Union calls for changes to compensatory time off rules

The National Treasury Employees Union has proposed a number of changes to simplify and clarify proposed regulations that grant federal employees compensatory time off for federal employee travel.

In official comments that were submitted to the Office of Personnel Management, NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said she wants the regulations to be "as simple and fair as possible." She praised OPM for developing the interim regulations, but said there were some "significant areas of concern" that require further explanation.

The 2004 Federal Workforce Flexibility Act, passed in November, directs agencies to compensate employees with time off for business travel they conduct outside of normal working hours. On Jan. 27, OPM released interim regulations for the new benefit, which took effect immediately. They have caused some confusion among federal workers.

Specifically, NTEU pushed for a sharper definition on terms such as "usual waiting time" and "extended waiting time." Under the interim regulations, those definitions are at the sole discretion of individual agencies.

"Agencies should not have unfettered discretion to determine 'usual waiting time'," according to NTEU. "Such discretion opens up the possibility for abuse and inequitable treatment.… Standard definitions would be a more equitable approach."

NTEU also objected to the exclusion of some extended travel delays from compensable time.

"Unusual or 'extended waiting times' at the transportation site should not be excluded from creditable time," NTEU said. "A fairer approach would be to credit the employee with the additional wait time if that additional time arises out of circumstances beyond the employee's control and if the employee is not free to leave the transportation site."

Kelley also addressed the issue of "bona fide meal periods," which raised some eyebrows among personnel officials when the regulations were released. According to the interim rules, federal workers must subtract sit-down meals at airports or transportation hubs from their overall compensable travel time. At the OPM forum to introduce the new regulations, some personnel officers said the bona fide meal rule would be widely ignored.

The meal policy will lead to "absurd results," NTEU said in their comments. "It should be obvious to anyone who travels that no one lingers at airports or train stations for personal amusement."

Kelley also called on OPM to allow for creditable time off for federal employees who are forced to travel on holidays, and she said that workers should not be forced to use their compensatory time off within 26 pay periods.

The comment period on the interim regulations ended on March 28, and OPM officials are sorting through the submissions. After determining ways that the regulations can be improved, the agency will release the final rules. There is no statutory deadline for final rules to be put in place.