IB 

Union Calendar No. 761 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5896 

[Report No. 115–973] 

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 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. GONZALEZ OF TEXAS, Mr. 

O’HALLERAN, and Ms. SINEMA

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 

Reported amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 

the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 


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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. 


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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.— 

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

10 United States Code, is amended— 

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

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

13 (B) (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

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

15 ‘‘Not later than 30 days before the first day of 

16 each year beginning after the date of enactment 

17 of this section, a border patrol agent shall make 

18 an election whether the border patrol agent 

19 shall, for that year, be assigned to’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘Not later than December 1 of each year, 

21 a border patrol agent shall make an election 

22 whether the border patrol agent shall, for the 

23 next annual period beginning on the first day of 

24 the first pay period that commences on or after 

25 January 1, be assigned to’’; 


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1 (ii) (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

2 ‘‘Not later than 60 days before the first day of 

3 each year beginning after the date of enactment 

4 of this section’’ and inserting in its place ‘‘Not 

5 later than November 1 of each year’’; 

6 (iii) (C) in subparagraph (D)— 

7 (I) (i) by amending clause (iv) to read 

8 as follows: 

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

10 assigned a basic border patrol rate of pay 

11 during the period of initial training (in12 cluding initial orientation sessions, basic 

13 training, and other preparatory activities) 

14 prior to the agent’s first regular work as15 signment; and’’; and 

16 (II) (ii) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘or 

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

18 (iv) (D) in subparagraph (E)— 

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

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

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

22 analysis conducted under section 2(e) of 

23 the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act 

24 of 2014’’ and inserting in its place ‘‘a writ25 ten staffing analysis’’; and 


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1 (III) (iii) by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(iv) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN EM4 PLOYEES.—In applying any percentage 

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

6 population, U.S. Customs and Border Pro7 tection shall exclude from such population 

8 any border patrol agent who is assigned a 

9 basic border patrol rate of pay under sub10 paragraph (D)(iii) or (D)(iv) or who would 

11 reach the premium pay cap under section 

12 5547 if assigned a level 1 border patrol 

13 rate of pay. 

14 ‘‘(v) APPLICATION FREQUENCY.—The 

15 10 percent limit under clause (i) or an al16 ternative percentage limit under a waiver 

17 under clause (ii) shall be applied at the be18 ginning of the first pay period beginning 

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

20 (v) (E) by amending subparagraph (F) to 

21 read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(F) CANINE CARE.—(i) For a border pa23 trol agent assigned to provide care for a canine 

24 while not on duty and assigned to the level 1 


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1 border patrol rate of pay in accordance with 

2 subparagraph (D)(ii)— 

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

4 care and no other pay shall be paid to the 

5 border patrol agent for such care except as 

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

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

8 1 hour of such care for each calendar day 

9 on which such care occurs (without regard 

10 to the actual duration of such care); 

11 ‘‘(III) canine care hours credited 

12 under subclause (II) on a day when the 

13 agent performs regular time work under 

14 paragraph (2)(A)(i) shall— 

15 ‘‘(aa) be counted as up to 1 hour 

16 of scheduled overtime (as described in 

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

18 day if the agent has not completed 2 

19 hours of scheduled overtime (exclud20 ing the canine care hour credited 

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

22 ‘‘(bb) be counted as up to 1 hour 

23 of overtime work that is officially or24 dered or approved in advance of the 

25 workweek under section 5542(g) 


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1 based on the amount of canine care 

2 credit for the workday that is not con3 verted to scheduled overtime under 

4 item (aa); 

5 ‘‘(IV) canine care hours credited 

6 under subclause (II) on a day when the 

7 agent does not perform regular time work 

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

9 as 1 hour of overtime work that is offi10 cially ordered or approved in advance of 

11 the workweek under section 5542(g); and 

12 ‘‘(V) notwithstanding subclauses 

13 (III)(bb) and (V) (IV), overtime work cred14 ited under those subclauses is subject to 

15 substitution or application as provided in 

16 paragraph (2)(F) and subsection (f) as fol17 lows: 

18 ‘‘(aa) Substitution for periods of 

19 absence during regular time or sched20 uled overtime (as described in para21 graph (2)(A)(ii)) within the same 

22 work period in which the canine care 

23 credit was generated. 

24 ‘‘(bb) Application towards a debt 

25 of obligated overtime hours. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) Canine care hours credited under sub2 clauses (III) or (IV) shall not be credited as 

3 overtime work under any other provision of 

4 law.’’; and 

5 (vi) (F) by striking subparagraph (G); 

6 (C) (3) in subsection (b)(2)— 

7 (i) (A) by amending subparagraph (C)(i) to 

8 read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(i) any compensation under this sec10 tion or any other provision of law in addi11 tion to the compensation provided under 

12 subparagraph (B); or’’; 

13 (ii) (B) in subparagraph (E)— 

14 (I) (i) by striking ‘‘paid leave’’ and in15 serting ‘‘leave’’; and 

16 (II) (ii) by striking ‘‘absent from 

17 work’’ and inserting ‘‘excused from work’’; 

18 (iii) (C) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by strik19 ing ‘‘and’’; 

20 (iv) (D) by amending subparagraph (G) to 

21 read as follows: 

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

23 in a full day of advanced training but does not 

24 perform the entire required amount of sched25 uled overtime work under subparagraph (A)(ii) 


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1 on that day, the border patrol agent shall be 

2 deemed to have performed scheduled overtime 

3 work during nonwork periods to the extent nec4 essary to reach the required amount, but such 

5 deemed credit may be applied to no more than 

6 180 hours in a calendar year; otherwise, the 

7 agent shall accrue a debt of hours for scheduled 

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

9 (v) (E) by adding at the end the following: 

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

11 reduce any debt of obligated overtime hours 

12 that the agent has incurred by applying any ac13 crued compensatory time off for travel pursuant 

14 to section 5550b, and such compensatory time 

15 off for travel may be applied towards such debt 

16 only after other forms of overtime or earned 

17 compensatory time credited to the border patrol 

18 agent have been exhausted.’’; 

19 (D) (4) in subsection (b)(3)— 

20 (i) (A) by amending subparagraph (C)(i) to 

21 read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(i) any compensation under this sec23 tion or any other provision of law in addi24 tion to the compensation provided under 

25 subparagraph (B); or’’; 


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1 (ii) (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

2 ‘‘paid leave’’ and inserting ‘‘leave’’; 

3 (iii) (C) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by strik4 ing ‘‘and’’; 

5 (iv) (D) by amending subparagraph (G) to 

6 read as follows: 

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

8 in a full day of advanced training but does not 

9 perform the entire required amount of sched10 uled overtime work under subparagraph (A)(ii) 

11 on that day, the border patrol agent shall be 

12 deemed to have performed scheduled overtime 

13 work during nonwork periods to the extent nec14 essary to reach the required amount, but such 

15 deemed credit may be applied to no more than 

16 90 hours in a calendar year; otherwise, the 

17 agent shall accrue a debt of hours for scheduled 

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

19 (v) (E) by adding at the end the following: 

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

21 reduce any debt of obligated overtime hours 

22 that the agent has incurred by applying any ac23 crued compensatory time off for travel pursuant 

24 to section 5550b; such compensatory time off 

25 for travel may be applied towards such debt 


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1 only after other forms of overtime or earned 

2 compensatory time credited to the border patrol 

3 agent have been exhausted.’’; 

4 (E) (5) by amending subsection (d) to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT AS BASIC PAY.— 

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

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

9 a border patrol agent resulting from application of 

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

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

12 basic pay only— 

13 ‘‘(A) except as otherwise provided in para14 graph (3), for purposes of the definitions in sec15 tion 8331(3) and 8401(4) and the provisions in 

16 chapters 83 and 84 that rely on those defini17 tions (consistent with section 8331(3)(I)); 

18 ‘‘(B) except as otherwise provided in para19 graph (3), for purposes of sections 5595(c) and 

20 8704(c); 

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

22 and 

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

24 limitation established under paragraph (3), any 

25 other purpose that the Director of the Office of 


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1 Personnel Management may by regulation pre2 scribe. 

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

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

5 part of basic pay for purposes not covered by that 

6 paragraph, including the purposes of calculating— 

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

8 or holiday pay under section 5542, 5545, or 

9 5546; 

10 ‘‘(B) locality-based comparability payments 

11 under section 5304 or special rate supplements 

12 under section 5305; or 

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

14 areas under section 5941. 

15 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the control pe17 riod described in subparagraph (B), the amount 

18 of the overtime supplement that is considered 

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

20 may not exceed the amount derived by multi21 plying the border patrol agent’s basic border 

22 patrol rate of pay by the percentage rep23 resenting the agent’s career average of assigned 

24 overtime supplement percentages (including 0 

25 percent for periods of time during which no 


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1 overtime supplement was payable). That career 

2 average percentage is computed without regard 

3 to the effect of the limitation on premium pay 

4 under section 5547, but the premium pay limi5 tation remains applicable in determining the 

6 dollar amount of any overtime supplement com7 puted using the career average percentage. 

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

9 of applying subparagraph (A), the control pe10 riod described in this subparagraph is the pe11 riod that begins 3 years before the date a bor12 der patrol agent will meet age and service re13 quirements associated with entitlement to an 

14 immediate annuity and continues throughout 

15 the remainder of the individual’s career as a 

16 border patrol agent. 

17 ‘‘(C) ASSIGNED OVERTIME SUPPLEMENT

18 PERCENTAGES.—For the purpose of applying 

19 subparagraph (A), a border patrol agent’s ini20 tial career average of assigned overtime supple21 ment percentages is the average for the border 

22 patrol agent’s career (excluding any period of 

23 initial training prior to the agent’s first regular 

24 work assignment) prior to the beginning of the 

25 control period described in subparagraph (B). 


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1 During such control period, the career average 

2 shall be recomputed at the end of each annual 

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

4 computing such career average, any periods of 

5 service as a border patrol agent prior to the 

6 first day of the first pay period beginning on or 

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

8 the agent’s assigned overtime supplement dur9 ing such periods shall be deemed to be 25 per10 cent. 

11 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL LEAVE PAYMENT.—For the pur12 pose of computing an agent’s lump-sum annual leave 

13 payment under section 5551 or 5552, the pay the 

14 agent is projected to receive shall include a deemed 

15 overtime supplement derived under this paragraph. 

16 Such overtime supplement shall be based on the 

17 lower of the agent’s actual overtime supplement per18 centage in effect at separation or the average per19 centage of the agent’s overtime supplement over the 

20 26 full biweekly pay periods immediately preceding 

21 that separation, and shall not exceed the amount 

22 that is or would be payable under the premium pay 

23 limitation in section 5547.’’; 

24 (F) (6) in subsection (f)— 


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1 (i) (A) in the heading of such subsection, 

2 by striking ‘‘AND SUBSTITUTION OF HOURS’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘DURING REGULAR TIME; AB4 SENCES DURING SCHEDULED OVERTIME’’; and 

5 (ii) (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULES FOR LEAVE WITHOUT

7 PAY.— 

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

9 patrol agent takes leave without pay for a pe10 riod of at least 1 workday, the agent shall not 

11 receive any pay for the hours during which the 

12 border patrol agent took leave without pay. 

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

14 A border patrol agent shall not accrue an over15 time debt for any full workdays during which a 

16 border patrol agent uses leave without pay, re17 gardless of the border patrol rate of pay to 

18 which the border patrol agent is assigned. 

19 ‘‘(C) CALCULATION OF PAY.—For pay pe20 riods during which a border patrol agent takes 

21 1 or more full days of leave without pay, the 

22 amount of border patrol pay that the agent 

23 would normally receive shall be reduced propor24 tionally by the amount of overtime hours that 

25 the agent has not worked due to being on leave 


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1 without pay. The total amount of border patrol 

2 pay that a border patrol agent would normally 

3 receive in a pay period described in the pre4 ceding sentence shall be decreased based on the 

5 percentage of work days for which the border 

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

7 (G) (7) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) (h) ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES.— 

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

10 provision in this section or section 6101, U.S. Cus11 toms and Border Protection may assign a border pa12 trol agent an alternative work schedule as described 

13 in this subsection, subject to any regulations pre14 scribed by the Director of the Office of Personnel 

15 Management. No alternative work schedule may be 

16 established under subchapter II of chapter 61. 

17 ‘‘(2) LEVEL 2 BORDER PATROL AGENT.—A bor18 der patrol agent receiving a level 2 border patrol 

19 rate of pay may, in lieu of the standard work sched20 ule described in subsection (b)(3)(A), be assigned to 

21 an alternative work schedule under the following 

22 terms and conditions: 

23 ‘‘(A) The alternative work schedule shall 

24 be a regular tour of duty consisting of 9 work25 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 ‘‘(4) SUNDAY PAY; PREMIUM PAY.—A border pa4 trol agent assigned to an alternative work schedule 

5 under this subsection, may receive, as applicable— 

6 ‘‘(A) Sunday pay for no more than 8 hours 

7 of regular time associated with a given Sunday, 

8 consistent with section 5546(a); 

9 ‘‘(B) premium pay for work on a holiday 

10 for no more than 8 hours of regular time associ11 ated with a given holiday, consistent with sec12 tion 5546(b); and 

13 ‘‘(C) basic pay for all regular time hours 

14 that qualify for holiday time off pay when an 

15 agent is relieved or prevented from working dur16 ing such regular time on a day designated as a 

17 holiday by Federal statute or Executive order. 

18 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—For purposes of admin19 istering sections 6303(a), 6304, 6307(a) and (d), 

20 6323, 6326, 6327, and 8339(m), in the case of an em21 ployee assigned to an alternative work schedule under 

22 this subsection, references to a day or workday (or to 

23 multiples or parts thereof) contained in such sections 

24 shall be considered to be references to 8 hours (or to 

25 the respective multiples or parts thereof). 


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1 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Director of the Office of Per2 sonnel Management shall promulgate regulations to carry 

3 out this section, including regulations governing— 

4 ‘‘(1) elections and assignments of a border patrol 

5 rate of pay for newly hired border patrol agents who 

6 complete initial training during an annual period; 

7 ‘‘(2) situations in which an agent receives more 

8 than one type of border patrol rate of pay in a bi9 weekly pay period or is employed as a border patrol 

10 agent for only part of a biweekly pay period; and 

11 ‘‘(3) the treatment of hours that are substituted 

12 for nonpay status hours during regular time.’’. 

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

14 of Personnel Management shall promulgate regula15 tions to carry out the amendments made by this 

16 subsection, including regulations governing— 

17 (A) elections and assignments of a border 

18 patrol rate of pay for newly hired border patrol 

19 agents who complete initial training during an 

20 annual period; 

21 (B) situations in which a border patrol 

22 agent receives more than one type of border pa23 trol rate of pay in a biweekly pay period or is 

24 employed as a border patrol agent for only part 

25 of a biweekly pay period; and 


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1 (C) the treatment of hours that are sub2 stituted for nonpay status hours during regular 

3 time. 

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

5 5, United States Code, is amended— 

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

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

8 in section 5550(b)(1)(A)’’; and 

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

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(E) shall not receive credit towards com12 putation of the border patrol agent’s annuity 

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

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

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

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

17 overtime supplement for overtime hours within their reg18 ular tour of duty under section 5550,’’. 

19 (d) BASIC PAY FOR RETIREMENT.—Section 

20 8331(3)(I) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

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

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

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

24 of the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act of 2014 (Pub25 lic Law 113–277) is amended by inserting after ‘‘schedVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Sep 25, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5896.RH H5896

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1 uled overtime work’’ the following: ‘‘(other than scheduled 

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

3 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 The amendments made by section 2 shall take effect 

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

6 after the day that is 90 days after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 761 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5896 

[Report No. 115–973] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify 

der patrol agents, and for other purposes. the authority for pay and work schedules of borSEPTEMBER 25, 2018 

Reported amendments, committed to the Committee of 

dered to be printed the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Sep 25, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H5896.RH H5896

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