I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5896 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify the authority for pay 

and work schedules of border patrol agents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2018 

Mr. HURD (for himself, Mr. VELA, and Ms. MCSALLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify the authority for pay and work schedules of border patrol agents, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Patrol Agent 

5 Pay Reform Amendments Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE BORDER PATROL AGENT PAY 

7 REFORM ACT OF 2014. 

8 (a) BORDER PATROL AGENT PAY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5550 of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting 

4 ‘‘agent’’ after ‘‘applicable border patrol’’; 

5 (B) in subsection (b)(1)— 

6 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

7 ‘‘Not later than 30 days before the first 

8 day of each year beginning after the date 

9 of enactment of this section, a border pa10 trol agent shall make an election whether 

11 the border patrol agent shall, for that year, 

12 be assigned to’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later 

13 than December 1 of each year, a border 

14 patrol agent shall make an election wheth15 er the border patrol agent shall, for the 

16 next annual period beginning on the first 

17 day of the first pay period that commences 

18 on or after January 1, be assigned to’’; 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

20 ‘‘Not later than 60 days before the first 

21 day of each year beginning after the date 

22 of enactment of this section’’ and inserting 

23 in its place ‘‘Not later than November 1 of 

24 each year’’; 

25 (iii) in subparagraph (D)— 


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1 (I) by amending clause (iv) to 

2 read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(iv) a border patrol agent shall be 

4 assigned a basic border patrol rate of pay 

5 during the period of initial training (in6 cluding initial orientation sessions, basic 

7 training, and other preparatory activities) 

8 prior to the agent’s first regular work as9 signment; and’’; and 

10 (II) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘or 

11 the level 2 border patrol rate of pay’’; 

12 (iv) in subparagraph (E)— 

13 (I) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or 

14 the level 2 border patrol rate of pay’’; 

15 (II) clause (ii), by striking ‘‘the 

16 analysis conducted under section 2(e) 

17 of the Border Patrol Agent Pay Re18 form Act of 2014’’ and inserting in its 

19 place ‘‘a written staffing analysis’’; 

20 and 

21 (III) by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(iv) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN EM24 PLOYEES.—In applying any percentage 

25 limit under clause (i) or (ii) to a location 


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1 population, U.S. Customs and Border Pro2 tection shall exclude from such population 

3 any border patrol agent who is assigned a 

4 basic border patrol rate of pay under sub5 paragraph (D)(iii) or (D)(iv) or who would 

6 reach the premium pay cap under section 

7 5547 if assigned a level 1 border patrol 

8 rate of pay. 

9 ‘‘(v) APPLICATION FREQUENCY.—The 

10 10 percent limit under clause (i) or an al11 ternative percentage limit under a waiver 

12 under clause (ii) shall be applied at the be13 ginning of the first pay period beginning 

14 on or after January 1 each year.’’; 

15 (v) by amending subparagraph (F) to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(F) CANINE CARE.—(i) For a border pa18 trol agent assigned to provide care for a canine 

19 while not on duty and assigned to the level 1 

20 border patrol rate of pay in accordance with 

21 subparagraph (D)(ii)— 

22 ‘‘(I) that rate of pay covers all such 

23 care and no other pay shall be paid to the 

24 border patrol agent for such care except as 

25 set forth in subclauses (II) through (V); 


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1 ‘‘(II) the agent shall be credited with 

2 1 hour of such care for each calendar day 

3 on which such care occurs (without regard 

4 to the actual duration of such care); 

5 ‘‘(III) canine care hours credited 

6 under subclause (II) on a day when the 

7 agent performs regular time work under 

8 paragraph (2)(A)(i) shall— 

9 ‘‘(aa) be counted as up to 1 hour 

10 of scheduled overtime (as described in 

11 paragraph (2)(A)(ii)) on that work 

12 day if the agent has not completed 2 

13 hours of scheduled overtime (exclud14 ing the canine care hour credited 

15 under clause (ii)) on that workday; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) be counted as up to 1 hour 

17 of overtime work that is officially or18 dered or approved in advance of the 

19 workweek under section 5542(g) 

20 based on the amount of canine care 

21 credit for the workday that is not con22 verted to scheduled overtime under 

23 item (aa); 

24 ‘‘(IV) canine care hours credited 

25 under subclause (II) on a day when the 


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1 agent does not perform regular time work 

2 under paragraph (2)(A)(i) shall be counted 

3 as 1 hour of overtime work that is offi4 cially ordered or approved in advance of 

5 the workweek under section 5542(g); and 

6 ‘‘(V) notwithstanding subclauses 

7 (III)(bb) and (V), overtime work credited 

8 under those subclauses is subject to substi9 tution or application as provided in para10 graph (2)(F) and subsection (f) as follows: 

11 ‘‘(aa) Substitution for periods of 

12 absence during regular time or sched13 uled overtime (as described in para14 graph (2)(A)(ii)) within the same 

15 work period in which the canine care 

16 credit was generated. 

17 ‘‘(bb) Application towards a debt 

18 of obligated overtime hours. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Canine care hours credited under sub20 clauses (III) or (IV) shall not be credited as 

21 overtime work under any other provision of 

22 law.’’; and 

23 (vi) by striking subparagraph (G); 

24 (C) in subsection (b)(2)— 


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1 (i) by amending subparagraph (C)(i) 

2 to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(i) any compensation under this sec4 tion or any other provision of law in addi5 tion to the compensation provided under 

6 subparagraph (B); or’’; 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (E)— 

8 (I) by striking ‘‘paid leave’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘leave’’; and 

10 (II) by striking ‘‘absent from 

11 work’’ and inserting ‘‘excused from 

12 work’’; 

13 (iii) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by strik14 ing ‘‘and’’; 

15 (iv) by amending subparagraph (G) to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(G) if the border patrol agent participates 

18 in a full day of advanced training but does not 

19 perform the entire required amount of sched20 uled overtime work under subparagraph (A)(ii) 

21 on that day, the border patrol agent shall be 

22 deemed to have performed scheduled overtime 

23 work during nonwork periods to the extent nec24 essary to reach the required amount, but such 

25 deemed credit may be applied to no more than 


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1 180 hours in a calendar year; otherwise, the 

2 agent shall accrue a debt of hours for scheduled 

3 overtime not worked on such a day; and’’; and 

4 (v) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(H) a border patrol agent may choose to 

6 reduce any debt of obligated overtime hours 

7 that the agent has incurred by applying any ac8 crued compensatory time off for travel pursuant 

9 to section 5550b, and such compensatory time 

10 off for travel may be applied towards such debt 

11 only after other forms of overtime or earned 

12 compensatory time credited to the border patrol 

13 agent have been exhausted.’’; 

14 (D) in subsection (b)(3)— 

15 (i) by amending subparagraph (C)(i) 

16 to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(i) any compensation under this sec18 tion or any other provision of law in addi19 tion to the compensation provided under 

20 subparagraph (B); or’’; 

21 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

22 ‘‘paid leave’’ and inserting ‘‘leave’’; 

23 (iii) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by strik24 ing ‘‘and’’; 


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1 (iv) by amending subparagraph (G) to 

2 read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(G) if the border patrol agent participates 

4 in a full day of advanced training but does not 

5 perform the entire required amount of sched6 uled overtime work under subparagraph (A)(ii) 

7 on that day, the border patrol agent shall be 

8 deemed to have performed scheduled overtime 

9 work during nonwork periods to the extent nec10 essary to reach the required amount, but such 

11 deemed credit may be applied to no more than 

12 90 hours in a calendar year; otherwise, the 

13 agent shall accrue a debt of hours for scheduled 

14 overtime not worked on such a day; and’’; and 

15 (v) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(H) a border patrol agent may choose to 

17 reduce any debt of obligated overtime hours 

18 that the agent has incurred by applying any ac19 crued compensatory time off for travel pursuant 

20 to section 5550b; such compensatory time off 

21 for travel may be applied towards such debt 

22 only after other forms of overtime or earned 

23 compensatory time credited to the border patrol 

24 agent have been exhausted.’’; 


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1 (E) by amending subsection (d) to read as 

2 follows: 

3 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT AS BASIC PAY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any overtime supplement 

5 in addition to the basic border patrol rate of pay for 

6 a border patrol agent resulting from application of 

7 the level 1 border patrol rate of pay or the level 2 

8 border patrol rate of pay shall be treated as part of 

9 basic pay only— 

10 ‘‘(A) except as otherwise provided in para11 graph (3), for purposes of the definitions in sec12 tion 8331(3) and 8401(4) and the provisions in 

13 chapters 83 and 84 that rely on those defini14 tions (consistent with section 8331(3)(I)); 

15 ‘‘(B) except as otherwise provided in para16 graph (3), for purposes of sections 5595(c) and 

17 8704(c); 

18 ‘‘(C) for the purpose of section 8114(e); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(D) subject to paragraph (2) and any 

21 limitation established under paragraph (3), any 

22 other purpose that the Director of the Office of 

23 Personnel Management may by regulation pre24 scribe. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The overtime supplement 

2 described in paragraph (1) shall not be treated as 

3 part of basic pay for purposes not covered by that 

4 paragraph, including the purposes of calculating— 

5 ‘‘(A) overtime pay, night pay, Sunday pay, 

6 or holiday pay under section 5542, 5545, or 

7 5546; 

8 ‘‘(B) locality-based comparability payments 

9 under section 5304 or special rate supplements 

10 under section 5305; or 

11 ‘‘(C) cost-of-living allowances in nonforeign 

12 areas under section 5941. 

13 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the control pe15 riod described in subparagraph (B), the amount 

16 of the overtime supplement that is considered 

17 basic pay under paragraphs (1)(A) and (1)(B) 

18 may not exceed the amount derived by multi19 plying the border patrol agent’s basic border 

20 patrol rate of pay by the percentage rep21 resenting the agent’s career average of assigned 

22 overtime supplement percentages (including 0 

23 percent for periods of time during which no 

24 overtime supplement was payable). That career 

25 average percentage is computed without regard 


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1 to the effect of the limitation on premium pay 

2 under section 5547, but the premium pay limi3 tation remains applicable in determining the 

4 dollar amount of any overtime supplement com5 puted using the career average percentage. 

6 ‘‘(B) CONTROL PERIOD.—For the purposes 

7 of applying subparagraph (A), the control pe8 riod described in this subparagraph is the pe9 riod that begins 3 years before the date a bor10 der patrol agent will meet age and service re11 quirements associated with entitlement to an 

12 immediate annuity and continues throughout 

13 the remainder of the individual’s career as a 

14 border patrol agent. 

15 ‘‘(C) ASSIGNED OVERTIME SUPPLEMENT

16 PERCENTAGES.—For the purpose of applying 

17 subparagraph (A), a border patrol agent’s ini18 tial career average of assigned overtime supple19 ment percentages is the average for the border 

20 patrol agent’s career (excluding any period of 

21 initial training prior to the agent’s first regular 

22 work assignment) prior to the beginning of the 

23 control period described in subparagraph (B). 

24 During such control period, the career average 

25 shall be recomputed at the end of each annual 


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1 period (as described in subsection (b)(1)(A)). In 

2 computing such career average, any periods of 

3 service as a border patrol agent prior to the 

4 first day of the first pay period beginning on or 

5 after January 1, 2016, shall be included, and 

6 the agent’s assigned overtime supplement dur7 ing such periods shall be deemed to be 25 per8 cent. 

9 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL LEAVE PAYMENT.—For the pur10 pose of computing an agent’s lump-sum annual leave 

11 payment under section 5551 or 5552, the pay the 

12 agent is projected to receive shall include a deemed 

13 overtime supplement derived under this paragraph. 

14 Such overtime supplement shall be based on the 

15 lower of the agent’s actual overtime supplement per16 centage in effect at separation or the average per17 centage of the agent’s overtime supplement over the 

18 26 full biweekly pay periods immediately preceding 

19 that separation, and shall not exceed the amount 

20 that is or would be payable under the premium pay 

21 limitation in section 5547.’’; 

22 (F) in subsection (f)— 

23 (i) in the heading of such subsection, 

24 by striking ‘‘AND SUBSTITUTION OF

25 HOURS’’ and inserting ‘‘DURING REGULAR


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1 TIME; ABSENCES DURING SCHEDULED

2 OVERTIME’’; and 

3 (ii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULES FOR LEAVE WITHOUT

6 PAY.— 

7 ‘‘(A) AT LEAST 1 WORKDAY.—If a border 

8 patrol agent takes leave without pay for a pe9 riod of at least 1 workday, the agent shall not 

10 receive any pay for the hours during which the 

11 border patrol agent took leave without pay. 

12 ‘‘(B) NO ACCRUAL OF OVERTIME DEBT.— 

13 A border patrol agent shall not accrue an over14 time debt for any full workdays during which a 

15 border patrol agent uses leave without pay, re16 gardless of the border patrol rate of pay to 

17 which the border patrol agent is assigned. 

18 ‘‘(C) CALCULATION OF PAY.—For pay pe19 riods during which a border patrol agent takes 

20 1 or more full days of leave without pay, the 

21 amount of border patrol pay that the agent 

22 would normally receive shall be reduced propor23 tionally by the amount of overtime hours that 

24 the agent has not worked due to being on leave 

25 without pay. The total amount of border patrol 


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1 pay that a border patrol agent would normally 

2 receive in a pay period described in the pre3 ceding sentence shall be decreased based on the 

4 percentage of work days for which the border 

5 patrol agent takes leave without pay.’’; and 

6 (G) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision in this section or section 6101, U.S. Cus10 toms and Border Protection may assign a border pa11 trol agent an alternative work schedule as described 

12 in this subsection, subject to any regulations pre13 scribed by the Director of the Office of Personnel 

14 Management. No alternative work schedule may be 

15 established under subchapter II of chapter 61. 

16 ‘‘(2) LEVEL 2 BORDER PATROL AGENT.—A bor17 der patrol agent receiving a level 2 border patrol 

18 rate of pay may, in lieu of the standard work sched19 ule described in subsection (b)(3)(A), be assigned to 

20 an alternative work schedule under the following 

21 terms and conditions: 

22 ‘‘(A) The alternative work schedule shall 

23 be a regular tour of duty consisting of 9 work24 days per biweekly pay period, with— 


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1 ‘‘(i) 8 workdays including 9 hours of 

2 regular time per workday and 1 additional 

3 hour of scheduled overtime for each day 

4 the agent performs work during regular 

5 time; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) 1 workday including 8 hours of 

7 regular time per workday and 2 additional 

8 hours of scheduled overtime when the 

9 agent performs work during such regular 

10 time. 

11 ‘‘(B) Subparagraphs (B) through (H) of 

12 subsection (b)(3) shall continue to apply to an 

13 agent assigned to an alternative work schedule 

14 under this paragraph. References in this section 

15 to regular time under subsection (b)(3)(A)(i) 

16 and scheduled overtime under subsection 

17 (b)(3)(A)(ii) shall be deemed to be references to 

18 regular time and scheduled overtime described 

19 in subparagraph (A), respectively. 

20 ‘‘(3) BASIC BORDER PATROL AGENT.—A border 

21 patrol agent receiving a basic border patrol rate of 

22 pay may, in lieu of the standard work schedule de23 scribed in subsection (b)(4)(A), be assigned to an al24 ternative work schedule that is a regular tour of 


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1 duty consisting of 4 workdays per week with 10 

2 hours of regular time per workday.’’. 

3 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Director of the Office 

4 of Personnel Management shall promulgate regula5 tions to carry out the amendments made by this 

6 subsection, including regulations governing— 

7 (A) elections and assignments of a border 

8 patrol rate of pay for newly hired border patrol 

9 agents who complete initial training during an 

10 annual period; 

11 (B) situations in which a border patrol 

12 agent receives more than one type of border pa13 trol rate of pay in a biweekly pay period or is 

14 employed as a border patrol agent for only part 

15 of a biweekly pay period; and 

16 (C) the treatment of hours that are sub17 stituted for nonpay status hours during regular 

18 time. 

19 (b) OVERTIME RATES.—Section 5542(g)(5) of title 

20 5, United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘leave 

22 year’’ and inserting ‘‘an annual period, as described 

23 in section 5550(b)(1)(A)’’; and 

24 (2) by amending subparagraph (E) to read as 

25 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(E) shall not receive credit towards com2 putation of the border patrol agent’s annuity 

3 based on unused compensatory time off; and’’. 

4 (c) PREMIUM PAY CAP.—Section 5547(c) of title 5, 

5 United States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘duty,’’ 

6 the following: ‘‘or to border patrol agents who receive an 

7 overtime supplement for overtime hours within their reg8 ular tour of duty under section 5550,’’. 

9 (d) BASIC PAY FOR RETIREMENT.—Section 

10 8331(3)(I) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

11 adding before the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, 

12 subject to the limitation prescribed in section 5550(d)(3)’’. 

13 (e) SCHEDULED OVERTIME WORK.—Section 2(c)(2) 

14 of the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act of 2014 (Pub15 lic Law 113–277) is amended by inserting after ‘‘sched16 uled overtime work’’ the following: ‘‘(other than scheduled 

17 overtime work within the regular tour of duty)’’. 

18 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 The amendments made by section 2 shall take effect 

20 on the first day of the first pay period beginning on or 

21 after the day that is 90 days after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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