Q & A Session – Travel Comp Time Questions

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Q & A Session – Travel Comp Time Questions

Ask the Lawyer received the following question (paraphrased for easier reading and clarity) from a reader on a legal matter that might be of interest to the entire audience.

Q:

I have three questions related to compensatory time for travel. My normal tour of duty is 0730-1700, Monday through Thursday with alternating Fridays off. I travel overseas often for my work. My questions are as follows:

First, after our supervisor took his position, he told us that we should all forfeit our compensatory time off for travel. Our previous supervisors had directed us to submit a log of travel comp time to them rather than enter it on our time cards; we submitted our time in accordance with office policy. Our new supervisor thinks this method was improper and thus our compensatory time off for travel should be forfeited. Can he cancel our compensatory time off for travel that easily?

Second, I was recently required to travel to Korea for business. I left the USA at 0730 and arrived at 0715 the next day USA time (2115 Korea time). When I arrived in Korea, I went to my hotel and went to bed – even though the work day was just beginning in the United States, it was not normal business hours in Korea. I calculated my travel time and then deducted the nine hours which were part of my normal tour of duty to arrive at my compensatory time off for travel. My boss says that since I went to bed instead of working the day of my arrival, I had to deduct another nine hours from my comp time. Is he correct?

Third, my boss says that when I am at a temporary duty station and there is no work to be done on what is, for me, a normal work day, I am required to take leave. For instance, if I go to a particular country where my foreign partners do not wish to conduct business with me on a Wednesday, my boss says I must take leave on that Wednesday. Is that right? Can he require me to take leave in that fashion?

Please help with these questions. I want to follow the rules, but I need to know the rules first.

A:

I will assume for the purposes of answering your questions that you are a federal employee.

As to your first question, no, your supervisor cannot simply require you to forfeit all of your compensatory time. If hours were improperly logged, you should contact your human resources office or timekeeper and have your logs amended appropriately. Your supervisor may feel that you “should” forfeit the time, but you are not required to if you earned your compensatory time off. See 5 CFR § 550, subpart N.

As to your second question, you were not entitled to continue earning compensatory time off for travel once you arrived at your temporary duty station in Korea, and your work schedule the next day is irrelevant as to the calculation. You should simply calculate the amount of time which you were in a travel status, and then subtract any time for which you were otherwise compensated during the travel. You and your boss may have arranged for a schedule adjustment or other modifications in light of the time change, but that is a separate matter from the calculation of your compensatory time off for travel. Your travel time appears to have only been interrupted by 9 hours, not 18 hours, of regular compensation.

As to your third question, I am aware of no provisions in the Federal Travel Regulations which requires you to take leave simply because your foreign partners do not work on a certain day or because there is little work to be done on a given day. There are some provisions which require an employee to take leave if his or her actions have precluded them from working, but none which I am aware of which penalize an employee for a foreign government’s inability to meet with the employee. It may be possible that your schedule is temporarily rearranged while you are on travel so as to elongate and shorten your hours as appropriate and fitting to the agency’s needs, or that you could be required to attend to other duties when foreign officials cannot meet with you, but I do not believe you are not required to take annual leave.

Source: Thesun.co.uk

Title: Where to stay in the Bahamas: Swim with porkers, learn to dive and pig out at luxurious Sandals resort

 

 

“YOU’LL get to swim with them,” I overheard our guide say as our boat bobbed in Emerald Bay.

“Great,” I thought. “I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins, or maybe it will be whales!”
Boy, was I in for a shock. As we rounded the island of Big Major Cay we spied Pig Beach. And it’s just that.
Within moments of approaching I was amazed as ten little piggies ran into the water and swam up to the boat.
While most of my fellow passengers were happy throwing food from the deck, I decided to throw myself in and get personal with the hungry lot.

The beasts were friendly and had no objection to me patting them. It was the highlight of my day — and the last creatures in the world I’d thought I would be admiring underwater when I’d signed up for a three-day diving course at the Sandals Grande Emerald Bay in the Bahamas.

After an intense training session in the pool, my porky encounter took place as we headed out in the ocean ready to test what we had learned.

Next up was a more traditional — and terrifying — encounter in the deep.

At Compass Cay we slipped into the water to feed reef sharks.

Bobbing around with several pieces of squid in my hand, I felt the need to check all was OK with the guide.

His reply wasn’t exactly reassuring: “Just don’t get too close to their mouths and you should be fine.” As I dangled the food in front of their mouths they attacked it like they hadn’t been fed in months.

As the sharks swam away I was able to get a good feel of their sandpaper-like skin.

I was shocked at how tame they were.

After a fresh seafood lunch it was off to Thunderball Grotto and a snorkel in the fabulous waters that made it into the James Bond movie of the same name.

Here, we got to spy on a turtle and swim with schools of colourful fish — I’d never seen anything like it.

That was until we donned our scuba gear and plunged in.

There are few experiences that compare to scuba diving. Gliding across the coral reef with nothing more than a gentle flick of my legs made me feel like I was flying. The final day of the trip meant making the most of the incredible Sandals resort and its all-inclusive luxury.

I teed the day off by testing the Greg Norman-designed golf course.

It was clear from the first hole that this rivalled any oceanside course in the world. It’s just a huge shame I’ve never been able to play golf, as it meant I lost all my balls before I could finish the course. To escape the embarrassment, I headed for the beach to have a go at windsurfing.
It looked easy from afar. Big mistake! By the end of my training session with the water sports manager Pressy, I could confidently say I was completely useless.Having tried and failed to impress the lovelies round the pool with my golfing and surfing skills, my last chance was the “hobie cat sailing” — a kind of catamaran.
At last, something I’m good at, I thought, as I zoomed past fellow aqua cyclers and kayakers.
Pity I’d forgotten how to turn the sail — I capsized and had to be rescued.
Maybe I’ll leave the sports to the pros.
Sticking to what I knew I was good at, it was time to sample the food.

The resort has seven themed dining delights. It was gourmet global — with pizza and tropical casual eateries as well as high-end Italian and French restaurants. There’s even an authentic Irish pub with hearty home cooking. During the day I couldn’t keep away from Café de Paris — an authentic French bakery serving pastries, crêpes and ice creams.
In the evening, my favourite was the Barefoot By The Sea restaurant, serving a variety of seafood. I chose to spend my last evening here, sipping a Goombay Smash Bajan cocktail while admiring the Caribbean sunset.
I counted the shooting stars until 4am in a bubbling Jacuzzi.
While I may not be trying some of those all-inclusive sports again, Sandals proved the ultimate place to learn to dive — I can’t wait to return.