travel comp time carry over

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Overtime, Comp Time, and Credit Hours

This Handbook page provides a brief overview of overtime, comp time, and credit hours.

There are several factors which affect how you could be compensated for working extra hours. One is your salary: if your salary is at - or close to - the maximum GS salary ($183,500 in FY23). Another factor is whether you are an , external, exempt or non-exempt employee .

You should obtain supervisor approval prior to working extra hours. And, your supervisor should understand your specific situation prior to approving overtime.

The guidance below is only a high level overview. You and/or your supervisor can reach out to PeopleOps anytime with questions about your specific situation.

Overtime and Comp Time

Overtime and comp time can be approved by your supervisor no matter what type of work schedule you have.

Overtime is when you are paid for extra hours that you work, whereas comp time is when you receive hours of leave instead of pay. To determine the maximum number of comp time hours that you can accrue per pay period, please use the , external, TTS-only, Bi-weekly Comp Time Cap Calculator .

You should use your accrued comp time before using Annual Leave. However, if the end of the leave year is approaching, your supervisor can approve your Annual Leave requests first if you are in danger of losing Annual Leave because of “ Use or Lose .”

Comp time expires one year (26 pay periods) after it is earned. When you reach the expiration date, what happens depends on whether you are an , external, exempt or non-exempt employee :

• If you are exempt: you will forfeit the leave.
• If you are non-exempt: you will be paid out the hours (at the overtime pay rate that was in effect when you earned the hours).

If you leave GSA, your comp time will follow the parameters above: either forfeited or paid out, depending on your exemption status.

Credit Hours

Note: Credit hours are only available if you are on a flexible work schedule .

You can be approved for credit hours if you want to voluntarily work additional hours to your normal/approved schedule. If you are required to work additional hours, you will receive overtime or comp time.

• You can have up to 24 credit hours accrued, at any given time.
• The hours will rollover from one pay period to the next, and they never expire.
• Credit hours cannot be converted to cash, unless you leave GSA (then they will be paid out).

Credit hours example

You are on a Gliding schedule , and you work 8 hours every day. You are not required to stay late, but you are in a productive headspace and want to work an extra hour to finish your project. You can talk to your supervisor and ask to work 1 more hour, therefore receiving 1 credit hour. You will need to request the 1 hour in HR Links, and your supervisor will need to approve it.

Religious comp time

You can request an adjustment to your work schedule for religious observances, instead of taking leave. Document your request to your supervisor, via email, in advance of the time you’ll need to miss, along with the schedule of the time you will work outside of normal hours to compensate.

Note: religious comp time does not follow the salary cap rules that are outlined in the beginning of this document. Anyone can request religious comp time, regardless of their salary and what type of work schedule they are on.

Travel comp time

When you travel in connection to TTS, the time you spend traveling may be regular time, overtime, or travel comp time, depending on when the travel occurs.

You’ll complete overtime and comp time requests after you travel because you may encounter delays. Keep a copy of your travel itinerary to help you remember your trip.

Refer to the , external, TTS-only, Compensation for Government Travel slidedeck to determine the breakdown of your hours. This slidedeck is only open to GSA employees. Please contact your Timekeeper or an HR Specialist at your agency with questions.

Note: travel comp time does not follow the salary cap rules that are outlined in the beginning of this document. Anyone can request travel comp time, regardless of their salary and what type of work schedule they are on.

Entering the overtime, comp time, and/or credit hours you will be working into HRLinks

Entering your hours is a two step process.

Step 1 - Submit a time request in HRLinks

You need to enter your overtime, comp time, or credit hours into HRLinks. To determine the maximum number of comp time hours that you can accrue per pay period, please use the , external, TTS-only, Bi-weekly Comp Time Cap Calculator . Your supervisor will be notified to approve the hours requested.

• Click on the Employee Time Requests tile
• Select Additional Time Requests
• For Overtime , you will need to select a reason you worked overtime.
• Select Additional Time Type
• Enter Start Date and End Date
• Enter Requested Hours
• Enter Comments
• Click Submit

You’ll receive emails after submitting the request, and after it is approved. There is a step-by-step guide to submitting time requests .

Step 2 - Update your timesheet

Currently, HR Links is not connecting Comp/Credit/Overtime hours to your timesheet. This means you will need to manually add the hours you earned to your timesheet on the day(s) when you earned them. You’ll do this after your supervisor has approved the hours in step 1.

There is a step-by-step guide on adding the hours to your timesheet . Reach out to , external, TTS-only, #people-ops if you need assistance.

Using the comp time and/or credit hours you’ve earned

You will submit a leave request , just like you do for other types of leave. When searching in HR Links for the leave type to request, the codes and leave names are:

• 041 - Comp Time Used
• 037 - Credit Hours Used
• 047 - Religious Comp Time Used
• 043 - Travel Comp Time Used

OPM Resources

• , external, Adjustment of Work Schedules for Religious Observances
• , external, Overtime Fact Sheet
• , external, Comp Time Fact Sheet
• , external, Credit Hours Fact Sheet

Handbook.tts.gsa.gov

An official website of the U.S. General Services Administration

The Federal Register

The daily journal of the united states government, request access.

Due to aggressive automated scraping of FederalRegister.gov and eCFR.gov, programmatic access to these sites is limited to access to our extensive developer APIs.

If you are human user receiving this message, we can add your IP address to a set of IPs that can access FederalRegister.gov & eCFR.gov; complete the CAPTCHA (bot test) below and click "Request Access". This process will be necessary for each IP address you wish to access the site from, requests are valid for approximately one quarter (three months) after which the process may need to be repeated.

An official website of the United States government.

If you want to request a wider IP range, first request access for your current IP, and then use the "Site Feedback" button found in the lower left-hand side to make the request.

UNCLASSIFIED (U)

compensatory time off for travel

(CT:PER-1131;   05-26-2023) (Office of Origin:  GTM/OTA)

3 FAM 3171  Authorities

(CT:PER-751;   10-30-2014) (State Only) (Applies to Civil Service and Foreign Service Employees)

Authorities are authorized by the following:

·          5 U.S.C. 5550b

·          5 CFR Part 550, subpart N; and

·          The Foreign Service Act of 1980, Section 412, as amended.

3 FAM 3172  Introduction

(CT:PER-869;   08-28-2017) (State Only) (Applies to Civil Service and Foreign Service Employees)

The Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-411, Section 203, October 30, 2004) established a new form of non-monetary compensatory time off for time spent by an employee in a travel status when such time is not otherwise compensable (i.e., when the travel is not during regular duty hours or otherwise considered hours of work).  This provision is codified in 5 U.S.C. 5550b.  Individual offices do not have the discretion to deny an employee compensatory time off for travel if it has been earned and applied in accordance with Department policy.  Compensatory time off for travel is non-monetary and if not used prior to its expiration, never converts to cash.

3 FAM 3173  Eligibility

(CT:PER-992;   05-20-2020) (State Only) (Applies to Civil Service and Foreign Service Employees)

a. Compensatory time off for travel may be earned by:

(1)  An American direct-hire employee as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5541(2);

(2)  Part-time employees may be entitled to compensatory time off for travel if the time in travel status 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 550, subpart N;

(3)  Tenured Foreign Service Officers class FS-01 and below under the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended; effective October 23, 2007;

(4)  Wage grade (prevailing rate) employees under the provisions codified in 5 U.S.C. 5550b and 5 CFR 550, subpart N; effective April 27, 2008; and

(5)  Eligibility of locally employed staff depends on local labor law and how the employee was hired.  If the locally employed staff member is appointed under the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended, the employee may be eligible.  If the locally employed staff member is hired under a personal services agreement, local labor law prevails.  The office of Overseas Employment Compensation Management Division (GTM/OE/CM) may be contacted for further information.

b. Compensatory time off for travel may NOT be earned by:

(1)  Members of the Senior Executive Service;

(2)  Members of the Senior Foreign Service;

(3)  Executive Schedule employees; or

(4)  Employees on an intermittent schedule.

3 FAM 3174  Determining Eligible Time in Travel Status

a. To be creditable under this provision, travel must be officially authorized.  The travel must be for work purposes and must be approved by an authorized Department official or under established Department policies.  Examples of eligible travel would be for performing official work at another duty station, attending an official conference, or attending official training.

b. Compensatory time off for travel may only be earned for time in an official travel status away from an employee’s official duty station when such time is not otherwise compensable as regular duty pay or premium compensation.  For Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), exempt employees, compensable refers to periods of time creditable as hours of work for the purpose of determining a specific pay entitlement.  For FLSA non-exempt employees, please see 5 CFR 551.422.

c.  Eligible Time in Official Travel Status includes:

(1)  Time spent traveling between the official duty station and a temporary duty station;

(2)  Time spent traveling between two temporary duty stations;

(3)  The usual waiting time preceding or interrupting such travel.  The usual waiting time for domestic flights may not exceed two hours, and for overseas flights may not exceed three hours.  Extended waiting time is not creditable; or

(4)  Time in travel status ends when the employee arrives at the temporary duty worksite or lodging in the temporary duty station, wherever the employee arrives first.  Time in travel status resumes when an employee departs from the temporary duty worksite or lodging in the temporary duty station, from whichever the employee departs last.

d. Time that is NOT eligible:

(1)  Travel for the purpose of permanent change of station, temporary change of station, home leave, rest and recuperation travel, family visitation travel, regional rest breaks, medical evacuation, emergency visitation travel, and post evacuations are not considered time in official travel status for the purpose of earning comp time off for travel;

(2)  An extended waiting period is not considered time in official travel status and is not creditable.  An example of extended waiting periods include: flight delays or cancelations due to weather issues, mechanical problems, airline administrative problems, etc.;

(3)  Regular duty hours of work; and

(4)  Hours of travel time that are otherwise compensable hours of work under the overtime pay provisions in 5 CFR 550.112(g) or 5 CFR 551.422.

e. Reference 5 CFR 551.422 states for non-exempt employees, time spent traveling must be considered compensable hours of work if:

(1)  The official travel occurs during the employee's regular working hours;

(2)  The employee is required to drive or perform other work as part of the official travel;

(3)  An employee is required to travel as a passenger on a one-day assignment away from the official duty station location; or

(4)  The employee is required to travel as a passenger overnight away from the official duty station location and the official travel occurs on a non-workday during hours that correspond to the employee's regular working hours.

3 FAM 3175  Factors That Influence Compensatory Time Off for Travel

3 FAM 3175.1  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 (elapsed time) the employee actually spent in a travel status for the purpose of accruing compensatory time off for travel.  For example, if an employee departs from Tokyo, going to FSI for training, the employee calculates the trip based on the Tokyo time zone.  Likewise, the return trip is calculated on the Washington, DC time zone since it now is the point of first departure.

3 FAM 3175.2  Modes of Transportation

a. In the case of an employee who is offered one mode of transportation (i.e., flying) and who is permitted to use an alternate mode of transportation (i.e., train or POV), or who travels at a time or by a route other than that selected by the Department, 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 Department or traveled at the time or by the route selected by the Department.  For example, if the flight time is two hours but the travel by train takes six hours, the employee is only eligible to request two hours as creditable for comp time off for travel.  The fact that one mode of transportation may save the Department money has no bearing on the amount of comp time off for travel that an employee earns.

b. Employees who take an approved/authorized rest break during their travel that causes the compensatory time off for travel eligibility to change from what would have been available for the most direct route are ONLY authorized to claim the amount of time that would have been earned had the rest break not been taken.

c.  The class of accommodation, such as business class, does not influence whether the time in travel status is compensable.  Allowing an employee to upgrade travel to business class does not eliminate an employee’s eligibility to earn compensatory time off for travel.

3 FAM 3175.3  Meals

It is no longer required that an employee deduct the bona fide meal periods during travel time or waiting time.

3 FAM 3175.4  Change of Administrative Work Week

An agency may NOT adjust the regularly scheduled administrative work week that normally applies to an employee (full-time or part-time) solely for the purpose of including planned travel time that would not otherwise be considered compensable hours of work.  For example, if an employee is required to travel on a Saturday, which is normally a day off, the supervisor cannot change the administrative work week to be Tuesday through Saturday, making Saturday a compensable day and thus making that day ineligible for compensatory time off for travel.

3 FAM 3175.5  Commuting Time

a. Travel outside of regular working hours to or from a transportation terminal (airport, train, etc.) within the limits of the employee’s official duty station is considered equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable travel time.

b. Travel outside of regular working hours between an employee’s home and a temporary duty station or transportation terminal outside the limits of the employees duty station is considered creditable travel time.  However, the Department must deduct the employee’s normal home-to-work/work-to-home commuting time from the creditable travel time.

c.  A mileage radius no greater than 50 miles applies to determine whether an employee's travel is within or outside the limits of the employee's official duty station.  See 5 CFR 550.112(j).

3 FAM 3176  Recording and Use of Compensatory Time off For Travel

(CT:PER-1131;   05-26-2023) (State Only) (Applies to Civil Service and Foreign Service Employees)

a. Fifteen (15) Minute Increments: Compensatory time off for travel is credited and used in increments of 15 minutes.

b. Thirty (30) day Limit for Requesting Credit: The Department requires employees to submit credit requests, in writing, to their supervisor with specific times, justification, and itineraries, within 30 days of completion of eligible official travel.  This request should be accompanied by Form DS-5106, Compensatory Time Off for Travel worksheet.  Requests for compensatory time off for travel that are submitted more than 30 days after the last day of travel will be denied.

c.  Documenting Compensatory Time Off for Travel on Cuff Records and TATEL: The Department’s pay system will not accommodate the specialized compensatory time off for travel category; and, as a result, timekeepers are required to keep paper records of the compensatory time off for travel earned by each individual using a separate ledger ( 3 FAM Exhibit 3176) ;

(1)  Compensatory time off for travel is not recorded in the TATEL system, though comp time off for travel used will be recorded in TATEL;

(2)  Time used should be entered in TATEL as “XA” with a notation “compensatory time off for travel”;

(3)  Timekeepers should keep a copy of the Form DS-7100, Request for Leave or Approved Absence with the paper record of compensatory time off for travel earned and subtract the time used;

(4)  Regulations require that time is charged in a chronological manner, i.e., first-in, first-out; and

(5)  These are official records and must be maintained by each individual office.

d. Time Limit for Using Compensatory Time Off for Travel: Compensatory time off for travel must be used within 26 pay periods from the time the eligible compensatory time off for travel is earned.  Otherwise it is forfeited.  Exceptions may be granted:

(1)  If the employee with unused compensatory time off for travel separates;

(2)  The employee is placed in a leave without pay status to perform service in the uniformed service (as defined in 38 U.S.C. 4303 and 5 CFR 353.102) and later returns to service through the exercise of a re-employment right provided by law, Executive Order, or regulation;

(3)  An on-the-job injury with entitlement to compensation under 5 U.S.C. chapter 81 and later recovers sufficiently to return to work; or

(4)  An exigency of the service beyond the employee’s control and an authorized Department official, has sole discretion, to extend the time limit for using such compensatory time off for travel, not to exceed an additional 26 pay periods.

e. Scheduling and Using Accrued Compensatory Time Off for Travel: Employees must request permission from their supervisor via Form DS-7100 , Request for Leave or Approved Absence , to schedule the use of accrued compensatory time off for travel.  Earned compensatory time off for travel must be charged on a first-in, first-out (chronological) basis.

f.  Use of Compensatory Time Off for Travel While in Official Travel Status: In accordance with 5 CFR 550.1406, employees must request permission to schedule the use of accrued compensatory time off for travel in accordance with agency-established policies and procedures.  Department policy states that employees will not be authorized to use compensatory time off for travel in the same trip in which it is earned.

3 FAM 3177  Transfer Within the Department

Compensatory time off for travel may be transferred to another office within the Department, unless the employee moves to a federal position that is covered by the compensatory time off for travel regulations, pursuant to 5 CFR 550.1407(d).  The losing timekeeper must provide complete copies of the employee's compensatory time for travel to the gaining timekeeper.  This includes a copy of the authorized approval memo, the paper ledger recording time earned and used, and the current balance with the forfeiture dates.

3 FAM 3178  Forfeiture

Compensatory time off for travel is forfeited:

(1)  Except as provided in 3 FAM 3176 (d), if not used by the end of the 26th pay period during which it was earned.  NOTE: The 26 pay periods run from the time travel was completed, not from the time it was credited;

(2)  Upon voluntary transfer to another agency;

(3)  Upon movement to a non-covered position, or if there is a change in employee status, such as intermittent or promotion to SFS/SES; or

(4)  Except as provided in 3 FAM 3176 (d), upon separation from the federal government.

3 FAM 3179  Compensatory Time Off for Travel is NOT Premium Pay

a. Under no circumstances may an individual receive monetary compensation for any unused compensatory time off for travel the employee has earned.

b. Accrued compensatory time off for travel is not considered in applying the premium pay cap limitations established under 5 U.S.C. 5547 and 5 CFR 550.105 through 550.107, or the aggregate limitation on pay established under 5 U.S.C 5307 and 5 CFR 530, subpart B.

3 FAM Exhibit 3176   Compensatory Time Off For Travel Record of Hours Earned and Used

(CT:PER-751;   10-30-2014)

_____________________________

Traveler’s Name

Approver/Supervisor’s Name

5 CFR Subpart N - Subpart N—Compensatory Time Off for Travel

• § 550.1401 Purpose.
• § 550.1402 Coverage.
• § 550.1403 Definitions.
• § 550.1404 Creditable travel time.
• § 550.1405 Crediting compensatory time off.
• § 550.1406 Use of accrued compensatory time off.
• § 550.1407 Forfeiture of unused compensatory time off.
• § 550.1408 Prohibition against payment for unused compensatory time off.
• § 550.1409 Inapplicability of premium pay and aggregate pay caps.

• FTC non-compete ban worries contractors
• OMB holding agencies 'accountable' for RTO
• Skills-based hiring for IT jobs
• Sports Schedule

Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

New annual leave carryover policy now in effect for federal employees, OPM says

Under a new, temporary policy from the Office of Personnel Management, many federal employees can carryover up to 300 hours of annual leave from 2020, rather th...

Federal employees who forfeited vacation time in excess of the usual annual leave carryover limit at the end of 2020 may be able to get some of those days back for use later this year, thanks to a policy in the new annual defense authorization law.

The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday issued detailed guidance covering the new annual leave policy and instructed agencies to implement it.

Under current statute, most federal employees can carry up to 240 hours, or 30 days of leave, though some can accrue more. Employees must usually forfeit any accrued leave that exceeds the statutory limit.

But a provision in the latest annual defense policy bill, known as “section 1111,” set a new, temporary cap on the number of hours federal employees can carry over from 2020 to use in 2021.

         Join us May 6 at 1 p.m. EST for Federal News Network's Industry Exchange Data where we'll explore how you can employ data to modernize your agency. | Register today!

For the vast majority of employees, the cap — for 2021 only — is now 300 hours or 37.5 days of annual leave, Michael Rigas, OPM’s acting director, said Tuesday in a memo to agency heads.

Employees stationed outside the U.S. have a higher temporary cap of 450 hours under the new annual leave policy, OPM said.

For federal workers who ended the 2020 leave year with more than 30 days of unused annual leave and thought they’d have to forfeit the time, the new policy allows them to hold on to at least a few more vacation days to use in 2021 only.

The new OPM guidance comes a few days after the Senate completed a veto override of the National Defense Authorization Act. President Donald Trump had vetoed the bill last month before the Christmas holiday.

With the 2021 NDAA now law, OPM can fully implement the new annual leave policy, which has a relatively broad scope for federal employees.

It applies to most executive branch employees, including workers at the U.S. Postal Service, Postal Regulatory Commission, Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation Administration, as well as healthcare professionals at the Veterans Health Administration, according to the OPM guidance.

Most members of the Senior Executive Service and employees working for a “non-appropriated fund instrumentality” aren’t, however, covered under the new annual leave policy.

“Executive branch agency heads who administer annual leave programs under any other law must apply the OPM policies described above and in the attached guidance by establishing parallel policies to the maximum extent practicable,” Rigas said. “I am delegating authority to such agency heads authority to implement those policies. This delegated authority does not prevent an agency head from providing a greater benefit under the agency head’s independent leave system authority.”

         Read more: Benefits

Postal employees, for example, have a leave and personnel system separate from the one the vast majority of federal employees use, but Tuesday’s memo requires USPS to establish a comparable leave carryover policy reflecting the changes described in the 2021 NDAA.

The new policy itself is complex.

It requires agencies to first apply other leave restoration policies to any vacation time that exceeds the 240-hour carryover limit.

If agencies have exhausted those methods and employees still have forfeited annual leave leftover, they can apply the NDAA policy to prevent forfeiture up to the 300-hour limit.

“If any employee has any remaining annual leave (after applying leave restoration rules) that would otherwise be forfeited under the normal carryover limit (240-hour limit for most employees), apply the higher 125 percent carryover limit under the section 1111 authority to prevent forfeiture to the extent possible under the higher limit,” OPM said. “Any annual leave in excess of the higher limit would be forfeited.”

Employees must use leave carried over through the new policy only in 2021, according to OPM. Employees will forfeit any extra leave that isn’t used in 2021, and it will not count for the purposes of calculating an employee’s lump-sum payment upon retirement or separation.

In addition, employees can’t donate unused carryover leave under this new policy to their colleagues, OPM said.

         Want to stay up to date with the latest federal news and information from all your devices? Download the revamped Federal News Network app

Employees who carry over more annual leave this year under the new NDAA policy must use that time first — before using any leave they accrued in past years or through restored, donated or advanced annual leave, according to the OPM memo.

Agency human capital leaders have said they’ve been encouraging their employees to take leave whenever possible since the COVID-19 pandemic began in earnest last March. But the ongoing health crisis has created new pressures and more work for many agencies, while others have been reluctant to take time off.

The Office of Personnel Management fast-tracked a  new policy this summer that allows certain “essential” federal employees to hold onto the annual leave they’d otherwise have to forfeit at the end of the year. But the new policy from OPM only applies to federal employees whose service during the pandemic or future national emergencies is considered “essential,” and it allowed agencies to make those calls on their own.

Lawmakers made several attempts of their own to allow federal employees to carry over more leave due to the pandemic.

The provision that made it into 2021 NDAA stemmed from an amendment from Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), which called for a more flexible leave policy for federal employees due to the pandemic.

The Federal Worker Leave Fairness Act, which Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)  introduced this fall, also called for any federal employee to hold on to annual leave they’d otherwise have to forfeit during the pandemic.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

• Go Apple's Website to download the APP
• Go Google's Website to download the APP

Nicole Ogrysko is a reporter for Federal News Network focusing on the federal workforce and federal pay and benefits.

Follow @nogryskoWFED

Related Stories

Congress will let federal employees carry over more annual leave into 2021

Annual leave will be easily restored for ‘essential’ employees during pandemic, OPM says

Annual leave carryover, new anti-discrimination safeguards for feds in House NDAA

• Congress will let federal employees carry over more annual leave into 2021 Benefits
• Annual leave will be easily restored for ‘essential’ employees during pandemic, OPM says Benefits
• Annual leave carryover, new anti-discrimination safeguards for feds in House NDAA Congress

Top Stories

• IRS extends remote work pilot, in bid to ‘keep up’ with workforce expectations Top Story
• Return-to-office review: The latest from Congress, agency leaders and employees WORKFORCE
• IRS seeks 102,000 employees for ‘right-sized’ workforce – and more money to keep them HIRING/RETENTION
• Blunt truth: No ‘significant changes’ for federal employees if Biden administration reclassifies marijuana HIRING/RETENTION
• Marine Corps completes 'wall-to-wall' barracks inspection. Here's what's next DEFENSE

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Office of Human Resources Management

Department of Commerce

• Our mission
• Organizational chart
• Servicing HR offices
• Policy program directory
• Staff directory
• Internships
• Federal programs
• DC Summer Youth Employment Program
• Senior professionals
• Hiring initiatives
• Frequently asked questions
• Health insurance
• Dental and vision insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• Life insurance
• Long term care insurance
• Eligible Employees
• Legal Definitions
• Establishing Bi-Weekly Deduction
• Affordable Care Act information
• Federal employee retirement system
• Civil service retirement system
• Thrift Savings Plan
• Transit benefits
• Student loan repayment
• Domestic Partners - Eligible Benefits Programs
• Domestic Partners - Programs that Exclude Eligibility
• Employment & income verifications
• Employee personal page
• Pay periods and dates
• Overtime pay
• Carrying Over
• Charging Sick Leave to Annual Leave
• Earning Leave Chart
• Exceptions to Full Bi-Weekly Pay Period Requirement
• Loss of Leave Accruals - Nonpay Status
• Repaying Advanced Leave
• Restoring Lost Leave
• Use or Lose
• Using Advanced Leave
• Alternating Between Full and Part Time
• Liquidating Advances
• Part-Time Leave Accrual Chart
• Requesting and Using Donated Leave
• Serious Health Condition
• Unusual Work Schedules
• Alternative Position
• Equivalent Position
• FMLA - Serious Health Condition
• Impact on Probationary Status
• Irregular Schedules
• Delayed Arrival/Unscheduled Leave
• Early Dismissal
• Emergency Employees
• Heating and Cooling Failures
• Organ Donations
• Transition Leave
• Travel and Exams
• Unnecessary Excused Absences
• Premium Pay
• Working Outside of U.S.
• Calculating Leave to Restore
• Care for a Family Member
• Documents You Must Keep
• Leave Accrual While on Donated Leave
• OPM Form 630
• Other Agencies
• Rules on Donating Leave
• Types of Medical Emergencies
• Workers' Comp and Donated Leave
• Restoring Leave to Donors
• Points of Contact
• Alternative work schedules
• Dependent and elder care
• Employee Assistance Program
• Grievances and complaints
• Health and safety
• Commerce Training Options
• Commerce Learning Center
• Chief Learning Officers Council
• Individual Development Plans
• Administrative Professional Certificate Program
• Executive Leadership Development Program
• SES Candidate Development Program
• Performance planning process
• Your performance plan
• Evaluating your performance
• Writing up your accomplishments
• Cash awards
• Non-monetary awards
• Annual Honor Awards
• Performance Management System Fact sheet
• Policies for SES employees
• Pay and leave
• Executive Performance Management System
• Data on pay and performance
• Agendas and minutes
• Drug-free workplace
• Reasonable accommodation
• Pay administration
• Federal Register Notices
• Position descriptions
• Temporary promotions
• Health Savings Account
• Death Gratuity Policy
• General pay
• Premium pay
• Leave policies
• Honor Awards Program
• Contractors
• Guidelines for SES Special Act Award Nominations
• Performance Management System Definitions
• 5-Level Performance Management System
• Briefing Video
• Performance plan library
• EPMS Implementation Resources
• SES Pay and Performance Profile Data
• RPL Registration Form
• CLC Registration Instructions
• Career Transition Assistance Program
• Voluntary Early Retirement Authority
• Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment
• Adverse Actions
• Grievance Processes
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Mediation Services/ADR Programs
• Professional Liability Insurance
• Chief Human Capital Officer
• HCMA Council
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Commerce Annual Employee Survey
• Commerce New Employee Survey
• Office of Human Resources Accountability
• Brief History
• Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF) Information
• Employee surveys
• Recognition
• Labor-Management Relations
• RIF, Transfer of Function, and Furlough
• Commerce.gov
• Students and recent grads
• People with disabilities
• Compensation
• Work-life balance
• Training and Development
• Performance and awards
• Senior Executive Service
• Labor Management Forum
• Position management
• Recruitment
• Benefits policies
• Compensation policies
• Performance management
• SES policies
• Workforce reduction
• Employee relations
• Human Capital Management
• Labor-management relations
• Practitioners

Was this page helpful?

Special compensatory time off for travel.

This program allows employees to accrue 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 travel must be officially authorized for work purposes and approved by an authorized official. 

An employee as defined in Title 5 U.S.C. 5541(2), who is employed in an “Executive Agency,” as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, ) is entitled to earn and use compensatory time off for travel regardless of whether the employee is exempt or non-exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Coverage includes employees in Senior Level (SL) and Scientific of Professional (ST) positions, Federal Wage System (or Wage Grade, WG), and commissioned (tenured) Foreign Service Officers (in pay plan FO) and Commissioned Foreign Service Officers (in pay plan FO). 

Senior Executive Service members and intermittent employees (who do not have a scheduled tour of duty for leave purposes) are excluded from coverage.

Effective Dates of Coverage

Final regulations implementing compensatory time off for travel for most employees was effective May 17, 2007. Coverage for WG employees was effective April 27, 2008. Coverage for Foreign Service Officers (in pay plan FO) and Commissioned Foreign Service Officers (in pay plan FO) was effective June 8, 2006. 

Creditable Travel Time 

Time in a travel status includes the time the employee spends traveling between the official duty station and a temporary duty station (or the lodging in the temporary duty station) or between two temporary duty stations (or the lodging in the temporary duty station) and the “usual waiting time” that precedes or interrupts such travel. 

“Usual waiting time” is the time required to arrive at the airport (or other transportation hub) for security checks-ins, etc., prior to a designated departure time. 

Time spent at an intervening airport (or transportation hub) waiting for a connecting flight also is creditable time.

In the Department, “usual waiting time” is 2 hours for domestic travel and up to 4 hours for international travel. 

Non-Creditable Travel Time 

The following do not qualify as creditable time:

• Unusually long or extended waiting periods that occur prior to an employee’s initial departure time or between actual periods of travel if the employee is free to rest, sleep, or otherwise use the time for his/her own purposes;
• Long waiting periods that occur during an employee's regular scheduled working hours; these periods are compensable as part of the employee's regularly scheduled administrative workweek;
• Time spent traveling outside of an employee’s regular working hours to or from a transportation terminal that are within the limits of the employee’s official duty station;
• Time spent traveling in connection with the performance of union representational activities;
• Time spent traveling on a holiday or an “in-lieu-of” holiday; the employee is entitled to his or her rate of basic pay for the holiday hours; and
• Time spent at a temporary duty station between arrival and departure times; and
• Meal times. 

Once an employee arrives at the temporary duty station (i.e., TDY work site, training site, or hotel at the temporary duty station), the employee 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 for earning compensatory time off for travel. 

Offsetting Normal Commuting Time

When an employee travels directly between the home and a temporary duty station that is outside the limits of the employee's official duty station, the employee's normal “home-to-work/work-to-home” commuting time must be deducted from the creditable travel time. 

Normal commuting time must also be deducted from the creditable travel time if the employee is required to travel outside of regular working hours between the home and a transportation hub outside the limits of the employee's official duty station.

Travel between Multiple 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 travel status for accruing compensatory time off. For example, if an employee travels from his official duty station in Washington, DC, to a temporary duty station in Boulder, CO, the Washington, DC, time zone must be used to determine hours in a travel status. However, on the return trip to Washington, DC, the time zone from Boulder, CO, must be used to determine hours in a travel status 

Timeframes for Use

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 and reported on the webTA. 

All compensatory time off for travel must be used in the chronological order in which it was earned; that is, time earned first is used first. 

Forfeiture of Unused Hours

Accumulated compensatory time that is unused by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period in which it was earned is forfeited. Unused balances are also forfeited when an employee voluntarily transfers to another agency or separates from Federal service. Forfeited hours may not be paid or restored. 

When an employee fails to use accumulated compensatory time balances within the required timeframe due to an exigency of the public service beyond the employee’s control, the time limit for using the hours may be extended for up to an additional 26 pay periods. Additional extensions are not authorized and forfeited hours may not be restored. 

Exceptions to Forfeiture of Unused Hours

Unused compensatory time off for travel must be held in abeyance for an employee who separates, or is placed in a leave without pay (LWOP) status, and later returns:

• To perform service in the uniformed services (see 38 U.S.C. § 4303 and 5 CFR § 353.102) with restoration rights; and 
• Due to an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury compensation under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 81. 

In these cases, the employee must use all of the compensatory time off for travel held in abeyance by the end of the 26th pay period following the pay period in which he/she returns to duty, or the compensatory time off will be forfeited. 

Biweekly Salary Limitation and Aggregate Limitation on Pay

Compensatory time off for travel is not considered in applying the bi-weekly pay cap under 5 U.S.C. 5547 or the aggregate limitation on pay under 5 U.S.C.507. 

Alternate Mode of Transportation

When an employee is allowed to use an alternate mode of transportation, or travels at a time/route other than what is initially approved by the authorizing official, creditable time for travel status must be estimated. The estimate is based on the amount of time the employee would have had if the mode of transportation or the time/route initially approved by the authorizing official was used. In determining the estimated amount of creditable time for travel that an employee would have had, the employee will be credited with the lesser of the:

• Estimated time in a travel status the employee would have had if the employee had traveled at the initially approved time, or
• Employee's actual time in a travel status at a time other than that initially approved.

Applying for Compensatory Time off for Travel

Employee must officially request the earning of compensatory time prior to the actual travel or within 10 calendar days of termination of the travel. The request may be submitted via the webTA Leave and Premium Pay Request functionality, Commerce Department Form CD-81, “Authorization for Paid Overtime and/or Holiday Work, and for Compensatory Overtime”, electronic mail, or memorandum. The request should estimate the number of hours the employee expects to earn. Upon the employee’s return from travel, the employee must provide a chronological record of travel information including:

• Duration of the normal home-to-work commute;
• Time and place of departure (i.e., the employee’s home or official duty station);
• Actual time spent traveling to and from the transportation terminal if the terminal is outside of the employee’s official duty station;
• Usual waiting time; and
• Time of arrival at and departure from the temporary duty station. 

Earning Limitations 

There is no limit on the amount of compensatory time for travel that may be earned. 

Using Compensatory Time off for Travel 

Compensatory time off for travel is credited and used in 15 minute increments with the compensatory time off for travel earned first being charged first. Additional leave will be charged in corresponding units. Employees must request permission from their supervisor or leave approving official to schedule the use of accrued compensatory time off via the webTA Leave and Premium Pay Request functionality, a SF-71, Application for Leave, or Form OPM-71, Request for Leave or Approved Absence. 

Share this page

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

• A–Z Index
• Operating Status

Pay Administration

Questions and answers, what is compensatory time off for travel.

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Office of Human Resources Management

Compensatory time off for travel.

File hr-bulletin-FY08-085.pdf

Share this page