TOOLS

FOR DETERMINING 

COMPENSATORY TIME 

OFF FOR TRAVEL

A DLA JOB AIDE

DECISION TABLE 

FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF COMPENSATORY TIME OFF 

FOR TRAVEL PURPOSES 

Time Creditable Time Not Creditable 

Compensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time may, or may not, be earned: 

(References provided as additional sources of information) 

References: (a) Office of Personnel Management Memorandum of Executive Departments and 

 Agencies, “Compensatory Time Off for Travel,” January 27, 2005. 

 http://www.opm.gov/oca/compmemo/2005/2005-03.asp 

 (b) Federal Register Vol. 70, No.17, dated January 27, 2005 

 (c) Department of Defense (DOD), Under Secretary of Defense Memorandum, 

 Compensatory Time Off for Travel, dated August 12 2005 

(d) Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 550, “Pay Administration,” 

current edition 

X 

Scenario 1. An employee receives compensatory time off for travel only for 

those hours spent in a travel status. What qualifies as time in a travel status?

Travel status includes only the time actually spent 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, when no other 

compensation is appropriate. 

X 

Scenario 2. What is meant by "usual waiting time"?

Airline travelers generally are required to arrive at the airport at a designated predeparture time (e.g., 1 or 2 hours before the scheduled departure, depending on 

whether the flight is domestic or international). Such waiting time at the airport is 

considered usual waiting time and is creditable time in a travel status. In addition, 

time spent at an intervening airport waiting for a connecting flight (e.g., 1 or 2 

hours) also is creditable time in a travel status. In all cases, a determination 

regarding what is creditable as "usual waiting time" is within the sole and exclusive 

discretion of the employing agency. 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

2

Time Creditable Time Not CreditableCompensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time may, or may not, be earned: 

X 

X 

Scenario 3. What if an employee experiences an "extended" waiting period?

If an employee experiences an unusually long wait prior to his or her initial 

departure or between actual periods of travel during which the employee is free to 

rest, sleep, or otherwise use the time for his or her own purposes, the extended 

waiting time that is outside the employee's regular working hours is not creditable 

time in a travel status. 

If an extended waiting period occurs during an employee's regular working hours, 

it is compensable as part of the employee's regularly scheduled administrative 

workweek. 

See Example 5 

 

 

X 

Scenario 4. What happens once an employee reaches a temporary duty 

station?

Once an employee arrives at the temporary duty station, he or she is no longer 

considered to be in a travel status. Any time spent at a temporary duty station 

between arrival and departure is not creditable travel time for the purpose of 

earning compensatory time off for travel. 

See Example 5 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

3

Time Creditable Time Not Creditable Compensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time off may, or may not, be earned: 

X 

X 

Scenario 5. When is it appropriate for an agency to offset creditable time in a 

travel status by the amount of time the employee spends in normal commuting 

between home and work?

If an employee travels directly between his or her home and a temporary duty 

station outside the limits of the employee's official duty station (e.g., driving to and 

from a 3-day conference), the agency must deduct the employee's normal home-towork/work-to-home commuting time from the creditable travel time. 

The agency must also deduct an employee's normal commuting time from the 

creditable travel time if the employee is required-outside of regular working hoursto travel between home and a transportation terminal (e.g., an airport or train 

station) outside the limits of the employee's official duty station. 

See Example 1 through 5 

 

X 

Scenario 6. What if an employee travels to a transportation terminal within 

the limits of his or her official duty station? 

An employee’s time spent traveling outside of regular working hours to or from a 

transportation terminal within the limits of his or her official duty station is 

considered equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable time in a travel 

status for the purpose of earning compensatory time off for travel. 

See Example 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 

X 

Scenario 7. What if an employee travels from a worksite to a transportation 

terminal?

If an employee travels between a worksite 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. 

See Example 1 and 3 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

4

Time Creditable Time Not Creditable Compensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time off may, or may not, be earned:

- - Scenario 8. How is compensatory time off for travel earned and credited?

Compensatory time off for travel is earned, credited and used in one-quarter hour 

(15 minutes) increments. 

 X Scenario 9. Is there a limitation on the amount of compensatory time off for 

travel an employee may earn? 

No. 

- - Scenario 10. How does an employee request credit for compensatory time off 

for travel?

Agencies may establish procedures for requesting credit for compensatory time off 

for travel. An employee must comply with his or her agency's procedures for 

requesting credit of compensatory time off, and the employee must file a request 

for such credit within the time period established by the agency. 

Defense Logistics Agency (DLA): Within 5 workdays from employee’s return 

from travel, employee must submit documentation in support of request for 

compensatory time off for travel. Timekeeper will document earned compensatory 

time off for travel in ATAAPS. 

- - Scenario 11. How does an employee use accrued compensatory time off for 

travel?

An employee must request permission from his or her supervisor to schedule the 

use of his or her accrued compensatory time off for travel in accordance with 

agency policies and procedures. Compensatory time off for travel may be used 

when the employee is granted time off from his or her scheduled tour of duty 

established for leave purposes. Employees must use accrued compensatory time 

off for travel in increments of one-quarter of an hour (15 minutes). 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

5

Time Creditable Time Not 

Compensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time off may, or may not, be earned: 

- - Scenario 12. How long does an employee have to use accrued compensatory 

time off for travel?

An employee must use his or her accrued compensatory time off for travel by the 

end of the 26th pay period after the pay period in which it was earned or the 

employee must forfeit such compensatory time off, except in certain circumstances. 

(See Scenario 13.) 

- - Scenario 13. Under what circumstances does an employee maintain credit for 

accrued compensatory time off for travel beyond the 26th pay period after the 

pay period in which it was earned? 

Unused compensatory time off for travel will be held in abeyance for an employee 

who separates, or is placed in a leave without pay status, and later returns following 

(1) separation or leave without pay to perform service in the uniformed services as 

defined in Title 38, United States Code (U.S.C.), 4303, “Employment and 

Reemployment Rights of Members of the Uniformed Services,” and Title 5, Code 

of Federal Regulations (CFR), 353.102, “Restoration to Duty from Uniformed 

Service or Compensable Injury,” 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 Title 5 U.S.C. Chapter 81, 

“Compensation for Work Injuries.” 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, or such 

compensatory time off will be forfeited. 

- - Scenario 14. May unused compensatory time off for travel be restored if an 

employee does not use it by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period 

in which it was earned?

Except in certain circumstances (see Scenario 13), any compensatory time off for 

travel not used by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period in which it 

was earned must be forfeited. 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

6

Time Creditable Time Not CreditableCompensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time off may, or may not, be earned: 

- - Scenario 15. What happens to an employee's unused compensatory time off 

for travel upon separation from Federal service? 

Except in certain circumstances (see Scenario 13), an employee must forfeit all 

unused compensatory time off for travel upon separation from Federal service. 

- - Scenario 16. May an employee receive a lump-sum payment for accrued 

compensatory time off for travel upon separation from an agency?

No. The law prohibits payment for unused compensatory time off for travel under 

any circumstances. 

- - Scenario 17. What happens to an employee's accrued compensatory time off 

for travel upon transfer to another agency?

When an employee voluntarily transfers to another agency, the employee must 

forfeit all of his or her unused compensatory time off for travel. 

- - Scenario 18. What happens to an employee's accrued compensatory time off 

for travel when the employee moves to a position that is not covered by the 

regulations in Title 5, CFR, parts 550, Subpart N, “Compensatory Time Off 

for Travel”? 

When an employee moves to a position in an agency that is not covered by the 

compensatory time off for travel provisions (e.g., the United States Postal Service), 

the employee must forfeit all of his or her unused compensatory time off for travel. 

However, the gaining agency may use its own legal authority to give the employee 

credit for such compensatory time off. 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

7

Time Creditable Time Not CreditableCompensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time off may, or may not, be earned: 

 

X 

Scenario 19. Is compensatory time off for travel considered in applying the 

premium pay and aggregate pay caps?

No. Compensatory time off for travel may not be considered in applying the 

biweekly or annual premium pay limitations established under Title 5, U.S.C., 

5547, “Limitation on Premium Pay” or the aggregate limitation on pay established 

under Title 5, U.S.C., 5307, “Limitation on Certain Payments.” 

X 

X 

Scenario 20. If an employee is required to travel on a Federal holiday (or an 

"in lieu of" holiday), is the employee entitled to receive compensatory time off 

for travel? 

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 (nonovertime) 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. 

 

X 

Scenario 21. If an employee's regularly scheduled tour of duty is Sunday 

through Thursday and the employee is required to travel on a Sunday during 

regular working hours, is the employee entitled to earn compensatory time off 

for travel? 

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. Thus, an employee may not earn compensatory 

time off for traveling on a workday during regular working hours because the 

employee is receiving his or her rate of basic pay for those hours. 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

8

Time Creditable Time Not CreditableCompensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time off may, or may not, be earned: 

 

X

 

Scenario 22. If an employee is eligible to receive overtime pay for a period of 

travel because the travel meets one of the four criteria in 5 CFR 550.112(g) (2), 

“Computation of overtime work,” is the employee eligible to earn 

compensatory time off for any portion of the travel that may not be 

compensable because of the biweekly cap on premium pay? 

No. 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. The term "compensable" is defined at 5 CFR 

550.1403, “Definitions,” to make clear what periods of time are "not otherwise 

compensable" and thus potentially creditable for the purpose of earning the 

compensatory time off for travel. Time is considered compensable if the time is 

creditable as hours of work for the purpose of determining a specific pay 

entitlement (e.g., overtime pay for travel that meets one of the four criteria in 5 

CFR 550.112(g)(2)) even when that time may not actually generate additional 

compensation because of applicable pay limitations (e.g., biweekly premium pay 

cap). The capped premium pay is considered complete compensation for all hours 

of work creditable under the premium pay provisions. In other words, even though 

an employee may not receive overtime pay for all of his or her travel hours because 

of the biweekly premium pay cap, all of the travel time is still considered to be 

compensable under 5 CFR 550.112(g)(2). Under these circumstances, the 

employee has been compensated fully under the law for all of the travel hours and 

the employee may not earn compensatory time off for any portion of such travel 

that may not generate additional compensation because of the biweekly cap on 

premium pay. 

 

X 

Scenario 23. Are intermittent employees eligible to earn compensatory time 

off for travel? No. Compensatory time off for travel may be used by an employee 

when the employee is granted time off from his or her scheduled tour of duty 

established for leave purposes. (See 5 CFR 550.1406(b), “Usage of accrued 

compensatory time off”). Also see the definition of "scheduled tour of duty for 

leave purposes" in 5 CFR 550.1403. Employees who are on intermittent work 

schedules are not eligible to earn and use compensatory time off for travel because 

they do not have a scheduled tour of duty for leave purposes. 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

9

Time Creditable Time Not Creditable Compensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time off may, or may not, be earned:

- - Scenario 24. 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? 

Under 5 CFR 550.1404(b)(1), “Travel status,” time in a travel status includes the 

time an employee "actually spends traveling" and the usual waiting time that 

precedes or interrupts the travel, subject to certain exclusions as specified in section 

5 CFR 550.1404, “Creditable travel time,” of the regulations. 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. 

If an employee travels to a new time zone, the time on the clock may change, but 

the time the employee actually spends traveling does not. Therefore, an 

employee’s compensatory time off for travel entitlement should be calculated using 

the time zone from which the employee departs. 

In other words, the time zone applicable to an employee’s official duty station 

should be used to calculate the employee’s compensatory time off for travel 

entitlement when the employee departs from the official duty station. Likewise, on 

the return trip from the temporary duty station to the official duty station, the time 

zone applicable to the temporary duty station should be used. Therefore, it will not 

matter how many time zones are crossed. 
DECISION TABLE FOR EARNING AND USAGE OF 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL 

PURPOSES 

10

Time Creditable Time Not CreditableCompensatory time off for travel is a form of compensatory time off 

that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status 

away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is NOT 

otherwise compensable. 

The following provides scenarios whereby 

compensatory time off may, or may not, be earned: 

 

X 

Scenario 25. If a part-time employee's regularly scheduled tour of duty is 

Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the employee is required 

to travel on a Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., is the employee entitled to 

earn compensatory time off for those 2 hours? 

No. For an employee on a part-time tour of duty, overtime work generally is work 

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. Thus, a 

part-time employee may not earn compensatory time off for traveling during nonovertime hours of work because the employee is receiving his or her rate of basic 

pay for those hours. Compensatory time off for travel is earned only for hours that 

are not otherwise compensable. 

 

X 

Scenario 26. May an employee earn compensatory time off when he or she 

travels in conjunction with the performance of union representational duties?

No. The term "travel" is defined at 5 CFR 550.1403 to mean officially authorized 

travel- i.e., travel for work purposes that is approved by an authorized agency 

official or otherwise authorized under established agency policies. The term 

"travel for work purposes" is intended to mean travel for agency-related work 

purposes. Thus, employees who travel in connection with union activities are not 

entitled to earn compensatory time off because they are traveling for the benefit of 

the union, and not for agency-related work purposes. 
Examples of Creditable Travel Time 

Example 1: Travel to a temporary duty station on a workday 

From home to business meeting

6:00 - 7:00 a.m. 7:00 - 8:00 

a.m. 

8:00 - 8:30 

a.m. 

8:30 - 11:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. - 

12:30 p.m. 

Drive to airport Wait at airport Wait at airport Plane 

departs/lands 

Drive to 

worksite 

Noncreditable 

travel time 

Creditable 

travel time 

Regular 

working hours

Regular working 

hours 

Regular 

working hours

From business meeting to home

5:00 - 6:00 

p.m. 

6:00 - 6:30 

p.m. 

6:30 - 7:30 

p.m. 

7:30 - 10:30 

p.m. 

10:30 - 11:30 p.m.

Drive to airport Dinner at 

airport 

Wait at airport Plane 

departs/lands 

Drive home 

Creditable 

travel time 

Creditable 

travel time 

Creditable 

travel time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Noncreditable 

travel time 

On a workday, an employee is required to travel to a temporary duty station for an 

afternoon meeting. The employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In 

total, the employee spends 13 hours (6:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.) 

traveling to and from the worksite. However, the time between 8:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. 

is compensable as part of the employee's regular working hours. Also, an employee's time 

spent traveling outside of regular working hours to or from transportation terminal (e.g., 

an airport or train station) within the limits of his or her official duty station is considered 

to be equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable travel time. (See 5 CFR 

550.1404(d)). In this case, the employee spends 2 hours traveling to and from an airport 

within the limits of his official duty station. 
EXAMPLES OF 

CREDITABLE TRAVEL TIME 

2

In this example, the 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 station 2 hours 

Compensatory time off for travel 6.5 hours

Example 2: Travel to a temporary duty station on a nonworkday 

Travel from home to a hotel on a Sunday

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

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

Noncreditable travel 

time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Travel from a hotel to home on the following Saturday

6:30 - 7:00 

a.m. 

7:00 - 7:30 

a.m. 

7:30 - 10:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. - 

1:00 p.m. 

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. 

Drive to 

airport 

Breakfast at 

airport 

Wait at airport—2 

hour delay 

Plane 

departs/lands Drive home 

Creditable 

travel time 

Creditable 

travel time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Noncreditable 

travel time 

An employee is required to travel to a temporary duty station for a week-long conference. 

The employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 

Friday. Because the conference begins early Monday morning, the employee travels to a 

hotel at the temporary duty station the Sunday evening before the conference. The 

conference is scheduled to continue into the evening on Friday, so the employee returns 

home on Saturday morning. 
EXAMPLES OF 

CREDITABLE TRAVEL TIME 

3

In total, the employee spends 13 hours (5:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Sunday and 6:30 a.m. 

to 2:00 p.m. on the following Saturday) traveling to and from the conference. However, 

the hour the employee spends on Sunday traveling to the airport and the hour the 

employee spends on Saturday traveling from the airport within the limits of her official 

duty station is considered equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable time in a 

travel status. 

In this example, the 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 station 2 hours 

Compensatory time off for travel 11 hours

Example 3: Travel from a temporary duty station on a workday (with cancelled 

connecting flight) 

From temporary duty station to intervening airport for connecting flight on a Friday.

5:30 – 6:30 a.m. 6:30 – 8:00 a.m. 8:00 – 11:00 a.m. 11:00 - 3:00 p.m. 

Drive to airport Wait at airport Plane 

departs/lands 

Connecting flight delayed due to 

severe weather. 

Flights are cancelled. 

Creditable travel 

time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Regular working 

hours Regular working hours 

Employee checks into hotel near airport—No creditable travel time. Employee returns to 

airport on Saturday morning.

6:30 - 7:00 a.m. 7:00 - 8:30 a.m. 8:30 a.m. - 

12:00noon 

12:00noon - 1:00 p.m.

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

Creditable travel 

time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Noncreditable travel 

time 
EXAMPLES OF 

CREDITABLE TRAVEL TIME 

4

On a Friday (workday), an employee is required to travel from a temporary duty station 

to home. However, due to severe weather, the employee's connecting flight is cancelled 

until Saturday morning (nonworkday). On Friday, the employee's regular working hours 

are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In total, the employee spends 16 hours (5:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

and 6:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) traveling from the worksite. However, the time between 8:00 

a.m. and 3:00 p.m. is compensable as part of the employee's regular working hours. The 

extended waiting period from 3:00 p.m. until the employee departs for the airport on 

Saturday morning is not creditable travel time, since the employee was free to use the 

time for his or her own purposes. (See 5 CFR 550.1404(b) (3)) An employee's time 

spent traveling outside of regular working hours to or from transportation terminal (e.g., 

an airport or train station) within the limits of his or her official duty station is considered 

to be equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable travel time. (See 5 CFR 

550.1404(d)) In this case, the employee spent 1 hour traveling from an airport within the 

limits of his official duty station. 

In this example, the employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as 

follows: 

Total travel time 16 hours 

minus 

Travel time within regular working hours 7 hours 

Travel from airport within limits of official duty station 1 hour 

Compensatory time off for travel 8 hours

Example 4: Driving to and from a temporary duty station on a workday

Travel to and from a training session

6:00 - 7:00 a.m. 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. 8:00 a.m. - 

4:30 p.m. 

4:30 - 5:30 

p.m. 

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. 

Drive to training 

session 

Drive to training 

session 

Training Drive home Drive home 

Noncreditable 

travel time 

Creditable 

travel time 

Regular 

working hours

Creditable 

travel time 

Noncreditable 

travel time 

An employee is required to travel to a temporary duty station on a workday for a 1-day 

training session. The training location is a 2-hour drive from the employee's home. The 

employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In total, the employee 

spends 4 hours (6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) driving to and from the 

training session. 
EXAMPLES OF 

CREDITABLE TRAVEL TIME 

5

If an employee travels directly between home and a temporary duty station outside the 

limits of his or her official duty station, the time spent traveling outside regular working 

hours is creditable travel time. However, the agency must deduct the time the employee 

would have spent in normal home-to-work/work-to-home commuting. (See 5 

CFR 550.1404(c)) In this case, the employee's normal daily commuting time is 2 hours 

(1 hour each way). Therefore, 2 hours must be deducted from the employee's creditable 

travel time. 

In this example, the 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 2 hours

Example 5: Travel to multiple temporary duty stations on a workday 

Travel from home to 

first presentation 

site6:00 – 7:00 a.m. 

7:00 - 8:00 

a.m. 

8:00 - 

8:30 a.m.

8:30 - 10:00 

a.m. 

10:00 - 

10:30 

a.m. 

10:30 - 

12:00noon 

Drive to airport Wait at 

airport 

Wait at 

airport 

Plane 

departs/lands 

Drive to 

site 

Presentation 

Noncreditable travel 

time 

Creditable 

travel time

Regular 

working 

hours 

Regular 

working hours

Regular 

working 

hours 

Regular 

working 

hours 

Travel from first presentation site to second presentation site

12:00noon to 

12:30 p.m. 

12:30 - 1:30 

p.m. 

1:30 - 2:30 

p.m. 

2:30 - 3:00 

p.m. 

3:00 - 4:30 p.m. 

Drive to airport Wait at airport 

Plane departs/ 

lands 

Drive to site Presentation 

Regular working 

hours 

Regular 

working hours

Regular 

working hours

Regular 

working hours

Regular working 

hours 
EXAMPLES OF 

CREDITABLE TRAVEL TIME 

6

Travel from second presentation site to home

4:30 – 5:00 

p.m. 

5:00 - 5:30 

p.m. 

5:30 - 6:30 

p.m. 

6:30 - 9:30 p.m. 9:30 - 10:30 p.m. 

Drive to airport Dinner at 

airport 

Wait at airport Plane 

departs/lands 

Drive home 

Creditable 

travel time 

Creditable 

travel time 

Creditable 

travel time 

Creditable travel 

time 

Noncreditable 

travel time 

An employee is required to travel on a workday to two temporary duty stations to make 

presentations to stakeholders. The employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m. In total, the employee spends 13.5 hours traveling (6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., 

12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.) between home and the two 

presentation sites. However, the time between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. is compensable as 

the employee's regular working hours. Also, the 2 hours the employee spends traveling 

outside of regular working hours to and from the airport within the limits of the official 

duty station is not creditable travel time. 

In this example, the employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as 

follows: 

Total travel time 13.5 hours 

Minus 

Travel time within regular working hours 5.5 hours 

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

Bona fide meal period 0 hour 

Compensatory time off for travel 6.0 hours
EXAMPLES OF 

CREDITABLE TRAVEL TIME 

7

Example 6: Traveling through two or more time zones 

Travel from Washington, DC (EDT) to San Francisco, CA (PDT) on a Monday 

6:00 – 7:00 a.m. 7:00 - 8:30 a.m. 8:30-11:30 EDT 

5:30 - 8:30 a.m. 

PDT 

12:00-1:00 EDT 

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. 

PDT 

Drive to airport 

Washington, DC 

(Eastern Daylight 

Time) 

Wait at airport Plane departs/lands 

San Francisco, CA 

(Pacific Daylight 

Time) 

Drive to hotel 

Noncreditable travel 

time 

Regular working 

hours 

Regular working 

hours 

Regular working 

hours 

Returning from San Francisco, CA (PDT) to Washington, DC (EDT) on a Wednesday 

11:00 – 12:00 

PDT 

12:00 - 2:30 p.m. 

PDT 

2:30 - 6:00 p.m. PDT 

5:30-9:00 p.m. EDT 

6:00 – 7:00 p.m. PDT

9:00- 10:00 p.m. 

EDT 

Drive to airport Wait at airport 

Flight delay 

Plane departs/lands Drive to home 

Regular working 

hours 

Regular working 

hours 

Partially creditable 

travel time 

Partially creditable 

travel time 

An employee in Washington, DC is required to travel to a temporary duty station for a 

one day meeting in San Francisco, CA. The employee’s regular working hours are 7:00 

am to 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Because the meeting begins early Tuesday 

morning, the employee travels to a hotel at the temporary duty station the Monday before 

the meeting. The meeting is scheduled for the entire day Tuesday, so the employee will 

return home on Wednesday. 
EXAMPLES OF 

CREDITABLE TRAVEL TIME 

8

In total, the employee spends 15 hours (6:00am to 1:00pm on Monday and 11:00am to 

7:00pm on Wednesday), traveling to and from the meeting. However, the hour the 

employee spends on Monday traveling to the airport and the hour the employee spends on 

Wednesday traveling from the airport within the limits of the official duty station is 

considered equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable time in a travel status. 

If an employee travels to a new time zone, the time on the clock may change, but the time 

the employee actually spends traveling does not. Therefore, an employee’s 

compensatory time off for travel entitlement should be calculated using the time zone 

from which the employee departs. 

In this example, the employee’s compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as 

follows: 

Total travel time 15 hours 

Minus 

Travel time within regular working hours 10.5 hours 

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

Bona fide meal period 0 hour 

Compensatory time off for travel 2.5 hours
COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL PROCESS

Travel is 

approved by supervisor

Travel meets comp 

time for travel criteria?

Comp time 

for travel

not applicable

Supervisor Approves

END

Supervisor and employee 

determine TDY needs

YES

Return to employee

for adjustments

Comp time for travel is 

annotated in ATAAPS

NO

YES

NO

YES

Employee 

travels during 

official hours 

of duty time?

Employee and supervisor complete

“Calculating Compensatory Time

for Travel Worksheet”
TIME AND ATTENDANCE PROCESS 

FOR COMP TIME OFF FOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL

Employee returns 

from TDY

Supervisor 

approves when 

Certifying timecard

End 

Process

Comp time off must 

be used within 

26 pay periods after credit

Comp time off is credited 

in 15 minute increments

YES

Has comp time

for travel 

been earned?

NO

There is no limit on amount

of comp time off for travel 

employee may earn

Comp time off for travel 

must be consistent 

with employee’s 

Travel Voucher

Employee must request 

earned comp time

The T&A code for travel

comp time earned is “CB”;

travel comp time used is “CF”

Record in 

ATAAPS 
Total Travel Time Hours: 15

Adjust for time not creditableTravel time within regular workinghours 9Normal commuting time from home towork/work to home 1Time used for personal purposes(sleeping, shopping, sightseeing, etc) 0Other 0

TOTAL DEDUCTION 10

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF for TRAVEL ALLOWED TOTAL 5

*Employee must use his/her accrued compensatory time off for travel by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay periodduring which it was earned or forfeit such compensatory time off

Remarks:

Date:

WORKSHEET - Calculating Compensatory Time Off for Travel

 *Pay Period Ending Date:

Employee Signature: Date:Approver Signature:

Return Date/Time:

Employee Name: Tour of Duty:Departure Date/Time:

Destination: Reason for Travel:

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

19093 

Vol. 72, No. 73 

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Part 550 

RIN 3206–AK74 

Pay Administration (General) 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel 

Management is issuing final regulations 

on compensatory time off for time spent 

in a travel status away from the official 

duty station when such time is not 

otherwise compensable. 

DATES: The regulations are effective May 

17, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Vicki Draper by telephone at (202) 606– 

2858, by fax at (202) 606–0824, or by email at pay-performancepolicy@opm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 27, 2005, the Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM) 

published interim regulations (70 FR 

3855) in 5 CFR part 550, subpart N, to 

implement section 203 of the Federal 

Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 (Pub. 

L. 108–411, October 30, 2004), hereafter 

referred to as ‘‘the Act.’’ Section 203 of 

the Act amended 5 U.S.C. chapter 55, 

subchapter V, by adding a new section 

5550b, which established 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. The 60-day comment 

period for the interim regulations ended 

on March 28, 2005. During the comment 

period, OPM received comments from 

16 Federal agencies, 7 unions, and 81 

individuals, all of which are addressed 

in this final rule. In addition, in March 

2006, we issued additional guidance, 

including questions and answers, to 

address many of the comments we 

received on the interim regulations. We 

encourage agencies and employees to 

review these materials on OPM’s Web 

site at http://www.opm.gov/oca/pay/ 

HTML/compensatory_time.asp. We will 

continue to provide additional guidance 

on the administration of compensatory 

time off for travel, as necessary. 

Effective Date 

Two individuals suggested the new 

provision be applied retroactively to 

cover previous travel times that were 

not compensable under title 5, United 

States Code. Section 203(c) of the Act 

provided that the new form of 

compensatory time off for travel would 

take effect on the earlier of (1) the 

effective date of the implementing 

regulations or (2) the 90th day after the 

date of the law’s enactment (January 28, 

2005). The interim regulations became 

effective on January 28, 2005, and apply 

prospectively from that date. 

Covered Employees 

Several commenters requested 

clarification on the categories of 

employees covered by the new 

compensatory time off provision, while 

others objected to omissions of certain 

categories of employees in OPM’s 

regulations at 5 CFR 550.1402. Because 

the law authorizing the new 

compensatory time off provision is in 5 

U.S.C. chapter 55, subchapter V, the 

new provision applies to an ‘‘employee’’ 

as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5541(2), who is 

employed in an ‘‘Executive agency,’’ as 

defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, without regard 

to whether the employee is exempt from 

or covered by the overtime pay 

provisions of the Fair Labor Standards 

Act of 1938 (FLSA), as amended. OPM 

cannot broaden coverage to include 

additional employee groups. The 

definition includes employees in seniorlevel (SL) and scientific or professional 

(ST) positions, but not members of the 

Senior Executive Service, Senior 

Foreign Service, Foreign Service 

officers, or prevailing rate (wage grade) 

employees. 

The compensatory time off for travel 

provision also does not apply to 

employees of Non-Appropriated Fund 

Instrumentalities (NAFI). NAFI 

employees are not covered by the laws 

administered by OPM, with a few 

narrow exceptions, which are listed in 

5 U.S.C. 2105(c). Although title 38 

employees are not specifically excluded 

from the definition of ‘‘employee’’ in 5 

U.S.C. 5541(2), the title 38 employment 

system is administered by the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

under its own legal authority and any 

determinations as to coverage under 5 

U.S.C. 5541(2) would be made by VA. 

A commenter noted that the Department 

of Justice (DOJ) has determined the 

compensatory time off for travel statute 

does not apply to attorneys at DOJ. 

Congress recently enacted legislation 

(Pub. L. 109–425, December 20, 2006) 

which provides that attorneys at DOJ 

shall be eligible for compensatory time 

off for travel under section 5550b of title 

5, United States Code. 

Employees who are on intermittent 

work schedules are not eligible to earn 

and use compensatory time off for travel 

because they do not have a scheduled 

tour of duty for leave purposes. Under 

5 CFR 550.1406(b), compensatory time 

off for travel may be used by an 

employee when the employee is granted 

time off from his or her scheduled tour 

of duty established for leave purposes. 

Finally, a part-time employee may be 

entitled to compensatory time off for 

travel if the travel time does not qualify 

as compensable hours of work under 5 

U.S.C. 5542(b)(2)(B) and 5 CFR 

550.112(g)(2) and meets the other 

requirements in 5 CFR part 550, subpart 

N. 

Definitions 

Many commenters recommended the 

addition or revision of certain 

definitions in § 550.1403. One agency 

recommended adding a definition of 

accrued compensatory time off, which 

is used in § 550.1406. We agree and 

have added a definition to § 550.1403. 

In addition, we have added a definition 

of authorized agency official to mean 

the head of the agency or an official who 

is authorized to act for the head of the 

agency in the matter concerned. 

Two individuals recommended that 

OPM define time the employee would 

have spent in normal home-to-work or 

work-to-home commuting. We do not 

believe this is necessary, since agencies 

may use procedures already in place for 

deducting commuting time from travel 

hours as required by 5 CFR 550.112(j)(2) 

and 5 CFR 551.422(b). One agency 

recommended that OPM establish a 

minimum commute time for an 

employee whose residence is 

considered his or her official duty 


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19094 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

station. We are not adopting this 

recommendation because an employee 

whose residence is his or her official 

duty station does not spend time 

commuting to work. 

Two individuals recommended 

revising the definition of official duty 

station to be consistent with the term 

official station as defined in the Federal 

Travel Regulation (41 CFR 300–3.1) 

issued by the General Services 

Administration. Official duty station in 

§ 550.1403 means the geographic area 

surrounding an employee’s regular work 

site that is the same as the area 

designated by the employing agency for 

the purpose of determining whether 

travel time is compensable for the 

purpose of determining overtime pay, 

consistent with the regulations in 5 CFR 

550.112(j) and 551.422(d). The term 

official station prescribes the geographic 

limits of an employee’s permanent work 

station for the purpose of determining 

the employee’s entitlement to 

subsistence allowances (per diem). We 

are not adopting the recommendation 

because the geographic area an agency 

designates for the purpose of 

determining whether an employee is 

entitled to overtime pay for a period of 

travel may be different than the 

geographic area covered by official 

station as defined in 41 CFR 300–3.1. 

One agency recommended that the 

definition of travel status be stated 

exactly as it is in § 550.1404(b), and one 

individual recommended clarifying the 

definition. We do not believe it is 

necessary to revise the definition 

because it refers directly to 

§ 550.1404(b). 

Compensable Travel Time 

Several commenters recommended 

clarifying whether travel under certain 

circumstances is compensable. Under 

§ 550.1403, compensable refers to 

periods of time that are creditable as 

hours of work for the purpose of 

determining a specific pay entitlement, 

even when that work time may not 

actually generate additional 

compensation because of applicable pay 

limitations. One agency and an 

individual recommended clarifying 

whether an employee who receives 

administratively uncontrollable 

overtime (AUO) pay under 5 U.S.C. 

5545(c)(2) is eligible to receive 

compensatory time off for travel. An 

employee receiving AUO pay may be 

entitled to compensation for travel time 

during (1) nonovertime hours, (2) AUO 

hours (i.e., irregular or occasional 

overtime hours), or (3) regularly 

scheduled overtime hours—if the travel 

hours meet one of the conditions in 5 

CFR 550.112(g) or 5 CFR 551.422, as 

applicable. If an AUO employee has 

other qualifying travel time that does 

not meet the applicable conditions to be 

treated as compensable hours of work, 

such travel time may be used to earn 

compensatory time off under 5 CFR part 

550, subpart N. 

One agency recommended clarifying 

an employee is not eligible for 

compensatory time off for travel when 

the time spent traveling has been 

compensated under the FLSA. Overtime 

hours compensated under the FLSA 

clearly meet the definition of 

compensable in § 550.1403. Therefore, 

we believe no clarification in the 

regulations is necessary. One union 

recommended clarifying that a class of 

accommodations, such as business 

class, does not influence whether the 

travel time is compensable. We agree. 

Allowing an employee to upgrade his or 

her travel to business class does not 

eliminate his or her eligibility to earn 

compensatory time off for travel. 

One individual and one agency 

recommended clarifying whether an 

employee is eligible to earn 

compensatory time off for any portion of 

a period of travel under 5 CFR 

550.112(g)(2) which may not be 

compensable because of the biweekly 

cap on premium pay. One union and 

one agency recommended that such an 

employee should be eligible. We 

disagree. Even though an employee may 

not be paid overtime pay for all of his 

or her travel hours because of the 

biweekly premium pay cap, all of the 

travel time is still considered to be 

compensable under 5 CFR 550.112(g)(2). 

Under these circumstances, therefore, 

the employee has been compensated 

fully under the law for all of the travel 

hours; the employee may not earn 

compensatory time off for any portion of 

such travel. 

Earning Compensatory Time Off for 

Travel 

Two unions and one individual 

recommended an employee should be 

able to earn compensatory time off 

when he or she travels while performing 

union representational duties. We are 

not adopting this recommendation. The 

term travel is defined at 5 CFR 550.1403 

to mean officially authorized travel—

i.e., travel for work purposes that is 

approved by an authorized agency 

official or otherwise authorized under 

established agency policies. The term 

‘‘travel for work purposes’’ is intended 

to mean travel for agency-related work 

purposes. The Federal Labor Relations 

Authority (FLRA) has held that the 

performance of representational duties 

does not involve the performance of 

work as used in the phrase ‘‘technology 

of performing work’’ under 5 U.S.C. 

7106(b)(1). See AFGE, Council 214, 

AFL–CIO, 31 FLRA 1259, 1261–62 

(1988). The FLRA has similarly held 

that the performance of representational 

activities does not involve ‘‘work’’

within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 

7106(a)(2)(B). See AAFES, Dallas, 53 

FLRA at 24. Finally, the FLRA also has 

determined that, under 5 U.S.C. chapter 

43, job performance encompasses the 

performance of agency-assigned duties 

and does not include duties performed 

on behalf of a union. See United States 

Department of Health and Human 

Services., Soc. Sec. Admin., Office of 

Hearings & Appeals, 48 FLRA 357, 364 

(1993). Thus, employees who travel 

while performing union activities are 

not entitled to earn compensatory time 

off because they are traveling for the 

benefit of the union and not for agencyrelated work purposes. We have revised 

the definition of travel in § 550.1403 to 

clarify that time spent traveling in 

connection with union activities is not 

creditable for the purpose of earning 

compensatory time off for travel. 

One union and four individuals 

objected to an employee not being 

entitled to compensatory time off for 

travel when he or she is required to 

travel on a Federal holiday (or ‘‘in lieu 

of’’ holiday) during his or her basic 

(non-overtime) hours. 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, 

an employee may not earn 

compensatory time off for travel during 

basic (non-overtime) holiday hours 

because the employee is entitled to his 

or her 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. 

Some commenters requested 

clarification regarding an employee’s 

travel status as described in 

§ 550.1404(b). Under § 550.1404(b), 

creditable travel time for the purpose of 

earning compensatory time off for travel 

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 

(subject to certain exclusions). One 

union recommended revising 

§ 550.1404(b)(1) to include situations 

where an employee may depart from his 

or her residence. We do not believe this 

is necessary, since travel to and from 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 19095 

home is addressed in § 550.1404(c). One 

agency recommended clarifying 

compensatory time off for travel 

requires travel orders and it is not 

appropriate when travel is within an 

employee’s normal commuting area. We 

are not adopting these 

recommendations. Agencies are already 

required to process travel orders for 

officially authorized travel. In addition, 

§ 550.1404(a) already requires an 

employee to travel away from (i.e., 

outside the limits of) his or her official 

duty station in order to earn 

compensatory time off. 

Under § 550.1404(b)(1), time spent at 

a temporary duty station between arrival 

and departure is not time in a travel 

status. One individual recommended 

clarifying whether the arrival and 

departure are from the temporary duty 

worksite or lodging. We agree and have 

revised § 550.1404(b)(1) to clarify arrival 

and departure times. Time in a travel 

status ends when the employee arrives 

at the temporary duty worksite or his or 

her lodging in the temporary duty 

station, wherever the employee arrives 

first. Time in a travel status resumes 

when an employee departs from the 

temporary duty worksite or his or her 

lodging in the temporary duty station, 

from whichever the employee departs 

last. 

One agency recommended clarifying 

whether travel in connection with a 

permanent change of station (PCS) is 

considered time spent in a travel status, 

and one individual recommended that it 

should be. Although PCS travel is 

officially authorized travel, it is not 

travel between an official duty station 

and a temporary duty station or between 

two temporary duty stations. Therefore, 

it is not considered time in a travel 

status for the purpose of earning 

compensatory time off for travel. The 

law applies to travel ‘‘away from the 

official duty station of the employee,’’

not travel to a new official duty station. 

We believe that the regulation limiting 

application to temporary duty travel is 

consistent with the law and the intent 

of Congress. We have revised 

§ 550.1404(b)(1) to clarify that travel 

time in connection with an employee’s 

PCS is not time in a travel status for the 

purpose of earning compensatory time 

off. 

Six individuals requested clarification 

of how travel is calculated when an 

employee travels between different time 

zones. We have added a new paragraph 

(e) to § 550.1404 to provide clarification 

regarding the calculation of an 

employee’s travel time when the 

employee’s travel involves two or more 

time zones. Under 5 CFR 550.1404(b)(1), 

time in a travel status includes the time 

an employee ‘‘actually spends 

traveling’’ and the usual waiting time 

that precedes or interrupts the travel, 

subject to certain exclusions as specified 

in section 550.1404 of the regulations. 

When an employee’s travel involves two 

or more time zones, the time zone from 

the point of first departure must be used 

to determine how many hours (i.e., 

elapsed time) the employee actually 

spent in a travel status for the purpose 

of accruing compensatory time off. 

We received a number of comments 

on § 550.1404(b)(1) concerning the 

employing agency’s sole and exclusive 

discretion to determine what is 

creditable as ‘‘usual waiting time.’’ One 

agency, one union, and two individuals 

objected to providing agencies with this 

authority. The agency recommended 

establishing an upper and lower range 

of what is considered acceptable ‘‘usual 

waiting time.’’ The union recommended 

including examples of ‘‘usual waiting 

times.’’ The two individuals suggested 

defining ‘‘usual waiting time’’ to 

include the time it takes to get service 

at ticket counters, security, baggage 

claim, and transportation counters or 

using waiting times determined by the 

airlines or travel agencies. One 

individual commented that there may 

be different determinations of ‘‘usual 

waiting time’’ within an agency. We are 

not adopting any of these 

recommendations. The concept of 

‘‘usual waiting time’’ is currently used 

in determining overtime hours of work 

under title 5 and the FLSA, and 

agencies are knowledgeable and 

experienced in applying this concept. In 

addition, we believe it is appropriate to 

give agencies the flexibility to make this 

determination. 

Several commenters recommended 

removing § 550.1404(b)(2), which states 

that bona fide meal periods during 

actual travel time or waiting time are 

not creditable as time spent in a travel 

status. An agency stated it was absurd 

to subtract bona fide meal periods from 

creditable travel time but allow time 

periods for making telephone calls, 

dozing, chatting, wandering through 

terminals, etc., to be considered 

creditable travel time. Another agency 

commented that the results of making 

distinctions between employees who 

choose to eat at a terminal restaurant 

and employees who choose to eat while 

walking to or waiting at the gate are so 

anomalous that consistent application of 

the regulation cannot be expected. OPM 

included this limitation in the interim 

regulations because it is consistent with 

the requirement to subtract bona fide 

meal periods from an employee’s 

creditable overtime hours of work under 

5 CFR 550.112(m) and 551.432(c). 

However, we agree that agencies should 

not try to make distinctions in the 

employee’s activities during waiting 

time. Further, we agree it is not efficient 

or cost-effective to try to track 

employees’ bona fide meal periods 

during travel time or waiting time solely 

for the purpose of crediting 

compensatory time off for travel, and we 

have removed § 550.1404(b)(2) 

accordingly. 

Many commenters requested 

clarification of, or objected to, 

§ 550.1404(b)(3), which states that 

extended waiting time is not creditable 

as time in a travel status. Under 

§ 550.1404(b)(3), if an employee 

experiences an extended (i.e., not usual) 

waiting time between the periods of 

actual travel during which the employee 

is free to rest, sleep, or otherwise use the 

time for his or her own purposes, the 

extended waiting time is not creditable 

as time in a travel status. Three agencies 

recommended providing guidance on a 

range of acceptable hours for ‘‘extended 

waiting time,’’ how much discretion an 

agency has in determining extended 

waiting times, or where to draw the line 

between ‘‘usual’’ and ‘‘extended’’

waiting times. Another agency 

recommended permitting an employee 

to earn compensatory time off for 

situations beyond the control of the 

employee, though not a large amount of 

compensatory time off. Three agencies 

and a union recommended revising 

§ 550.1404(b)(3) to limit extended 

waiting time to any period during which 

an employee must obtain overnight 

lodging. We are not adopting any of 

these recommendations. Under 

§ 550.1404(b)(1), determinations 

regarding what is creditable as usual 

waiting time are within the sole and 

exclusive discretion of the agency. The 

concept of excluding extended waiting 

time is currently used in determining 

creditable overtime hours of work under 

title 5 and the FLSA, and agencies are 

experienced in applying this limitation. 

Agencies should not establish a policy 

to credit compensatory time off for 

travel beyond the usual waiting time 

applied under title 5 and the FLSA. 

We received several comments about 

subtracting commuting time from 

creditable travel time under 

§ 550.1404(c)(1) and § 550.1404(d). 

Under § 550.1404(c)(1), an agency must 

deduct the hours the employee would 

have spent in normal home-to-work or 

work-to-home commuting from travel 

between the employee’s home and a 

temporary duty station. Under 

§ 550.1404(d), if a transportation 

terminal (such as an airport) is located 

within the limits of the employee’s 

official duty station, the employee’s 


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19096 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

travel time to and from the airport 

(outside regular working hours) is 

considered to be equivalent to 

commuting time and is not creditable 

time in a travel status. If the airport is 

located outside the limits of the 

employee’s official duty station, the 

travel time to and from the airport 

(outside regular working hours) is 

creditable time in a travel status, but it 

is subject to an offset for the time the 

employee would have spent in normal 

home-to-work or work-to-home 

commuting. 

Several commenters objected to 

deducting normal commuting time on 

non-workdays as required by 

§ 550.1404(d). An agency recommended 

deleting § 550.1404(d) entirely. Another 

agency and a union recommended 

revising § 550.1404(d) to make travel to 

and from a transportation terminal 

within an employee’s official duty 

station official travel time rather than 

equivalent commuting time. The union 

also objected to subtracting an 

employee’s normal commuting time 

under § 550.1404(c)(1). One individual 

recommended making an exception for 

employees who reside outside the local 

commuting area or to limit the amount 

of normal commuting time the agency 

deducts for such employees. We are not 

adopting any of these recommendations. 

The requirement in OPM’s regulations 

in § 550.1404(c) and (d) regarding the 

deduction of normal commuting time is 

consistent with the requirement to 

deduct normal commuting time from an 

employee’s travel time in determining 

creditable overtime hours of work under 

5 CFR 550.112(j)(2) and 5 CFR 

551.422(b). 

An individual expressed concern 

regarding how § 550.1404(c) might be 

applied by his agency. In particular, he 

was concerned his agency might define 

‘‘official duty station’’ to encompass an 

unreasonably large area so that an 

employee could not be credited for 

travel from home to a temporary duty 

station. It is true that, under the 

regulations, travel to a temporary duty 

station within an employee’s official 

duty station is not creditable for the 

purpose of accruing compensatory time 

off for travel. However, as explained in 

an earlier paragraph regarding 

comments on the definition of ‘‘official 

duty station,’’ an agency is required to 

use the same geographic area that is 

used for determining whether travel 

time is compensable under the overtime 

pay provisions. (See 5 CFR 550.112(j) 

and 551.422(d).) Thus, agency 

discretion is limited. We have no 

information indicating that the agencies 

have defined ‘‘official duty station’’ for 

overtime pay purposes in an 

unreasonable way. Therefore, we 

decline to make any change in the 

regulations in this regard. 

In the case of an employee who is 

offered one mode of transportation and 

who is permitted to use an alternative 

mode of transportation, or who travels 

at a time or by a route other than that 

selected by the agency, the agency must 

determine the estimated amount of time 

in a travel status the employee would 

have had if the employee had used the 

mode of transportation offered by the 

agency or traveled at the time or by the 

route selected by the agency under 

§ 550.1404(c)(2). As recommended by an 

agency, we made a minor editorial 

correction to § 550.1404(c)(2) and 

replaced ‘‘traveled at the time and by 

the route selected by the agency’’ with 

‘‘traveled at the time or by the route 

selected by the agency’’ [emphasis 

added]. 

One agency and an individual asked 

if compensatory time off for travel may 

be authorized when the employee 

returns a day earlier than planned. In 

such cases, the agency must credit an 

employee with the lesser of the 

estimated time in travel status the 

employee would have had if the 

employee had traveled on the day 

selected by the agency, or the 

employee’s actual travel hours on a day 

other than that selected by the agency. 

One individual commented an 

alternative mode of transportation may 

save the agency money and 

recommended imposing a daily limit on 

the amount of compensatory time off for 

travel rather than crediting the lesser 

travel time. We do not agree. The cost 

of travel may influence how an agency 

schedules an employee’s travel, but it 

does not have any impact on an 

employee’s entitlement to compensatory 

time off for travel. 

Another individual asked if crediting 

the lesser travel time when an employee 

uses an alternative mode of 

transportation discriminates against 

employees with documented special 

needs and/or disabilities, such as a fear 

of flying, by not allowing the employee 

to earn compensatory time off for travel 

for the extra time spent traveling using 

the alternative mode of transportation. 

The regulatory requirement in 

§ 550.1404(c)(2) regarding how to credit 

time when an employee uses an 

alternative mode of transportation, or 

travels at another time or by a route 

other than that selected by the agency, 

is consistent with the same requirement 

in determining creditable overtime 

hours of work under 5 CFR 551.422(c). 

In addition, an alternative mode of 

transportation or alternative route or 

time period may influence an agency’s 

authorization of official travel but does 

not have an impact on an employee’s 

entitlement to compensatory time off for 

travel. Therefore we have not changed 

the regulation. 

Two agencies recommended 

clarifying whether an agency may 

change an employee’s work schedule for 

travel purposes. An agency may not 

adjust the regularly scheduled 

administrative workweek that normally 

applies to an employee (part-time or 

full-time) solely for the purpose of 

including planned travel time that 

would not otherwise be considered 

compensable hours of work. One 

individual recommended clarifying 

whether time spent traveling would be 

creditable as credit hours or 

compensatory time off for travel for an 

employee who is authorized to earn 

credit hours under an alternative work 

schedule. Credit hours are hours an 

employee elects to work, with 

supervisory approval, in excess of the 

employee’s basic work requirement 

under a flexible work schedule. Under 

certain conditions, an agency may 

permit an employee to earn credit hours 

by performing productive and essential 

work while in a travel status. See OPM’s 

Handbook on Alternative Work 

Schedules at http://www.opm.gov/oca/ 

worksch/HTML/Cred_hrs.htm#travel for 

the conditions that must be met. If those 

conditions are met and the employee 

does earn credit hours for travel, the 

time spent traveling would be 

compensable and the employee would 

not be eligible to earn compensatory 

time off for travel. If the conditions are 

not met, the employee would be eligible 

to earn compensatory time off for travel. 

One agency, one union, and one 

individual expressed concerns about the 

provision in § 550.1405(a) which allows 

the employing agency to credit an 

employee’s earned compensatory time 

off in increments of one-tenth of an hour 

(6 minutes) or one-quarter of an hour 

(15 minutes). The agency recommended 

mandating the use of either 6-minute or 

15-minute increments, rather than 

providing the choice, for payroll 

consistency. The union recommended 

permitting agencies to continue their 

established minimum charges to leave 

rather than modifying the payroll 

systems. The requirement to credit and 

use compensatory time off for travel in 

increments of 6 or 15 minutes is 

consistent with OPM’s standardized 

policy for charging annual and sick 

leave in the same increments. In 

addition, agency time and attendance 

and payroll processing systems have 

already been modified to accommodate 

this change as a result of the interim 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 19097 

regulations issued in January 2005 on 

compensatory time off for travel. 

Under § 550.1405(b), an employee 

must comply with his or her agency’s 

procedures for requesting credit of the 

employee’s compensatory time off and 

file such requests within the time period 

specified by the agency. An agency 

recommended adding a requirement 

that an employee’s request for credit of 

compensatory time off for travel may be 

denied if the request is not filed within 

the time periods established by agency 

policy or guidelines. We agree and have 

added this requirement to § 550.1405(b). 

One union recommended that an agency 

should approve a request to earn 

compensatory time off for travel at the 

same time the travel authorization is 

issued. Another agency recommended 

setting a specific time period within 

which employees must submit requests 

for credit of compensatory time off for 

travel. We are not adopting these 

recommendations. We do not believe it 

is necessary to limit an agency’s 

discretionary authority to prescribe such 

procedures and time limitations in its 

internal policies. 

An agency recommended 

modification of OPM Form 71, Request 

for Leave or Approved Absence, or 

develop a new form, for employee 

requests to earn or use compensatory 

time off for travel. We do not believe it 

is necessary or desirable to mandate the 

use of a Governmentwide form for this 

purpose. However, an agency may 

choose to develop a form as part of its 

internal policies and procedures for 

requesting and using compensatory time 

off for travel. 

Three agencies recommended 

establishing a limit on the number of 

hours of compensatory time off for 

travel an employee may earn. 

Establishing a cap on the amount of 

compensatory time off for travel an 

employee may earn would require a 

legislative change. A union and an 

individual recommended not limiting 

compensatory time off to domestic 

travel. These regulations are not limited 

to domestic travel; OPM’s regulations 

apply to both domestic and foreign 

travel. 

Using Compensatory Time Off for 

Travel 

Under § 550.1406(a), an employee 

must request permission from his or her 

supervisor to schedule the use of his or 

her accrued compensatory time off in 

accordance with agency-established 

policies and procedures. One agency 

recommended requiring agencies to 

charge compensatory time off for travel 

on a first-in, first-out basis. We agree 

and have revised § 550.1406(b) to 

require agencies to charge compensatory 

time off in the chronological order in 

which it was earned, with compensatory 

time off earned first being charged first. 

One individual recommended 

compensatory time off for travel should 

be redeemable at the rate of 1.5 times 

the number of hours spent traveling. No 

legal authority exists to permit an 

employee to be absent from his or her 

scheduled tour of duty on the basis of 

1.5 hours for each hour of creditable 

travel time. In addition, the hour-forhour rule in the interim regulation is 

consistent with the policy for earning 

and using compensatory time off in lieu 

of overtime pay under 5 CFR 550.114 

and 551.531. 

Under § 550.1406(b), earned 

compensatory time off may be used 

when an employee is granted time off 

from his or her scheduled tour of duty 

for leave purposes. One agency and two 

individuals requested clarification of 

how the use of earned compensatory 

time off for travel relates to ‘‘use-orlose’’ annual leave. (‘‘Use or lose’’

annual leave is accrued annual leave in 

excess of the maximum leave ceilings 

(i.e., 30, 45, or 90 days) that is subject 

to forfeiture at the end of the leave year.) 

Section 6304(d) of title 5, United States 

Code, prescribes the conditions under 

which an employee’s forfeited annual 

leave may be restored to an employee. 

There is no legal authority to restore an 

employee’s forfeited annual leave 

because the employee elected to use 

earned compensatory time off for travel 

instead of using his or her excess annual 

leave. 

Forfeiting Unused Compensatory Time 

Off for Travel 

We received several comments on 

§ 550.1407(a)(1), which requires 

employees to forfeit unused 

compensatory time off if it is not used 

by the end of the 26th pay period after 

the pay period during which it was 

credited, except as provided in 

§ 550.1407(a)(2) (e.g., when an employee 

separates or is placed in a leave without 

pay status to perform service in the 

uniformed services with restoration 

rights or who has suffered an on-the-job 

injury with entitlement to injury 

compensation under 5 U.S.C. chapter 81 

and who later returns to service.). Two 

agencies recommended clarifying 

whether the forfeiture of unused 

compensatory time off occurs within 26 

pay periods after it has been earned or 

credited to their payroll account. We 

agree and have revised § 550.1407(a)(1) 

to clarify that an employee must use his 

or her accrued compensatory time off 

within 26 pay periods after it is earned 

or forfeit such compensatory time off. 

One agency recommended giving 

agencies discretionary authority to 

provide a time limit for an employee to 

use compensatory time off for travel in 

the same way agencies are allowed to 

provide time limitations for the use of 

other compensatory time off. Another 

agency recommended establishing a 

specific date for using earned 

compensatory time off for travel. A 

union recommended an employee be 

allowed to use his or her earned 

compensatory time off for travel from 

the date earned until the end of the next 

leave year. Two individuals expressed 

concerns that agencies would not allow 

their employees to use their earned 

compensatory time for travel within 26 

pay periods. One union and an 

individual recommended establishing a 

longer period of time, such as 52 pay 

periods, before requiring forfeiture of 

compensatory time off for travel. Several 

commenters recommended providing 

agencies discretionary authority to 

extend the time limit for using earned 

compensatory time off for travel in 

emergency situations or when 

employees are required to complete 

mission-critical assignments. 

While the use of compensatory time 

off for travel is subject to agency work 

demands, we believe 26 pay periods is 

a sufficient amount of time for most 

employees to use their earned 

compensatory time off. However, we 

believe exceptions may be warranted in 

exceptional situations, for example, 

during emergency situations, to 

complete mission-critical assignments, 

or when employees are deployed to 

perform work directly related to a 

military operation. Therefore, we have 

added a new paragraph (e) to § 550.1407 

to permit an authorized agency official, 

at his or her sole and exclusive 

discretion, to extend the time limit for 

using earned compensatory time off for 

travel if an employee’s failure to use the 

compensatory time off within 26 pay 

periods is due to an exigency of the 

service beyond the employee’s control. 

Section 550.1407(a)(2) extends the 

period for using earned compensatory 

time off for travel for an employee who 

separates from Federal service or is 

placed in a leave without pay status to 

perform service in the uniformed 

services with restoration rights or who 

has suffered an on-the-job injury with 

entitlement to injury compensation 

under 5 U.S.C. chapter 81 and who later 

returns to service in the same (or 

successor) agency. In these 

circumstances, the employee must use 

his or her earned compensatory time off 

by the end of the 26th pay period 

following the pay period in which the 

employee returns to duty. One agency 


cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with RULES
19098 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

objected to allowing the 26 pay periods 

to start over from the beginning upon an 

employee’s return to duty. We believe it 

is reasonable to provide an employee, 

under these circumstances, a full 26 pay 

periods following his or her return to 

duty within which to use earned 

compensatory time off for travel. 

An agency recommended allowing 

agencies to consider unused 

compensatory time off when 

determining an employee’s separation 

date. We are not adopting this 

recommendation. An agency has the 

authority under § 550.1406(a) to 

approve or disapprove an employee’s 

request to use his or her accrued 

compensatory time off in accordance 

with agency-established policies and 

procedures. 

Two individuals objected to the 

provision in § 550.1408 which prohibits 

an individual from receiving payment 

under any circumstances for any unused 

compensatory time off for travel that he 

or she earned. However, the law 

explicitly prohibits payment for unused 

compensatory time off. (See 5 U.S.C. 

5550b(b).) 

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has reviewed this rule in accordance 

with E.O. 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that these regulations will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

because they will apply only to Federal 

agencies and employees. 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 550 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Claims, Government 

employees, Wages. 

Office of Personnel Management. 

Linda M. Springer, 

Director. 

■ Accordingly, the interim rule 

amending 5 CFR part 550, which was 

published at 70 FR 3855 on January 27, 

2005, is adopted as final with the 

following changes: 

PART 550—PAY ADMINISTRATION 

(GENERAL) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 550 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5304 note, 5305 note, 

5541(2)(iv), 5545a(h)(2)(B) and (i), 5547(b) 

and (c), 5548, and 6101(c); sections 407 and 

2316, Pub. L. 105–277, 112 Stat. 2681–101 

and 2681–828 (5 U.S.C. 5545a); E.O. 12748, 

3 CFR, 1992 Comp., p. 316. 

Subpart N—Compensatory Time Off 

for Travel 

■ 2. Revise the first sentence of 

§ 550.1401 to read as follows: 

§ 550.1401 Purpose. 

This subpart contains OPM 

regulations implementing 5 U.S.C. 

5550b, which establishes a separate type 

of compensatory time off. * * * 

■ 3. In § 550.1403, add the definitions of 

accrued compensatory time off and 

authorized agency official and revise the 

definition of travel to read as follows: 

§ 550.1403 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Accrued compensatory time off means 

the compensatory time off earned by an 

employee that has not been used or 

forfeited. 

Authorized agency official means the 

head of the agency or an official who is 

authorized to act for the head of the 

agency in the matter concerned. 

* * * * * 

Travel means officially authorized 

travel—i.e., travel for work purposes 

that is approved by an authorized 

agency official or otherwise authorized 

under established agency policies. Time 

spent traveling in connection with 

union activities is excluded. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. In § 550.1404, revise paragraph 

(b)(1), remove paragraph (b)(2), 

redesignate paragraph (b)(3) as 

paragraph (b)(2), revise the first 

sentence of paragraph (c)(2), and add 

paragraph (e) to read as follows: 

§ 550.1404 Creditable travel time. 

* * * * * 

(b)(1) Travel status. 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, subject to the exclusion specified 

in paragraph (b)(2) of this section and 

the requirements in paragraph (c), (d) 

and (e) of this section. Time spent at a 

temporary duty station between arrival 

and departure is not time in a travel 

status. Time in a travel status ends 

when the employee arrives at the 

temporary duty worksite or his or her 

lodging in the temporary duty station, 

wherever the employee arrives first. 

Time in a travel status resumes when an 

employee departs from the temporary 

duty worksite or his or her lodging in 

the temporary duty station, from 

whichever the employee departs last. 

Travel time in connection with an 

employee’s permanent change of station 

is not time in a travel status. 

Determinations regarding what is 

creditable as ‘‘usual waiting time’’ are 

within the sole and exclusive discretion 

of the employing agency. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(2) In the case of an employee who is 

offered one mode of transportation and 

who is permitted to use an alternative 

mode of transportation, or who travels 

at a time or by a route other than that 

selected by the agency, the agency must 

determine the estimated amount of time 

in a travel status the employee would 

have had if the employee had used the 

mode of transportation offered by the 

agency or traveled at the time or by the 

route selected by the agency. * * * 

* * * * * 

(e) Travel involving two or more time 

zones. When an employee’s travel 

involves two or more time zones, the 

time zone from the 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. 

■ 5. In § 550.1405, paragraph (b) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 550.1405 Crediting compensatory time 

off. 

* * * * * 

(b) An employee must comply with 

his or her agency’s procedures for 

requesting credit of compensatory time 

off under this section. Employees must 

file such requests within the time period 

required by the agency. An employee’s 

request for credit of compensatory time 

off for travel may be denied if the 

request is not filed within the time 

period required by the agency. 

■ 6. In § 550.1406, revise the section 

heading and paragraph (b) to read as 

follows: 

§ 550.1406 Use of accrued compensatory 

time off. 

* * * * * 

(b) Compensatory time off may be 

used when the employee is granted time 

off from his or her scheduled tour of 

duty established for leave purposes. An 

employee must use earned 

compensatory time off under this 

subpart in increments of one-tenth of an 

hour (6 minutes) or one-quarter of an 

hour (15 minutes). Agencies must 

charge compensatory time off in the 

chronological order in which it was 

earned, with compensatory time off 

earned first being charged first. 

■ 7. In § 550.1407, revise paragraph 

(a)(1) and add a new paragraph (e) to 

read as follows: 


cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 19099 

§ 550.1407 Forfeiture of unused 

compensatory time off. 

(a) After 26 pay periods. (1) Except as 

provided in paragraphs (a)(2) and (e) of 

this section, an employee must use 

accrued compensatory time off by the 

end of the 26th pay period after the pay 

period during which it was earned. If an 

employee fails to use the compensatory 

time off within 26 pay periods after it 

was earned, he or she must forfeit such 

compensatory time off. 

* * * * * 

(e) Exception due to an exigency. If an 

employee fails to use his or her 

compensatory time earned under 

§ 550.1404(a) by the end of the 26th pay 

period after the pay period during 

which it was earned due to an exigency 

of the service beyond the employee’s 

control, an authorized agency official, at 

his or her sole and exclusive discretion, 

may extend the time limit for using such 

compensatory time off for travel for up 

to an additional 26 pay periods. 

[FR Doc. E7–7266 Filed 4–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Part 890 

RIN 3206–AI62 

Waiver of Requirements for Continued 

Coverage During Retirement 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Final Rule. 

SUMMARY: Under current Federal 

Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) 

Program regulations, the Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM) may 

waive the eligibility requirements for 

health benefits coverage as an annuitant 

for an individual when, in its sole 

discretion, it determines that it would 

be against equity and good conscience 

not to allow a person to be enrolled in 

the FEHB Program as an annuitant. The 

regulations state that an individual’s 

failure to satisfy eligibility requirements 

must be due to exceptional 

circumstances. They also list specific 

situations where a waiver will not be 

granted by OPM such as when an 

individual’s retirement is based on a 

disability or an involuntary separation, 

or when an individual was misadvised 

by his/her employing office. This final 

regulation eliminates these specific 

situations from the regulation. This final 

regulation provides OPM with more 

flexibility when granting waivers. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 17, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: This document is available 

for viewing at the U.S. Office of 

Personnel Management, 1900 E Street, 

NW., Washington DC 20415. Send all 

comments to Michael Kaszynski, 

Insurance Policy, U.S. Office of 

Personnel Management, 1900 E Street, 

NW., Room 3415, Washington DC 

20415. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Kaszynski, Policy Analyst, at 

202–606–0004. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 5 

U.S.C. 8905(b), OPM may waive the 

eligibility requirements for health 

benefits coverage as an annuitant for an 

individual when, in its sole discretion, 

it determines that it would be against 

equity and good conscience not to allow 

a person to be enrolled in the FEHB 

Program as an annuitant. Under 5 CFR 

890.108, an individual’s failure to 

satisfy eligibility requirements must be 

due to exceptional circumstances. An 

individual requesting a waiver must 

provide OPM with evidence that (1) the 

individual intended to have FEHB 

coverage as an annuitant (retiree); (2) 

the circumstances that prevented the 

individual from meeting the 

requirements of 5 U.S.C. 8905(b) were 

beyond the individual’s control; and (3) 

the individual acted reasonably to 

protect his or her right to continue 

coverage into retirement. 

Section 890.108 lists specific 

situations where a waiver will not be 

granted by OPM such as when an 

individual’s retirement is based on a 

disability or an involuntary separation, 

or an individual was misadvised by his/ 

her employing office. This final 

regulation eliminates these specific 

situations from 5 CFR 890.108 to 

provide more flexibility to the waiver 

process. 

On August 7, 2006, a proposed 

regulation was published in the Federal 

Register at 71 FR 44592. We received no 

comments on the proposed rule. We 

have made no changes to this rule from 

its proposed version. 

Collection of Information Requirement 

This final rule does not impose 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements that meet 

the definition of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995’s term 

‘‘collection of information’’ which 

means obtaining, causing to be obtained, 

soliciting, or requiring the disclosure to 

third parties or the public, of facts or 

opinions by or for an agency, regardless 

of form or format, calling for either 

answers to identical questions posed to, 

or identical reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements imposed on ten or more 

persons, other than agencies, 

instrumentalities, or employees of the 

United States; or answers to questions 

posed to agencies, instrumentalities, or 

employees of the United States which 

are to be used for general statistical 

purposes. Consequently, it need not be 

reviewed by the Office of Management 

and Budget under the authority of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

requires agencies to analyze options for 

regulatory relief of small businesses. For 

purposes of the RFA, small entities 

include small businesses, nonprofit 

organizations, and government agencies 

with revenues of $11.5 million or less in 

any one year. This final rulemaking 

affects FEHB Program health insurance 

eligibility requirements which do not 

impact the dollar threshold. Therefore, 

I certify that this final regulation will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. 

Regulatory Impact Analysis 

We have examined the impact of this 

final rule as required by Executive 

Order 12866 (September 1993, 

Regulatory Planning and Review), the 

RFA (September 16, 1980, Pub. L. 96–

354), section 1102(b) of the Social 

Security Act, the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995, (Pub. L. 104–4), and 

Executive Order 13132. Executive Order 

12866 (as amended by Executive Order 

13258, which merely assigns 

responsibility of duties) directs agencies 

to assess all costs and benefits of 

available regulatory alternatives and, if 

regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety effects, distributive impacts, 

and equity). A regulatory impact 

analysis must be prepared for major 

rules with economically significant 

effects ($100 million or more in any one 

year). This rule is not considered a 

major rule, as defined in section 804(2) 

of title 5, United States Code, because 

we estimate its impact will only affect 

federal government employment offices. 

Any resulting economic impact would 

not be expected to exceed the dollar 

threshold. 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Review 

This final rule has been reviewed by 

the Office of Management and Budget in 

accordance with Executive Order 12866. 


cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with RULES

[Code of Federal Regulations] 

[Title 5, Volume 1] 

[Revised as of January 1, 2007] 

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access 

[CITE: 5CFR550.1401] 

 TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL 

 

 CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 

 

PART 550_PAY ADMINISTRATION (GENERAL)--Table of Contents 

 

 Subpart N_Compensatory Time Off for Travel 

 

Sec. 550.1401 Purpose. 

 Source: 70 FR 3856, Jan. 27, 2005, unless otherwise noted. 

 This subpart contains OPM regulations implementing 5 U.S.C. 5550b, 

which establishes a new type of compensatory time off. Subject to the 

conditions specified in this subpart, an employee is entitled to earn, 

on an hour-for-hour basis, compensatory time off for time in a travel 

status away from the employee's official duty station when the travel 

time is not otherwise compensable. 

Sec. 550.1402 Coverage. 

 This subpart applies to an employee as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5541(2) 

who is employed by an agency. 

Sec. 550.1403 Definitions. 

 In this subpart: 

 Agency means an Executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105. 

 Compensable refers to periods of time that are creditable as hours 

of work for the purpose of determining a specific pay entitlement, even 

when that work time may not actually generate additional compensation 

because of applicable pay limitations. 

 Compensatory time off means compensatory time off for travel that is 

credited under the authority of this subpart. 

 Official duty station means the geographic area surrounding an 

employee's regular work site that is the same as the area designated by 

the employing agency for the purpose of determining whether travel time 

is compensable for the purpose of determining overtime pay, consistent 

with the regulations in 5 CFR 550.112(j) and 551.422(d). 

 Regular working hours means the days and hours of an employee's 

regularly scheduled administrative workweek established under 5 CFR part 

610. 

 Scheduled tour of duty for leave purposes means an employee's 

regular hours for which he or she may be charged leave under 5 CFR part 

630 when absent. For full-time employees, it is the 40-hour basic 

workweek as defined in 5 CFR 610.102. For employees with an uncommon 

tour of duty as defined in 5 CFR 630.201, it is the uncommon tour of 

duty. 
 Travel means officially authorized travel--i.e., travel for work 

purposes that is approved by an authorized agency official or otherwise 

authorized under established agency policies. 

 Travel status means travel time as described in Sec. 550.1404 that 

is creditable in accruing compensatory time off for travel under this 

subpart, excluding travel time that is otherwise compensable under other 

legal authority. 

Sec. 550.1404 Creditable travel time. 

 (a) General. Subject to the conditions specified in this subpart, an 

Agency must credit an employee with compensatory time off for time in a 

travel status if-- 

 (1) The employee is required to travel away from the official duty 

station; and 

 (2) The travel time is not otherwise compensable hours of work under 

other legal authority. 

 (b) Travel status. (1) 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, subject 

to the exclusions specified in paragraphs (b)(2) and (b)(3) of this 

section and the requirements in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section. 

Time spent at a temporary duty station between arrival and departure is 

not time in a travel status. Determinations regarding what is creditable 

as ``usual waiting time'' are within the sole and exclusive discretion 

of the employing agency. 

 (2) Bona fide meal periods during actual travel time or waiting time 

are not creditable as time in a travel status. 

 (3) If an employee experiences an extended (i.e., not usual) waiting 

time between actual periods of travel during which the employee is free 

to rest, sleep, or otherwise use the time for his or her own purposes, 

the extended waiting time is not creditable as time in a travel status. 

 (c) Travel between home and a temporary duty station. (1) If an 

employee is required to travel directly between his or her home and a 

temporary duty station outside the limits of the employee's official 

duty station, the travel time is creditable as time in a travel status 

if otherwise qualifying under this subpart. However, the agency must 

deduct from such travel hours the time the employee would have spent in 

normal home-to-work or work-to-home commuting. 

 (2) In the case of an employee who is offered one mode of 

transportation and who is permitted to use an alternative mode of 

transportation, or who travels at a time or by a route other than that 

selected by the agency, the agency must determine the estimated amount 

of time in a travel status the employee would have had if the employee 

had used the mode of transportation offered by the agency or traveled at 

the time and by the route selected by the agency. In determining time in 

a travel status under this subpart, the agency must credit the employee 

with the lesser of the estimated time in a travel status or the actual 

time in a travel status. 

 (3) In the case of an employee who is on a multiple-day travel 

assignment and who chooses, for personal reasons, not to use temporary 

lodgings at the temporary duty station, but to return home at night or 

on a weekend, only travel from home to the temporary duty station on the 

1st day and travel from the temporary duty station to home on the last 

day that is otherwise qualifying as time in a travel status under this 

subpart is mandatorily creditable (subject to the deduction of normal 
commuting time). Travel to and from home on other days is not creditable 

travel time unless the agency, at its discretion, determines that credit 

should be given based on the net savings to the Government from reduced 

lodging costs, considering the value of lost labor time attributable to 

compensatory time off. The dollar value of an hour of compensatory time 

off for this purpose is equal to the employee's hourly rate of basic pay 

as defined in Sec. 550.103. 

 (d) Time spent traveling to or from a transportation terminal as 

part of travel away from the official duty station. If an employee is 

required to travel between home and a transportation terminal (e.g., 

airport or train station) within the limits of his or her official duty 

station as part of travel away from that duty station, the travel time 

outside regular working hours to or from the terminal is considered to 

be equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable time in a travel 

status. If the transportation terminal is outside the limits of the 

employee's official duty station, the travel time to or from the 

terminal outside regular working hours is creditable as time in a travel 

status, but is subject to an offset for the time the employee would have 

spent in normal home-to-work or work-to-home commuting. If the employee 

travels between a worksite 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. 

Sec. 550.1405 Crediting compensatory time off. 

 (a) Upon a request filed in accordance with the procedures 

established under paragraph (b) of this section, an employee is entitled 

to credit for compensatory time off for travel under the conditions 

specified in this subpart. The employing agency must credit an employee 

with compensatory time off for creditable time in a travel status as 

provided in Sec. 550.1404. The agency may authorize credit in 

increments of one-tenth of an hour (6 minutes) or one-quarter of an hour 

(15 minutes). Agencies must track and manage compensatory time off 

granted under this subpart separately from other forms of compensatory 

time off. 

 (b) An employee must comply with his or her agency's procedures for 

requesting credit of compensatory time off under this section. Employees 

must file such requests within the time period required by the agency. 

Sec. 550.1406 Usage of accrued compensatory time off. 

 (a) An employee must request permission from his or her supervisor 

to schedule the use of his or her accrued compensatory time off in 

accordance with agency-established policies and procedures. 

 (b) Compensatory time off may be used when the employee is granted 

time off from his or her scheduled tour of duty established for leave 

purposes. An employee must use earned compensatory time off under this 

subpart in increments of one-tenth of an hour (6 minutes) or one-quarter 

of an hour (15 minutes). 

Sec. 550.1407 Forfeiture of unused compensatory time off. 

 (a) After 26 pay periods. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(2) 

of this section, an employee must use accrued compensatory time off by 

the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period during which it was 

credited. If an employee fails to use the compensatory time off within 
26 pay periods after it was credited, he or she must forfeit such 

compensatory time off. 

 (2) If an employee with unused compensatory time off separates from 

Federal service or is placed in a leave without pay status in the 

following circumstances and later returns to service with the same (or 

successor) agency, the employee must use all of the compensatory time 

off by the end of the 26th pay period following the pay period in which 

the employee returns to duty, or such compensatory time off will be 

forfeited: 

 (i) The employee separates or is placed in a leave without pay 

status to perform service in the uniformed services (as defined in 38 

U.S.C. 4303 and 5 CFR 353.102) and later returns to service through the 

exercise of a reemployment right provided by law, Executive order, or 

regulation; or 

 (ii) The employee separates or is placed in a leave without pay 

status because of an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury 

compensation under 5 U.S.C. chapter 81 and later recovers sufficiently 

to return to work. 

 (b) Upon transfer to another agency. When an employee voluntarily 

transfers to another agency (including a promotion or change to lower 

grade action), he or she must forfeit his or her unused compensatory 

time off. 

 (c) Upon separation. (1) When an employee separates from Federal 

service, any unused compensatory time off is forfeited, except as 

provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section. 

 (2) Unused compensatory time off will not be forfeited but will be 

held in abeyance in the case of an employee who separates from Federal 

service and later returns to service with the same (or successor) agency 

under the circumstances described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. 

 (d) Upon movement to a noncovered position. When an employee moves 

to a Federal position not covered by this subpart, he or she forfeits 

any unused compensatory time off. This requirement does not prevent an 

agency from using another legal authority to give the employee credit 

for compensatory time off equal to the forfeited amount. 
Compensatory Time Off for Travel 

Description 

Compensatory time off for travel is earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status away 

from the employee's official duty station when such time is not otherwise compensable. 

Employee Coverage 

Compensatory time off for travel may be earned by an "employee" as defined in 5 U.S.C. 

5541(2) who is employed in an "Executive agency" as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, without regard to 

whether the employee is exempt from or covered by the overtime pay provisions of the Fair 

Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended. This includes employees in senior-level (SL) and 

scientific or professional (ST) positions, but not members of the Senior Executive Service or 

Senior Foreign Service, Foreign Service officers, or prevailing rate (wage grade) employees. 

“Compensable” 

Compensatory time off for travel may only be earned for time in a travel status when such time is 

not otherwise "compensable." Compensable refers to periods of time creditable as hours of work 

for the purpose of determining a specific pay entitlement. For example, certain travel time may 

be creditable as hours of work under the overtime pay provisions in 5 CFR 550.112(g) or 

551.422. (See fact sheet on hours of work for travel.) 

Creditable Travel 

To be creditable under this provision, travel must be officially authorized. In other words, travel 

must be for work purposes and must be approved by an authorized agency official or otherwise 

authorized under established agency policies. 

For the purpose of compensatory time off for travel, time in a travel status includes— 

• Time spent traveling between the official duty station and a temporary duty station; 

• Time spent traveling between two temporary duty stations; and 

• The "usual waiting time" preceding or interrupting such travel (e.g., waiting at an airport 

or train station prior to departure). The employing agency has the sole and exclusive 

discretion to determine what is creditable as "usual waiting time." An "extended" waiting 

period—i.e., an unusually long wait during which the employee is free to rest, sleep, or 

otherwise use the time for his or her own purposes—is not considered time in a travel 

status. 

Commuting Time 

• Travel outside of regular working hours between an employee's home and a temporary 

duty station or transportation terminal outside the limits of his or her official duty station 

is considered creditable travel time. However, the agency must deduct the employee's 

normal home-to-work/work-to-home commuting time from the creditable travel time. 

• Travel outside of regular working hours between a worksite and a transportation terminal 

is creditable travel time, and no commuting time offset applies. 
• Travel outside of regular working hours to or from a transportation terminal within the 

limits of the employee's official duty station is considered equivalent to commuting time 

and is not creditable travel time. 

Crediting and Use 

Compensatory time off for travel is credited and used in increments of one-tenth of an hour (6 

minutes) or one-quarter of an hour (15 minutes). Employees must comply with their agency's 

procedures for requesting credit within the time period required by the agency. Employees must 

also comply with their agency's policies and procedures for scheduling and using earned 

compensatory time off for travel. 

Forfeiture 

Compensatory time off for travel is forfeited— 

• If not used by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period during which it was 

earned. (See Notes 1 and 2.) 

• Upon voluntary transfer to another agency; 

• Upon movement to a noncovered position; or 

• Upon separation from the Federal Government. (See Note 1.) 

Under no circumstances may an employee receive payment for unused compensatory time off 

for travel. 

Note 1: See exceptions for uniformed service or an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury 

compensation at 5 CFR 550.1407(a)(2) and Q24. 

Note 2: See exception due to an exigency of the service beyond the employee's control at 5 CFR 

550.1407(e) and Q25.

Limitations 

Compensatory time off for travel may not be considered in applying the biweekly or annual 

premium pay caps or the aggregate limitation on pay. There is no limitation on the amount of 

compensatory time off for travel an employee may earn. 

References 

5 U.S.C. 5550b 

5 CFR 550, subpart N 

Questions and Answers on Compensatory Time Off for Travel

Examples of Creditable Travel Time

Hours of Work for Travel

 

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