Personnel Letter. Employees who are
    covered by the FLSA (non-exempt employees) can earn overtime under
    both FLSA and 5 CFR, Part 550 regulations, and are entitled to
    whichever set of regulations provides more overtime pay in a
    workweek.

###### [Compensatory Time]{.underline}. There are two kinds of compensatory time:

######  {#section-1 .unnumbered}

###### Compensatory time earned under overtime rules in 5 CFR Part 550, *Subpart A*. These rules are addressed in Section XIV. Compensatory time earned for non-exempt employees is earned only under FLSA regulations and is addressed in Personnel Letter No 551-1, Fair Labor Standards Act.

1.  A new form of compensatory time off for time spent by an employee in
    a travel status away from the employee's official duty station when
    such time is not otherwise compensable under the authorities
    mentioned in the previous paragraph. These new rules are in 5 CFR
    Part 550, ***Subpart N***, were effective January 28, 2005, and are
    addressed in Section XVI. This type of compensatory time off for
    travel applies to both exempt and non-exempt employees.

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D.  **[Other Premium Pay]{.underline}.** Other premium pay (such as
    holiday premium pay, night differential, Sunday pay, etc.) is earned
    under 5 CFR, Part 550 regulations, applies to all annual employees
    (both exempt and non-exempt), and is addressed in this Personnel
    Letter.

> E. **[Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)]{.underline}.** FLSA provides
> for minimum standards for both wages and overtime entitlement, and
> spells out administrative procedures by which covered work time must
> be compensated. The table below summarizes the applicability of
> different rules contained in this issuance as they affect both exempt
> and non-exempt employees.

+---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------+-----------+
| **FLSA  | ###          | **Comp. Time    | **Comp.     | **Other   |
| Cov     |              | (Under 5 CFR,   | Time (Under | Premium   |
| erage** | ###          | Part 550,       | 5 CFR, Part | Pay**     |
|         |              | Subpart A & 5   | 550,        |           |
|         | ###          | CFR, Part       | Subpart N** |           |
|         | Overtime Pay | 551)**          |             |           |
+---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------+-----------+
| **E     | **Earned     | **Earned under  | **Earned    | **Earned  |
| xempt** | under Part   | Part 550,       | under Part  | under     |
|         | 550, Subpart | Subpart A rules | 550,        | Title     |
|         | A rules      | only**          | Subpart N   | Part 550, |
|         | only**       |                 | rules       | Subpart A |
|         |              |                 | only**      | rules     |
|         |              |                 |             | only**    |
+---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------+-----------+
| **Non-E | **Earned     | **Earned under  | **Earned    | **Earned  |
| xempt** | under Part   | Part 551 rules  | under Part  | under     |
|         | 550, Part A  | only**          | 550,        | Title     |
|         | rules, or    |                 | Subpart N   | Part 550, |
|         | Part 551     |                 | rules       | Subpart A |
|         | rules,       |                 | only**      | rules     |
|         | whichever    |                 |             | only**    |
|         | provides     |                 |             |           |
|         | greater pay  |                 |             |           |
|         | in a         |                 |             |           |
|         | workweek**   |                 |             |           |
+---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------+-----------+

###### DEFINITIONS

A. **[Administrative Workweek]{.underline}:** The 7 consecutive calendar
days, Sunday through Saturday, which have been established for BPA
employees. (See Personnel Letter 610-5, Hours of Duty, for authority to
make exceptions.) The administrative workweek establishes the parameters
for overtime and other premium pay entitlements.

B. **[Basic Workweek]{.underline}:** The regularly scheduled 40-hour
workweek for full-time employees (or the regularly scheduled 80-hour
biweekly work schedule for full-time employees on a compressed work
schedule). For part-time employees, the basic workweek is the hours
specified on their current Standard Form 50, Notification of Personnel
Action (SF 50). The basic workweek establishes the daily and weekly tour
of duty (these work hours may include regularly scheduled overtime) for
each employee. (See Personnel Letter 610-5, Hours of Duty, for
additional information).

C. **[Compensatory Time Earned]{.underline}:** An alternative form of
compensation for overtime worked. It is time off for an equal amount of
overtime worked, instead of pay. Compensatory time earned is subject to
the conditions and requirements that apply to the payment of overtime,
with some additional considerations as described in this Personnel
Letter. See next paragraph and Section XVI. for definition and
requirements for Compensatory Time--Travel.

> D. **[Compensatory Time for Travel]{.underline}**: As used in Section
> XVI., this refers to a new form of compensatory time off for time
> spent by an employee in a travel status away from the employee's
> official duty station when such time is not otherwise compensable
> under Section VIII.G. in this issuance, or under the provisions of
> Personnel Letter No. 551 for non-exempt employees. Regulations that
> cover Compensatory Time--Travel are located in 5 CFR Part 550,
> ***Subpart N***, and were effective January 28, 2005. The rules for
> this type of compensatory time off for travel applies to both exempt
> and non-exempt employees.

**E. [Travel]{.underline}**: This refers to officially authorized travel
(i.e., travel for work purposes that is approved by an authorized agency
official or otherwise authorized under BPA policy).

**F.** **[Compressed Work Schedule]{.underline}:** An 80-hour, biweekly,
basic work requirement, which

[must]{.underline} be scheduled for less than 10 workdays.

**G**. **[Exempt Employees]{.underline}:** Employees not covered by the
overtime provisions of FLSA. The FLSA status of each employee is
identified on his/her current SF 50.

**H.** **[Holiday Premium Pay (also known as Pay for Holiday
Work)]{.underline}:** Pay to which an employee is entitled for
non-overtime work performed during those hours that conform to the
employee's regularly scheduled tour-of-duty. Work performed during hours
that do not correspond to the employee's regularly scheduled
tour-of-duty are treated and paid as overtime.

**I. [Irregular or Occasional Overtime]{.underline}:** Overtime that is
not part of an employee's regularly scheduled administrative workweek.
Overtime that is not communicated to the employee [prior to the start of
the administrative workweek in which it occurs]{.underline} constitutes
irregular overtime.

**J. [Manager]{.underline}:** Includes manager and supervisors.

**K. [Non-Exempt Employees]{.underline}:** Employees covered by the
provisions of FLSA. The FLSA status of each employee is listed on
his/her current SF 50.

**L. [Night Work]{.underline}:** Regularly scheduled work (including
regularly scheduled overtime) performed by an employee between the hours
of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

**M. [Overtime]{.underline}:** Except for an employee on a compressed
work schedule, overtime includes all work in excess of 8 hours in a day
or in excess of 40 hours in an administrative workweek that is: (1)
officially ordered or approved; and (2) performed by the employee. For a
full-time employee on a compressed work schedule, overtime includes all
work in excess of the compressed schedule. For a part-time employee on a
compressed work schedule, overtime is paid after the same number of
hours that a full-time employee on a similar schedule would begin to
receive overtime pay.

**N. [Rate of Basic Pay]{.underline}:** The rate of pay fixed by law or
administrative action for the position held by an employee, including
any applicable special pay adjustment for law enforcement officers under
section 404 of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (Pub.
L. 101-509), locality-based comparability payment under 5 U.S.C. 5304,
or continued rate adjustment under 5 C.F.R., Part 531, Subpart G, before
any deductions and exclusive of additional pay of any other kind.

**O. [Regularly Scheduled Administrative Workweek]{.underline}:** For
[full-time employees]{.underline}, the period within an administrative
workweek when they are regularly required to be on duty (normally Monday
through Friday, but it can be any 5 or 6 consecutive days of the
administrative workweek, and may include regularly scheduled overtime).
For part-time employees, it is defined as the days and hours within an
administrative workweek when the employees are regularly scheduled to
work.

**P. [Regularly Scheduled Overtime]{.underline}:** Overtime work
(regardless of whether it is coded as overtime or compensatory time
earned) that is assigned and is part of an employee's regularly
scheduled administrative workweek. For example, regularly scheduled
overtime includes pre-/post-shift activity that is associated with
rotating shift work, [and]{.underline} that an employee is required to
perform. Another example is the situation in which an employee, who
normally does not have a tour-of-duty that regularly includes overtime,
is advised in advance of the administrative workweek in which the
overtime is to be worked, that he/she will be required to work overtime
on specific days and hours of the following administrative workweek.

**Q. [Sunday Pay]{.underline}:** The pay that an employee is entitled to
for each hour of Sunday work, which is not overtime work and is not in
excess of 8 hours for each regularly scheduled daily tour-of-duty that
begins or ends on Sunday. (Note: For employees on a compressed work
schedule, the maximum number of Sunday pay hours is the entire regularly
scheduled daily tour-of-duty that begins or ends on Sunday (e.g., 10
hours for employees under a 4-10 schedule).)

**R. [Tour-of-Duty]{.underline}:** The hours of a day (a daily
tour-of-duty) and the days of an administrative workweek (weekly
tour-of-duty) that constitutes an employee's regularly scheduled
administrative workweek.

**S. [Workday]{.underline}:** Daily tour-of-duty, whether it falls
entirely within the same calendar day or not.

###### APPROVAL AND DOCUMENTATION OF OVERTIME

A. **[Authority to Approve Overtime]{.underline}.**

1\. Managers have the authority to order and approve overtime for
employees under their administrative jurisdiction and have the option of
delegating this authority to annual team leaders if permitted by the
line organization. This includes authority to approve work assignments
that involve work on a holiday or a day designated as a holiday.
Managers, but not team leaders, may approve changes in work schedules,
including those that result in entitlement to night pay differential and
Sunday pay.

2\. Except for irregular or occasional overtime that may result from
unexpected causes, overtime must be approved in writing prior to the
administrative workweek in which the work will be performed (on form BPA
F 2220.15e, Overtime/Comp Time Request and Justification), or on the
time sheet forms, BPA F 2220.06e, Annual Employee Time and Labor
worksheet (Long Form), BPA F 2220.7e, Daily Work Report, BPA F 2220.08e,
Time and Labor Hourly Employee Worksheet, or BPA F 2220.09e, Substation
Maintenance Time Sheet. Therefore, when it is known in advance of an
administrative workweek that an employee or employees will be required
to work overtime on specific days and hours of the workweek, the
authorizing official must communicate the specific days and hours of
overtime to the employee in writing.

B. **[Requirement to Work Overtime]{.underline}.** Managers, and team
leads (who have delegated authority) may require employees to work
overtime when, in their judgment, it is necessary to get the work done.
When ordered to work overtime, an employee may request not to work;
however, the final decision is the manager's (or the annual team
leader's, if delegated).

C. **[Continuous Review]{.underline}.** Managers are responsible for
continuous pre- and post-review of overtime work to see that it is kept
to a minimum and that alternatives to overtime are used whenever
possible.

D. **[Conditions for Overtime Usage]{.underline}.** Overtime is not
scheduled for the convenience or need of the employee, but rather in
response to an operational need of the unit, determined by the
authorizing official. Overtime usage will be kept to the minimum level
required for either essential mission activities or to that level that
has the net effect of decreasing expenditures.

E. **[Workload Accomplishment Alternatives]{.underline}.**

> 1\. Alternatives other than overtime are available to meet workload
> demands. One alternative may be the rescheduling of the basic workday
> or administrative workweek for some or all of the employees in a unit
> to eliminate or reduce overtime. For example, an employee's workweek
> could be changed to Tuesday through Saturday if overtime was being
> incurred on a regular basis on Saturdays because of work that could
> only be completed on Saturday. Similarly, the daily start time could
> be moved up or back in those situations where overtime is being
> incurred on a regular basis to staff a desk, prepare end of day
> reports, etc. (See Personnel Letter 610-5, Hours of Duty, when
> contemplating rescheduling the basic workday or week.)
>
> 2\. It is the responsibility of the overtime approving official to
> consider alternatives to overtime and to select the most appropriate
> alternative.

F. **[Employee Involvement]{.underline}.** No employee may authorize or
approve his/her own overtime work. Managers are expected to consider and
approve all overtime activity in advance to the maximum extent
practical.

G. **[Leave and Overtime]{.underline}.** Except to meet specific
management requirements and/or bona fide employee emergencies, annual
leave should not be approved for an employee when such approval will
require that employee to work overtime on the same day on which leave is
granted.

H. **[Documentation of Overtime]{.underline}.** [All]{.underline}
regularly scheduled overtime must be requested and/or approved on Form
BPA 2220.15e, Overtime/Comp Time Request and Justification, on the time
sheet (BPA F 2220.06e, 2220.07e, 2220.08e, or 2220.09e), or on other
time and labor reporting forms designed by line organizations to meet
their needs. Such overtime must be approved in advance of the
administrative workweek in which the overtime occurs in order to qualify
as regularly scheduled overtime. With respect to irregular or occasional
overtime, approval on the time and labor record is the minimum
requirement.

###### HOURS OF DUTY USED TO DETERMINE OVERTIME ENTITLEMENT UNDER 5 CFR, PART 550, SUBPART A, PREMIUM PAY

A. **[Compensable Increments]{.underline}.** Overtime is compensable in
15-minute increments. In accordance with case law decisions, irregular
unscheduled overtime of 7 minutes or less is disregarded for pay
purposes (8 + minutes are rounded up to 15 minutes).

B. **[Paid Absence]{.underline}.** A paid absence counts towards the
daily/weekly basic work requirement for the purpose of determining
overtime eligibility. For example, when an employee is absent from duty
on any type of authorized paid leave or excused absence, overtime pay to
which he/she would otherwise be entitled, is not reduced. Absence on a
holiday, or on compensatory time off during the basic workweek, is
considered to be on leave with pay. The use of previously earned credit
hours is an "absence with pay" and is treated in the same manner as
leave with pay for overtime compensation purposes.

C. **[Unpaid Absence]{.underline}.** An unpaid absence (e.g., leave
without pay, furlough, absence without leave, or suspension) does not
count towards the basic work requirement for the purpose of determining
overtime eligibility.

> *Example: An employee who is not on a compressed work schedule takes 4
> hours Leave Without Pay (LWOP) on Monday. He/she works the remaining
> 36 hours of the basic workweek, and then works 8 hours on Saturday.
> The employee is paid the basic rate for 4 hours on Saturday and
> overtime for the other 4 hours.*
>
> *Example: An employee who is not on a compressed work schedule takes 4
> hours LWOP on Monday. He/she works the remaining basic workweek but on
> Friday works 16 hours. The employee is paid overtime for the 8 hours
> in excess of "8 hours in a day." Eight hours of the time on Friday are
> regular time and 8 hours are overtime.*

D. **[Night or Holiday Work]{.underline}.** Hours of night or holiday
work are included in determining the total number of hours of work in
the same administrative workweek for overtime pay purposes.

E. **[Meal Periods during Overtime]{.underline}.** During overtime work,
30-minute meal periods are scheduled every 6 hours, unless the manager
determines that it is impracticable to have either a full 30-minute
period or any meal period at all. When either of such determinations is
made, the reasons must be indicated on the time report. If the employee
does not perform work during meal periods, the meal period is not
counted as overtime work. If the employee is ordered to work during the
meal period, such time is compensable.

F. **[Training]{.underline}.**

> 1\. Training that occurs during an exempt employee's regularly
> scheduled (non-overtime) tour of duty is considered hours of work
> (includes government or non-government facilities). However, in
> accordance with 5 CFR 410.402, exempt employees are generally not
> entitled to receive overtime or any other premium pay that may occur
> after such regularly scheduled duty hours, with the following
> exceptions (use of the following exceptions should be preceded by
> consultation with Personnel Services staff):
>
> a\. [Continuation of premium pay]{.underline}. An employee given
> training during a period of duty for which he or she is already
> receiving premium pay for overtime, night, holiday, or Sunday work
> shall continue to receive that premium pay. This exception does not
> apply to an employee assigned to full-time training at institutions of
> higher learning.
>
> b\. [Training at night]{.underline}. An employee given training at
> night because situations that he or she must learn to handle occur
> only at night shall be paid by the applicable premium pay.
>
> c\. [Cost savings]{.underline}. An employee given training on
> overtime, on a holiday, or on a Sunday because the costs of the
> training, premium pay included, are less than the costs of the same
> training confined to regular work hours shall be paid the applicable
> premium pay.
>
> 2\. An exempt employee assigned to full-time training at an
> institution of higher learning may not receive any form of premium pay
> under any circumstances. Managers should notify the employee [in
> advance]{.underline} that attending the training session will not
> result in any premium pay (includes earning compensatory time). The
> prohibitions of premium pay for training listed above do not apply to
> non-exempt employees (instead, see Personnel Letter No. 551-1 for such
> rules).

G. **[Travel Time]{.underline}.**

1\. Time spent by an employee in travel status away from his/her
official duty station is [not]{.underline} considered as hours of work
for overtime pay purposes [except]{.underline} when the following
conditions exist (see Appendix A, attached, for more information).
**(Note: If not compensable under this Section, such time may be
compensable under Section XVI. and Appendix B)**:

a\. When travel is performed within the days and hours of the employee's
regularly scheduled administrative workweek, including regularly
scheduled overtime work; or

b\. When the travel meets one or more of the following conditions:

> \(1\) It involves the performance of work while traveling;
>
> \(2\) It is incidental to travel that involves the performance of work
> while traveling;
>
> \(3\) It is carried out under arduous conditions; or
>
> \(4\) It results from an event that could not be scheduled or
> controlled administratively. Such events are rare and have been
> interpreted conservatively in case law decisions.

2\. The possibility of granting overtime pay to an employee while in
travel status must be approved prior to the travel and [should occur
rarely]{.underline}. Therefore, Personnel Services staff may be
consulted, in advance, when there is a questionable overtime pay
entitlement during planned travel. Such consultations should prevent
misunderstandings or false expectations on the part of an employee when
travel time is not compensable, and prior knowledge of non-compensable
travel time permits the rescheduling of travel, if appropriate. In order
to approve overtime during travel time, the authorizing official should
document the situation in writing and maintain such documentation.

3.  Insofar as practicable, employees should not be required to travel
    during non-duty hours. If it is necessary for an employee to travel
    under conditions that would not entitle the employee to overtime pay
    or any form of compensatory time, the manager may be required to
    record, in writing, the reasons for ordering travel at those hours.
    Refer to BPA's Collective Bargaining Agreements for more
    information.

H. **[Callback Overtime Work]{.underline}.** Callback overtime work
occurs when the employee: (1) performs overtime work on a day outside of
the employee's basic workweek; or (2) is ordered to return to his/her
place of employment to perform overtime work. In such cases, the
employee must be compensated at the overtime rate of pay for at least 2
hours, even if the actual time worked is less than 2 hours. (Note: See
Personnel Letter No. 550-2 for additional information for employees who
are placed in an "on-call" status. Such employees who perform overtime
work while in an on-call status may be entitled to overtime, in
quarter-hour increments, for overtime work that does not meet the
criteria for the 2-hour minimum "callback" overtime rule.)

###### MAXIMUM EARNINGS LIMITATION UNDER 5 CFR PART 550, SUBPART A

A. An employee may be paid overtime (including earned compensatory time
off) and other premium pay only to the extent that the payment does not
cause the employee's aggregate rate of pay for any pay period to exceed
the greater of the bi-weekly rate for GS-15, step 10 (including any
applicable special salary rate or locality rate of pay), **or** the
bi-weekly rate for level V of the Executive Schedule. Consequently, a
covered employee who is at the maximum rate may not be compensated for
any overtime, even though he/she may be required to work it
(compensatory time off may not be substituted for overtime that cannot
be paid). (The maximum earning limitation does not apply to Compensatory
Time--Travel. See Section XVI.)

B. BPA may authorize the limitation to be applied on an annual, rather
than a biweekly basis, for work in connection with an emergency that
involves a direct threat to life or property. In such a case, employees
may be paid premium pay to the extent that the aggregate of basic pay
and premium pay for the calendar year does not exceed the greater of the
annual rate for GS-15, step 10 (including any applicable special salary
rate or locality rate of pay), or level V of the Executive Schedule. The
work must be [directly related to resolving or coping with the emergency
or its aftermath]{.underline}.

###### OVERTIME RATE

If an employee's rate of basic pay is equal to or less than the minimum
(step 1) rate of basic pay for GS-10, his/her overtime rate is one and
one-half times his/her rate of basic pay. If an employee's rate of basic
pay is greater than minimum rate of basic pay for GS-10, his/her
overtime rate is the greater of: (a) one and one-half times the minimum
rate of basic pay for GS-10; or (b) the employee's own hourly rate of
basic pay. Overtime work on Sundays and holidays is paid for at the same
rate as overtime work on other days. As used in this paragraph, the
"rate of basic pay" includes any applicable locality rate of pay or
special salary rate.

###### NIGHT WORK PAY DIFFERENTIAL

A.  Night work is regularly scheduled work between the hours of 6 p.m.
    and 6 a.m. Work performed during this time period [that is not
    regularly scheduled (scheduled in advance of the administrative
    workweek in which it occurs)]{.underline} is not compensated as
    night work pay. Regularly scheduled work includes regularly
    scheduled overtime, regardless of whether such time is coded as
    overtime or compensatory time earned.

B. Employees receive a night work pay differential of 10 percent of
their basic rate of pay for night work.

C. Employees entitled to night work pay differential continue to receive
it for those night work hours when: (1) excused from work on a holiday
or other non-work day (e.g., closure due to weather emergency); (2) in
an official travel status for night hours that correspond to the
employee's tour-of-duty, whether or not performing actual duty; and (3)
excused from night work for jury duty (on approved court leave) whether
or not jury duty is performed during the employee's scheduled
tour-of-duty.

D. An employee is entitled to night work pay differential for a period
of paid leave only when the total amount of that leave, including both
night and day hours, is less than 8 hours in a pay period.

E. Night work pay differential is in addition to any other premium pay
(i.e., overtime, Sunday, and holiday premium pay), and is not included
in the rate of basic pay used to compute the overtime, Sunday, or
holiday premium pay.

F. An employee is entitled to a night work pay differential when his/her
tour-of-duty in an administrative workweek is temporarily changed to
include a daily tour-of-duty that includes night work.

###### HOLIDAY PREMIUM PAY

A. An employee who works during the hours that correspond to his/her
tour-of-duty, on a holiday, is entitled to "double-time pay" for all
such work (regularly scheduled overtime is not considered part of the
regular tour-of-duty for this purpose).

> *Example: If an employee has a work schedule of 7:30 a.m. to 4:15
> p.m., Monday through Friday, Monday is a holiday, and the employee
> works on Monday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., he/she receives holiday
> premium pay for those 4 hours. If he/she has a rate of basic pay of
> \$10.00 per hour, he/she would be paid \$20.00 per hour for the 4
> hours of holiday time worked, and 4 hours of basic pay at \$10.00 per
> hour for the remaining 4-hour portion of the shift that was not
> worked.*

On the other hand, any work performed by the same employee outside of
the hours in his/her tour-of-duty, are compensable at either the
employee overtime rate (if applicable) or at the employee's rate of
basic pay (if the time is not compensable as overtime).

B. An employee who works on a holiday is entitled to a minimum of 2
hours of holiday premium pay even if the actual time worked is less than
2 hours.

C. Compensatory time off instead of holiday premium pay is not
permitted.

D. Holiday premium pay is not included in the rate of basic pay used to
compute overtime pay, night pay differential, or premium pay for Sunday
work.

E. Night pay differential is excluded from the basic rate of
compensation in computing holiday premium pay. However, an employee may
receive night pay differential in addition to holiday premium pay.

###### COMPENSATION FOR SUNDAY WORK (SUNDAY PREMIUM)

When a full-time employee's basic workweek includes any part of the
Sunday workday (midnight Saturday through midnight Sunday) the employee
will be paid for the entire shift(s) at his/her basic rate of pay, plus
25 percent of that rate. Depending on the start time, (i.e., 11:45 p.m.
Saturday and 11:45 p.m. Sunday) two shifts may be eligible for
compensation at the Sunday rate. (NOTE: [Only full-time employees are
entitled to premium pay for Sunday work]{.underline}.) Sunday premium
pay is paid for qualifying hours that are actually worked. Hence, it is
not paid when no work is performed, including annual leave, sick leave,
military leave, court leave, excused absences, leave without pay,
non-work on a holiday, use of compensatory time off, or use of credit
hours.

> *Example: If an employee's tour-of-duty is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday
> through Sunday, then the employee is entitled to Sunday pay for
> Sunday's 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift.*
>
> *Example: If an employee's tour-of-duty is midnight to 8:00 a.m.,
> Thursday through Monday, then the employee is entitled to Sunday pay
> for the shift that starts at midnight Saturday and ends at 8 a.m.
> Sunday. However, if the shift was changed to start 15 minutes earlier,
> the employee would also be entitled to Sunday pay for Monday's shift*
> that *starts on Sunday at 11:45 p.m.*

###### COMPENSATORY TIME FOR FLSA-EXEMPT EMPLOYEES UNDER 5 CFR PART 550, SUBPART A

> **(Note: With respect to the compensability of travel time, the
> provisions of Section VIII.G. are first applied to determine any
> employee entitlement to compensation. If the travel time is
> compensable under Section VIII.G., then it is compensated as overtime
> or as compensatory time under this Section. If the travel time is not
> compensable under Section VIII.G., it may be compensable under Section
> XIV.)**

A. **[Relation to Overtime]{.underline}.** Compensatory time under 5 CFR
Part 550, Subpart A is an alternative to payment for overtime.
Therefore, it can only be earned if the work is compensable as overtime.
It is not possible to earn compensatory time for work that does not
first qualify as overtime. Some examples are:

1\. Callback time may be credited as compensatory time.

2\. Time in a travel status, which does not qualify for overtime, does
not qualify for compensatory time under 5 CFR Part 550, Subpart A.
(However, such travel may be compensable under Section XIV.)

3\. Work on a holiday during regular duty hours entitles the employee to
holiday pay (not overtime), and compensatory time may not be
substituted. Work on a holiday outside regular duty hours may be
credited as overtime, and compensatory time can, therefore, be
substituted.

B. **[Request/Election to Earn Compensatory Time Off Under 5 CFR 550
Subpart A]{.underline}.** Subject to the conditions described in this
Personnel Letter, an employee may request approval to earn compensatory
time in lieu of pay for overtime. If compensatory time is permissible,
managers should normally approve requests for compensatory time in lieu
of paid overtime. Please note that bargaining unit employees, depending
on the provisions of the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement, may
have the right to elect either form of compensation for work that
otherwise qualifies for compensation; please refer to the appropriate
Collective Bargaining Agreement

C. **[Rules for Earning Compensatory Time Off Under 5 CFR 550, Subpart
A]{.underline}.**

1\. An employee on flexi-schedule may earn compensatory time for
irregular and occasional overtime, as well as for regularly scheduled
overtime.

2\. An employee on a fixed schedule may earn compensatory time for
irregular or occasional overtime, but not for regularly scheduled
overtime.

3\. Compensatory time is earned in an amount equal to the overtime
worked. It is authorized in lieu of overtime pay in the same manner as
is prescribed for overtime. It is earned and used in multiples of 1/4
hour.

D. **[Rules for Usage of Compensatory Time Off Under 5 CFR 550 Subpart
A]{.underline}.**

1\. Compensatory time off must be taken within 1 year following the date
on which overtime work was performed.

2\. Employees must use compensatory time before using annual leave if,
at the time of an absence, an employee's projected annual leave balance
at the end of the leave year is less than or equal to 240 hours or their
grand-fathered carry-over balance.

E.  **[Payment for Unused Compensatory Time Off Under 5 CFR 550, Subpart
    A]{.underline}.**

> 1\. Employees must be paid for any unused compensatory time when:
>
> a\. It is not used within 1 year; or
>
> b\. They separate from Federal service, transfer to another agency, or
> move to a
>
> position in the Department of Energy outside of BPA

2\. "Cashed-out" compensatory time off is paid at the overtime rate that
was in effect at the time it was earned. The payroll system tracks,
computes, and pays these amounts automatically. Therefore, time
reported, as compensatory time earned cannot be later changed to
overtime and "cashed out" before this automatic process occurs. However,
if an employee is separated or transferred before using the time set
aside for religious observances, any hours not used must be paid at the
employee's rate of basic pay in effect when the extra hours of work were
performed.

F. **[Recordkeeping]{.underline}.** Managers are responsible for
insuring that the earning and use of compensatory time off is recorded
in accordance with BPA's time and labor reporting instructions.

###### ADJUSTMENT OF WORK SCHEDULES FOR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES

A. The law provides that an employee whose personal religious beliefs
require abstention from work during certain periods of time may elect to
work compensatory overtime for time lost in meeting those religious
requirements. Employees may work the compensatory overtime before or
after using the compensatory time off. The hours worked do not create
any entitlement to premium pay (including overtime pay).

B. Managers shall afford an employee the opportunity to work
compensatory overtime, and shall grant compensatory time off for
religious observances when the employee's personal religious beliefs
require that the employee abstain from work during certain periods of
the workday or workweek. The only basis for denying a request for
compensatory time for religious observances is that it would cause a
severe disruption of the work.

C. Requests to use compensatory time for religious observances,
including advances of compensatory time for this purpose, are made using
form OPM 71, Request for Leave or Approved Absence. The employee should
indicate in the remarks section of the OPM Form 71 that the time is for
religious observances. This provides acceptable documentation of the
need to abstain from work.

D. An advance of compensatory time off for religious observances must be
repaid by working an equal amount of compensatory time. This repayment
must be completed by the end of the third biweekly pay period following
the pay period in which the absence occurred. Any overtime worked after
the absence shall be reduced by the amount of the absence before any
entitlement to overtime accrues. Payroll will automatically make this
reduction, and if the debt has not been repaid by the end of the third
pay period they will deduct, in the following order, the appropriate
amount of compensatory time off, credit hours, or annual leave, and
will, if necessary, charge leave without pay to repay the time. If an
employee is absent when he or she is scheduled to perform work to make
up for an absence that has already occurred for a religious observance,
the employee must take paid leave, request leave without pay, or be
charged absent without leave, if appropriate. These are the same options
that apply to any other absence from an employee's basic work schedule.

# COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL UNDER 5 CFR, PART 550,

# SUBPART N.

> **(Note: The material in this Section summarizes the pertinent rules.
> See Appendix B for more detailed information.)**
>
> A. **[Compensatory Time For Travel]{.underline}.** Managers must
> credit employees with compensatory time off under the provisions of
> this Section for time in a travel status if both of the following
> criteria are met:

1.  The employee is required to travel away from the official duty
    station during non-duty hours; and

> 2\. The travel time is not otherwise compensable hours of work under
> Section VIII.G. in this issuance, or under the provisions Personnel
> Letter No. 551-1 for non-exempt employees.
>
> B. **[Travel Status]{.underline}.** Time in a travel status includes
> the time an employee actually spends traveling between the official
> duty station and a temporary duty station or between two temporary
> duty stations, and the usual waiting time that precedes or interrupts
> such travel. See Appendix B for more detailed information on the
> meaning of travel status, usual waiting time, and other rules.
>
> C. **[Documentation, Crediting and Use of Compensatory Time for Travel
> Under 5 CFR Part 550, Subpart N]{.underline}.**

1.  Compensatory Time for Travel must be requested and/or approved on
    Form BPA 2220.15e, Overtime/Comp Time Request and Justification (or
    other approved forms listed in Section VII.A.2.).

2.  Compensatory Time for Travel can be earned and used 15-minute
    increments.

3.  Compensatory Time for Travel must be recorded in BPA's Time and
    Labor System under the appropriate Time Reporting Code (TRC).

4.  Employees must request to use earned Compensatory Time for Travel by
    the end of the 26^th^ pay period after the pay period in which it
    was earned. If unused by that time, it will be forfeited except in
    limited circumstance (see Appendix B).

> 5\. Employees must request approval from their managers to schedule
> the use of earned Compensatory Time for Travel in accordance with
> established leave requesting procedures.
>
> 6\. Employees must use earned Compensatory Time for Travel before
> using regular compensatory time or annual leave if, at the time of the
> absence, an employee's projected annual leave balance at the end of
> the leave year is less than or equal to 240 hours or their
> grand-fathered carry-over balance.

Godfrey C. Beckett

Manager, Human Resources, Diversity and EEO

Attachments:

Appendix A -- Further Guidance for Determining Hours of Work While in a
Travel Status Under

5 CFR, Part 550, Subpart A

Appendix B -- Questions and Answers (and Examples) on Compensatory Time
for Travel Under

5 CFR, Part 550, Subpart N

#### APPENDIX A

**FURTHER GUIDANCE FOR DETERMINING HOURS OF WORK**

**WHILE IN A TRAVEL STATUS UNDER 5 CFR, PART 550, SUBPART A**

This guidance is to be used only to determine whether time in a travel
status is deemed to be compensable hours of duty under 5 CFR, Part 550.
Time spent in travel status away from the employee's official duty
station is considered to be hours of duty (for pay purposes) only when:

A. The time spent in travel status is within the employee's regularly
scheduled tour-of-duty including regularly scheduled overtime hours.

[DISCUSSION]{.underline}:

1\. Regularly scheduled tour-of-duty is defined as being the work
schedule that was scheduled by the manager in advance of the
administrative workweek. A manager must make any changes to an
employee\'s work schedule prior to the week for which the change in the
work schedule applies in order for the change to be considered the
employee's regularly scheduled tour-of-duty. (Because the administrative
workweek begins on Sunday, changes must be made by the prior Saturday.)

2\. Regularly scheduled overtime hours are overtime hours that are part
of an employee's regularly scheduled administrative workweek. For
example, if a manager had scheduled an employee (as described in
paragraph A.1, above) to work 3 hours of overtime on Monday and
Wednesday, those hours would be regularly scheduled overtime. If the
employee were traveling during either of these two 3-hour periods, the
travel time would be considered to be hours of work and would be paid at
the overtime rate.

3\. For purposes of this section, the overtime work that is scheduled
must have been for the purpose of performing work in the employee's
assigned function and may not have been scheduled solely for the purpose
of travel. Likewise, overtime work may not be scheduled to be
accomplished while traveling unless it is work that must be performed
while traveling (see paragraph B, below).

B. The travel involves the performance of actual work while traveling.

[DISCUSSION]{.underline}:

1\. The employee must be performing work that his/her job was intended
to accomplish, and that can only be performed while traveling (e.g.,
when riding in an airplane to do aerial photography of transmission
towers and/or lines, if the employee is a photographer).

2\. On the other hand, an engineer who is hired to design engineering
projects cannot be paid overtime for time spent in travel status, even
though he/she was "designing a project," if the travel occurs outside
the engineer's regularly scheduled administrative workweek. This
prohibition applies to the vast majority of BPA employees.

C. The travel is incidental to travel that involves the performance of
work while traveling.

[DISCUSSION]{.underline}:

1\. An employee will generally be in this situation when he/she is on a
"deadhead" trip, either: (a) traveling to a destination to board a means
of transportation upon which he/she will be performing work while
traveling; [or]{.underline} (b) having performed work while traveling
and then returning to his/her official duty station. An example of work
of this type is a pilot who, after completing his/her basic work
requirement, is a passenger in an airplane deadheading to a location to
pick up a plane, which he/she must fly (pilot) to another destination.
Or, using the same photographer and situation from the previous
discussion, a photographer is entitled to overtime for all the travel
time, even while riding (but not yet "shooting" pictures) to the
location where he/she will shoot the aerial photographs and while
traveling back to his/her residence. This entitlement occurs because the
travel was incidental to the assignment, that of shooting aerial
photographs, which had to be shot while flying.

2\. An example of travel not meeting this condition would be travel to
and from a hearing, since the hearing is not work that will be performed
while traveling.

D. The travel is carried out under such arduous conditions that the
travel is inseparable from work.

[DISCUSSION]{.underline}:

Arduous conditions, as used in the governing law (5 U.S.C. 5542
(b)(2)(B)) and as interpreted by case law, are conditions that impose a
substantial burden on the traveler beyond that normally associated with
travel, such as those imposed by unusually adverse terrain, severe
weather conditions, and remote sites inaccessible by ordinary means of
transportation. Absent some very unusual circumstances, travel by motor
vehicle over hard surfaced roads or by common carrier, including
airlines, is not travel under arduous conditions, even though it may
occur at night, continue over an extended period of time, and involve
some discomfort or risks.

E. The travel results from an event that could not be scheduled or
controlled administratively by the Executive Branch of the Federal
Government.

[DISCUSSION]{.underline}:

1\. [Events Under the Control of BPA or Other Federal Government
Executive Branch Agencies]{.underline}. Overtime is not paid for travel
to or from an event that was under the control of BPA or any other
Federal (Executive Branch) Agency (e.g.,

government-sponsored training or conferences, meetings with other
government agencies or meetings arranged by government agencies,
scheduled power outages, or inspections).

> [Note]{.underline}: The fact that travel regulations do not permit the
> payment of per diem over a
>
> 2-day weekend cannot be used as the basis for the payment of overtime
> for the travel on a Sunday in order to attend a government-sponsored
> or arranged event on Monday. See section VIII.F.3. in Personnel Letter
> 550-1 to which this Appendix is attached.

2\. [Events Not Under the Control of BPA or other Federal Government
Executive Branch Agencies]{.underline}. Travel to events that are not
under the control of BPA may qualify for the payment of overtime. In
order to qualify, however, there must also be an immediate official
necessity in connection with the event requiring the travel to be
performed outside an affected employee's regular hours. An immediate
official necessity means that the presence of an employee is absolutely
critical in order for that agency to conduct its required mission or
respond to events associated with its mission.

a\. As an example, an electrical engineer whose duty station is
Portland, Oregon, has a regular schedule of Monday through Friday, 7:30
a.m. to 4:15 p.m. A line outage due to severe weather conditions
requires the employee to be sent to the Seattle, Washington, area on
Tuesday afternoon in order to monitor and report on the effect repair
activities are having at Puget Sound Power & Light Company. The employee
leaves Portland at 3:15 p.m. by car and arrives at the Bellevue,
Washington, office of Puget Sound Power & Light at 6:30 p.m. Monitoring
and reporting activities are completed at 8 p.m. The employee leaves
Bellevue at 8:15 p.m., and returns to his/her home in Gresham, Oregon,
at 11:30 p.m.

The event that caused the employee to be sent to Bellevue was clearly
not under BPA's control. There was also an immediate official necessity
for the employee to travel to Bellevue in order to monitor and report on
repair activities. The time spent in travel status from 3:15 p.m.
through 4:15 p.m. was part of the employee's regularly scheduled workday
and he/she is entitled to straight time pay for this period of time.
He/she is also entitled to overtime compensation for the travel time
from 4:15 p.m. through 6:30 p.m., and the overtime worked through 8 p.m.
The engineer's return travel time, in this case, will also be
compensable at the overtime rate.

b\. Travel outside an employee's regular work hours to attend training
put on by an institution [outside]{.underline} the Executive Branch of
the U.S. Government, and not for the sole benefit of the Executive
Branch, will be considered hours of employment for which overtime pay
may be authorized. Because the training is not being conducted solely
for the benefit of the Executive Branch (for example, a university
seminar open to any qualified attendee), it is not under the Executive
Branch's administrative control. Also, in these situations, the
scheduling of the event itself supplies the immediate official
necessity, depending on the timing, for travel outside regular hours in
order to accommodate the schedule of the training. Depending on the
timing and duration of the training, both travel to the training and/or
return travel outside the employee's regular hours may qualify for
overtime pay.

c\. When a training course is conducted by an institution (for example,
a school or consulting firm under contract to BPA), for the benefit of
the Federal government (Executive Branch), it is assumed that the
government can control the scheduling of the course and, therefore, the
event is under the administrative control of the government. In this
case, the authorization of overtime for travel is not permissible, even
though the event was not scheduled to accommodate travel during the
regular hours of every participant.

d\. Training courses put on by a Federal government (Executive Branch)
entity (for example, the Office of Personnel Management, the General
Services Administration, the Department of Energy, etc.), are considered
to be under the administrative control of the government and do not
qualify.

#### APPENDIX B

**QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (AND EXAMPLES) ON COMPENSATORY**

**TIME FOR TRAVEL UNDER 5 CFR, PART 550, SUBPART N**

# Q.1. What is the new compensatory time earned for travel, and when did it become effective? 

A.1. BPA annual employees may now earn compensatory time off for time
spent in a travel status during non-duty hours away from an employee's
official duty station, when such time is not otherwise compensable
under: (a) the provisions of Section VIII.G. in this issuance (and paid
as either overtime or as compensatory time under Section XIV.); or under
the provisions of Personnel Letter No. 551-1 for non-exempt employees.
This authority was effective on January 28, 2005.

# Q.2. Are all BPA employees covered by this new provision? 

A.2. The new form of compensatory time off provision applies only to
annual employees, without regard to whether the employee is exempt or
non-exempt for FLSA overtime pay purposes. This does not include
intermittent employees and members of the Senior Executive Service
(SES).

For employees on a part-time schedule, compensatory time off for travel
is generally earned only for hours in excess of 8 hours in a day, or 40
hours in a week. Work-related travel time outside a part-time
employee\'s scheduled tour of duty, but not in excess of 8 hours in a
day or 40 hours in a week, is credited as non-overtime hours of work.

# Q.3. What qualifies as *travel status* to earn this new form of compensatory time? 

A.3. To qualify for this purpose, travel during non-duty hours must be
[officially authorized]{.underline} and be for work purposes. Travel
status includes [only]{.underline} the time actually spent traveling
between the official duty station and a temporary duty station, or
between two temporary duty stations [and]{.underline} the usual waiting
time that precedes or interrupts such travel.

Time that is [not creditable]{.underline} as time in a travel status
during non-duty hours includes:

-   Time spent at a temporary duty station between arrival and
    departure. Once an employee reaches the temporary duty station,
    he/she is no longer considered to be in a travel status.

-   Bona fide meal periods during actual travel time or waiting time
    (see Q.8.)

-   When an employee experiences an extended waiting time between actual
    periods of travel during which the employee is free to rest, sleep,
    or otherwise use the time for his/her own purposes.

# Q.4. What is the procedure required to request the new form of compensatory time for travel?

A.4. Earning compensatory time for travel during non-duty hours must be
officially authorized on BPA form 2220.15e, Overtime/Comp Time Request
and Justification form (or other approved forms listed in Section
VII.A.2.). The revised form includes the check box, Travel-Compensatory
Time, to indicate the type of overtime requested.

**Q.5. Is there a limitation on the amount of compensatory time off for
travel an employee may earn?**

A.5. No. However, managers/supervisors should use discretion when
scheduling travel during non-duty hours, as employees should not be
required to travel during non-duty hours if there is minimal cost or
impact on work by waiting until employees' regularly scheduled work
hours.

# Q.6. How is the new compensatory time off for travel earned/used and tracked?

A.6. The new form of compensatory time for travel will be earned/used in
15-minute increments. The employee must request to use the compensatory
time for travel by following the same procedures established for leave
purposes. The specific Time Reporting Codes for this type of
compensatory time must be used in the Time and Labor system to record
the amounts earned and used. [Unused amounts will forfeit at the end of
the 26^th^ pay period after the pay period in which it was earned
(except in certain circumstances\--see Q. 16)]{.underline}.

Note: Because this new form of compensatory time will forfeit, and not
"cash out," it should be used before other earned compensatory time and
annual leave. An individual may not receive payment under any
circumstances for any unused compensatory time off he/she earned under 5
CFR, Part 550, Subpart N.

Managers will approve requests for use of earned compensatory time off
for travel unless there is a need for the employee's services. To avoid
forfeiture, employees are encouraged to request approval to use such
time off well in advance of when it would be otherwise forfeited.

In addition, any compensatory time for travel earned will be forfeited
if an employee separates from Federal service, voluntarily transfers to
another agency (including a promotion or change to lower grade action),
or moves to a position in an agency (e.g., Postal Service) that is not
covered under 5 CFR, Part 550, Subpart N.

# Q.7. What does "usual waiting time" mean? 

A.7. Usual waiting time at an airport or train terminal is the actual
waiting time, up to 2 hours, and is creditable as time in a travel
status. Usual waiting time is reduced by any time during the employee's
regular duty hours. It is also reduced by any time for bona fide meal
periods

(see Q. 8). The time begins when the employee is physically in the
terminal, including waiting in line to check in, but not time in the
parking lot or traveling from the parking lot to the terminal.

**Q.8. What is a bona fide meal period?**

A.8. A bona fide meal period means the time an employee uses to eat a
meal while waiting for a flight or train in which s/he has at least 1
hour in a departure, intervening, or final destination terminal and has
at least 30 minutes to eat in a restaurant or waiting area. At an
intervening terminal, the employee must have at least 1 hour from the
time that the first flight or train arrives at a terminal and the next
one actually departs.

For example, if an employee needs 20 minutes to purchase a fast food
meal and eat it in a waiting area with 1 hour and 10 minutes before the
next flight, then 30 minutes is reported as the meal period since time
is reported in 15-minute increments.

Eating on a flight or train is not a bona fide meal period unless the
employee has at least 1 hour in a terminal [and]{.underline} chooses to
purchase a meal in the terminal to carry on the flight or train, in
which case a meal period should be imputed to reduce the total travel
time credited for compensatory time for travel.

######## **Q.9. How is compensatory time for travel determined when a flight or train is delayed or**

######## **cancelled?** 

A.9. Waiting time (outside an employee's regular work hours) for a
delayed or cancelled flight or train, is credited for non-duty hours up
to the time that the employee is notified of the cancellation, but no
more than 2 hours, reduced by any time for bona fide meal periods (see
Q. 8), rest and/or sleep, or personal use (e.g., shopping in a
terminal).

When the cancellation occurs at the initial departure terminal, then the
employee's travel time back home (reduced by the employee's normal
commute time) or to his/her hotel may be credited as compensatory time
for travel, but only if the travel occurs outside the employee's regular
duty hours.

When the cancellation occurs at an intervening terminal, then the travel
time to and from a hotel for an overnight stay is creditable time if it
occurs outside the employee's regular duty hours, but the time at the
hotel is not creditable because it is regarded as personal time for rest
and/or sleep.

An extended waiting period that occurs during an employee's regular
working hours is compensable as part of the employee's regularly
scheduled administrative workweek rather than as compensatory time for
travel.

Q.10. When is it appropriate to offset creditable time in a travel
status by the amount of time the employee spends in normal commuting
between home and work?

A.10. If an employee travels [directly]{.underline} between his/her
[home]{.underline} and a [temporary duty station]{.underline} that is
[outside]{.underline} the limits of the employee's official duty station
(e.g., driving to a meeting or conference), the employee's normal
home-to-work/work-to home commuting time must be deducted from the
creditable travel time.

If the employee is required to travel outside of regular working hours
between [home]{.underline} and a [transportation terminal]{.underline}
that is [outside]{.underline} the limits of the employee's official duty
station, then normal commuting time must also be deducted.

Q.11. What if an employee travels to a transportation terminal
[within]{.underline} the limits of his or her official duty station?

A.11. An employee's time spent traveling outside of regular working
hours to or from his/her [home]{.underline} and a transportation
terminal [within]{.underline} the limits of his/her official duty
station is considered equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable
time in a travel status.

If an employee travels between a [worksite]{.underline} and a
transportation terminal, the travel time outside regular working hours
is creditable as time in a travel status, and no commuting time offset
applies.

**Q.12. How is an employee\'s travel time calculated for the purpose of
earning compensatory time off when the travel involves two or more time
zones?**

A.12. When an employee\'s travel involves two or more time zones, the
time zone from point of first departure must be used to determine how
many hours the employee actually spent in a travel status for the
purpose of accruing compensatory time off. For example, if an employee
travels from his official duty station in Washington, DC, to a temporary
duty station in San Francisco, CA, the Washington, DC, time zone must be
used to determine how many hours the employee spent in a travel status.
However, on the return trip to Washington, DC, the time zone from San
Francisco, CA, must be used to calculate how many hours the employee
actually spent in a travel status.

###### Q.13. Is compensatory time for travel available for an employee who chooses to return {#q.13.-is-compensatory-time-for-travel-available-for-an-employee-who-chooses-to-return .unnumbered}

###### early from a trip? {#early-from-a-trip .unnumbered}

A.13. With supervisory approval, an employee may return from a trip
early (e.g., the night before he/she was otherwise authorized to travel
during normal work hours or during a non-work day or holiday). In such
cases, the employee will receive compensatory time for travel for time
outside non-duty hours.

**Q.14. If an employee is required to travel on a Federal holiday (or an
"in lieu of" holiday), is the employee entitled to receive the
compensatory time off for travel?**

A.14. Although most employees do not receive holiday premium pay for
time spent traveling on a holiday (or an "in lieu of" holiday), an
employee continues to be entitled to pay for the holiday in the same
manner as if the travel were not required. Thus, employees may not earn
compensatory time off for travel during basic (non-overtime) holiday
hours because they are entitled to their rate of basic pay for those
hours. Compensatory time off for travel may be earned by an employee
only for time spent in a travel status away from the employee's official
duty station when such time *is not otherwise compensable*.

###### Q.15. Can an employee get compensatory time for travel for a permanent change in {#q.15.-can-an-employee-get-compensatory-time-for-travel-for-a-permanent-change-in .unnumbered}

###### station (PCS)?  {#station-pcs .unnumbered}

A.15. No. The law provides this form of compensation for "an employee in
a travel status away from the official duty station." Thus, it only
applies to local or temporary duty (TDY) travel outside the area of the
employee's official duty station.

**Q.16. Under what circumstances does an employee maintain credit for
accrued compensatory time off for travel beyond the 26^th^ pay period
after the pay period in which it was credited?**

A.16. Unused compensatory time off for travel will be held in abeyance
only for an employee who separates, or is placed in a leave without pay
status, and later returns following either of the following events:

> \(1\) separation or leave without pay to perform service in the
> uniformed services (as defined in 38 U.S.C. 4303 and 5 CFR 353.102)
> and a return to service through the exercise of a reemployment right;
> or
>
> \(2\) separation or leave without pay due to an on-the-job injury with
> entitlement to injury compensation under 5 U.S.C. chapter 81.

In both cases, the employee must use all of the compensatory time off
held in abeyance by the end of the 26th pay period following the pay
period in which the employee returns to duty; if unused after that
period, it will be forfeited.

**Q.17. May an employee receive a lump-sum payment for accrued
compensatory time off for travel upon separation from an agency?**

A.17. No, the law prohibits such payment under any circumstances.

**Q.18. Is the compensatory time for travel considered in applying
either the maximum earnings limitation in Section IX. or the aggregate
pay cap limitation in 5 CFR, Part 530?**

A.18. No, it is not counted or applied against either of these pay caps.

**Q.19. If an employee is eligible to receive overtime pay for a period
of travel because the travel meets one of the four criteria in Section
VIII.G.1.b., is the employee eligible to earn compensatory time off for
any portion of the travel that may not be compensable because of the
maximum earnings limitation in Section IX?**

A.19. No. Compensable time off for travel may be earned by an employee
only for time spent in a travel status away from the employee's official
duty station when such time is "not otherwise compensable." The capped
premium pay under Section IX. is considered complete compensation for
all hours of work that are creditable under the premium pay provisions.

**Q.20. May an employee earn compensatory time off when he or she
travels in conjunction with the performance of union representational
duties?**

A.20. Compensatory time for travel may be earned only for official
travel, which OPM defines as travel for agency-related work purposes.
BPA's Labor Relations Officer (LRO) has the sole discretion to determine
if travel in connection with union representational duties is
creditable. The LRO will approve such time: (a) if the union
representative requests approval from the LRO in advance of the travel;
and (b) if the LRO determines that the union representational duties are
of mutual benefit to BPA and the union. The LRO will advise the union
representative's manager of such approval by e-mail.

**[Examples of Creditable Travel Time]{.underline}**

Note: The Compensatory Time for Travel Worksheet for Non-Local Travel on
e-forms (BPA F 2220.14e) may also be used to calculate compensatory
time-travel earned.

**Example 1: Travel to a temporary duty station on a workday (regular
duty hours are**

**8:00 a.m.--4:30 p.m. for this example)**

*From home to a business meeting*

  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -------------------
  **6:00 -- 7:00    **7:00 -- 8:00    **8:00 -- 11:30   **11:30 a.m. --
  a.m.**            a.m.**            a.m.**            12:30 p.m.**

  Drive to airport  Wait at airport   Plane             Drive to worksite
                                      departs/lands     

  *non-creditable   ***[Creditable    *Regular duty     
  travel time*      travel            hours*            
                    time]{.mark}***                     
  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -------------------

*From the business meeting to home*

  ----------------- ------------- ----------------- ----------------- -------------------
  **5:00-6:00       **6:00-7:30                     **7:30 -- 10:30   **10:30 -- 11:30
  p.m.**            p.m.**                          p.m.**            p.m.**

  Drive to airport  Wait at                         Plane             Drive home
                    airport                         departs/lands     

  ***[Creditable    *Dinner*      ***[Creditable                      *Non-creditable
  travel                          travel                              travel time*
  time]{.mark}***                 time]{.mark}***                     
  ----------------- ------------- ----------------- ----------------- -------------------

Employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as follows:

  ------------------------------------------------------- -----------------
  Total travel time                                       13 hours

  *Minus*                                                 

  *Travel time within regular working hours*              *4.5 hours*

  *Travel to/from airport within limits of official duty  *2 hours*
  stations*                                               

  *Bona fide meal period*                                 *0.5 hour*

  **[Compensatory time off for travel]{.mark}**           **[6
                                                          hours]{.mark}**
  ------------------------------------------------------- -----------------

Note: The employee's time spent traveling outside of the regular working
hours to or from a transportation terminal within the limits of his or
her official duty station, is considered to be equivalent to commuting
time and is not creditable travel time. The employee spends 2 hours
traveling to and from an airport within the limits of his official duty
station. Also, a bona fide meal period (30 minutes) during travel or
waiting time outside of regular duty hours is not considered to be
creditable travel time and could not be earned as compensatory time for
travel.

**Example 2: Travel to a temporary duty station (for a meeting) on a
non-workday (regular duty hours are 8:00 a.m.-- 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday)**

*Travel from home to the hotel on Sunday*

  ------------------ ----------------- ---------------- -----------------
  **5:00-6:00 p.m.** **6:00-7:30       **7:30--10:00    **10:00--10:30
                     p.m.**            p.m.**           p.m.**

  Drive to airport   Wait at airport   Plane            Drive to hotel
                                       departs/lands    

  *Non-creditable    ***[Creditable                     
  travel time*       travel                             
                     time]{.mark}***                    
  ------------------ ----------------- ---------------- -----------------

*Travel from a hotel to home on the following Saturday*

  ----------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------------ -----------------
  **6:30--7:00      **7:00--10:30                     **10:30 a.m.--1:00 **1:00--2:00
  a.m.**            a.m.**                            p.m.**             p.m.**

  Drive to airport  Wait at                           Plane              Drive home
                    airport-2 hour                    departs/lands      
                    delay                                                

  *Creditable       *Breakfast*     ***[Creditable                       *Non-creditable
  travel time*                      travel                               travel tim**e***
                                    time]{.mark}***                      
  ----------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------------ -----------------

Employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as follows:

  ------------------------------------------------------- -----------------
  Total travel time                                       13 hours

  *Minus*                                                 

  *Travel to/from airport within limits of official duty  *2 hours*
  station*                                                

  *Bona fide meal period*                                 *0.5 hour*

  **[Compensatory time off for travel]{.mark}**           **[10.5
                                                          hours]{.mark}**
  ------------------------------------------------------- -----------------

Note: The time spent on Sunday traveling to the airport and on
Saturday's return trip traveling to the airport is within the limits of
the employee's official duty station and is considered equivalent to
commuting time and not creditable time in a travel status. The time
spent for breakfast while waiting at the airport is also not included,
as it is considered a bona fide meal period.

**Example 3: Driving to and from a temporary duty station during a
regular workday (regular duty hours are 8:00 a.m. -- 4:30 p.m.)**

*Travel to and from a 1-day training session*

  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------------- ----------------- -----------------
  6:00--8:00 a.m.                     8:00--4:30 p.m.         4:30--6:30 p.m.   

  *Non-creditable   ***[Creditable    *Regular working hours* ***[Creditable    *Non-creditable
  travel time*      travel                                    travel            travel time*
                    time]{.mark}***                           time]{.mark}***   
  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------------- ----------------- -----------------

Travel includes a 2-hour drive from the employee's home, and 2 hours for
the return trip home. If an employee travels directly between home and a
temporary duty station outside the limits of his/her official duty
station, the time spent traveling outside regular working hours is
creditable travel time. The amount of compensatory time for travel is
reduced then by 2 hours, to deduct the time the employee would have
spent in normal home-to-work commuting. The employee's normal daily
commuting time is 1 hour each way (2 hours).

Employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as follows:

  ---------------------------------------------------- ------------------
  Total travel time                                    4 hours

  *Minus*                                              

  *Normal commuting time*                              *2 hours*

  **[Compensatory time off for travel]{.mark}**        **[2
                                                       hours]{.mark}**
  ---------------------------------------------------- ------------------