COMPENSATORY TIME: page numbers in the master agreement 89, 92, 93, 117, 118, 193, 196, 199, 264
Page 89 employee rights article 21 :
G3. The parties understand and agree that Credit Hours for CWS are initiated by the employee, subject to approval by the supervisor. In contrast, the parties understand and agree that overtime and COMPENSATORY TIME (with the exception of religious COMPENSATORY TIME) are initiated by the Department. Flex time will be requested and bargained locally.
Page 92-93 employee rights, article 21 :
4F. Those employees eligible by Title 5 or Title 38 can accrue and use COMPENSATORY TIME when approved by the Department. Eligible employees may request COMPENSATORY TIME off in lieu of premium pay for overtime work. The approving official will consider staffing needs in the decision whether to approve COMPENSATORY TIME. Supervisors shall not require the above mentioned employees to take COMPENSATORY TIME in lieu of overtime pay. Appropriate officials or their designees, may, at the request of a GS or FWS employee on a flexible schedule, grant COMPENSATORY TIME off in lieu of overtime pay, whether such overtime hours are regularly scheduled or irregular or occasional in nature. If the employee does not request COMPENSATORY TIME off in lieu of overtime pay, or if the employee’s request for COMPENSATORY TIME off in lieu of overtime pay is not granted, the employee shall be compensated for such overtime under the applicable statutory provisions.
4G. The Department shall, to the extent practicable, permit employees who earn COMPENSATORY TIME instead of overtime to use their COMPENSATORY TIME at the earliest time convenient to them within 26 pay periods. Normally, COMPENSATORY TIME off shall be granted before annual leave is approved. If annual leave would otherwise be forfeited, however, the annual leave shall be granted before COMPENSATORY TIME off. Any employee who is unable to use COMPENSATORY TIME within 26 pay periods shall receive overtime pay instead.
Page 117 Official Travel :
Section 1 - Compensation and Travel
A. To the maximum extent practicable, time spent in travel status away from the employee’s ODS will be scheduled by the Department within the normal working hours. Where it is necessary that travel be performed during non-duty hours, the employee will be paid overtime or may opt for COMPENSATORY TIME when such travel constitutes hours of work under 5 USC or the Fair Labor Standards Act, if applicable. If the travel does not constitute hours of work under 5 USC or the Fair Labor Standards Act, the employee may be eligible for COMPENSATORY TIME for travel. It is the employee’s responsibility to request and obtain travel authority in advance of travel.
B. When an employee performs official travel outside their normal working hours, but the travel does not constitute hours of work under 5 USC or the Fair Labor Standards Act, then the employee will be allowed to accrue COMPENSATORY TIME off for travel.
C. Employees are entitled to COMPENSATORY TIME off for travel consistent with 5 CFR 550.1404. For the purpose of COMPENSATORY TIME off for travel, time in a travel status includes:
1. Time spent traveling between the ODS and a temporary duty station;
2. Time spent traveling between two temporary duty stations; and,
3. The usual waiting time preceding or interrupting such travel (e.g., waiting at an airport or train station prior to departure).
4. COMPENSATORY TIME off for travel shall be administered consistent with VA Handbook 5007, Part VIII, Chapter 15. Determinations regarding what is creditable as “usual waiting time” are within the sole and exclusive discretion of the employing agency. Employees may request credit of excess waiting time by providing a written explanation in the Remarks Section of VA Form 0861. The explanation must include the amount of excess waiting time requested, the reason for the excess waiting time, an explanation why the employee was unable to use the time for personal use and any additional information or documents that supports the request. Extended periods of waiting time when the employee is free to rest, sleep, or otherwise use the time for his or her own purposes, are not creditable as time in a travel status.
Page 118 Travel: COMPENSATORY TIME off for travel may only be earned for time in a travel status when such time is not otherwise compensable. Compensable refers to periods of time creditable as hours of work for the purpose of determining a specific pay entitlement. For example, certain travel time may be creditable as hours of work under the overtime pay provisions.
D. COMPENSATORY TIME off for travel is forfeited:
1. If not used by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period during which it was earned;
2. Upon voluntary transfer to another agency;
3. Upon separation from the Federal Government.
E. An employee may not receive payment for unused COMPENSATORY TIME off for travel.
F. When employees are unable to return to their home station through no fault of their own while away on official government business, the employees will notify their supervisors as soon as possible and obtain appropriate instructions. In such instances, the employees will be paid overtime or approved COMPENSATORY TIME, as appropriate, for any time beyond normal duty hours that they are determined to be performing official duties. If the employees are unable to return to their duty stations and must stay overnight at some other location, per diem expenses will be paid when appropriate.
Page 193: employee rights: Employees also will be entitled to COMPENSATORY TIME for time spent in travel, in accordance with the Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004, as amended.
Page 196 article 35
Section 12 - Accommodation for Religious Observances
A. An employee whose personal religious beliefs require abstention from work during certain periods of time may elect to engage in overtime work to compensate for time lost by meeting those religions requirements.
B. To the extent that such modifications in work schedules do not interfere with the efficient accomplishment of the Department mission, the Department shall in each instance, afford the employee the opportunity to work compensatory overtime and shall in each instance grant COMPENSATORY TIME off to an employee requesting such time off for religious observances when the employee’s personal religious beliefs require that the employee abstain from work during certain periods of the workday or workweek.
C. For the purpose stated in Paragraph B of this section, the employee may work such COMPENSATORY TIME before or after the granting of COMPENSATORY TIME off. Advanced COMPENSATORY TIME off should be repaid with the appropriate amount of COMPENSATORY TIME worked within a reasonable amount of time. Compensatory overtime shall be credited on an hour‑for‑hour basis or authorized fractions thereof. Appropriate records will be kept of compensatory overtime earned and used.
Page 199 employee rights article 35 FMLA
FMLA: 16C. Substitution of Paid Leave - For either Paragraphs A or B of this Section, the employee may elect to substitute annual leave, sick leave, COMPENSATORY TIME off, or credit hours for unpaid family or medical leave for any part of the applicable period consistent with governing laws and regulations. Employees may also combine annual leave, COMPENSATORY TIME, sick leave, or credit hours with unpaid family or medical leave for any period of approved leave. An employee may not retroactively substitute paid time off for unpaid family and medical leave.
Page 264 3E. Title 38 Nurse pay: COMPENSATORY TIME - In accordance with 38 USC 7453(e)(3), COMPENSATORY TIME off in lieu of pay for service performed under the overtime provisions of Title 38 shall not be permitted unless voluntarily requested in writing by the nurse in question.
Title 38 law on pay: