Mileage Payments for Department of Agriculture Meat Graders

Carol Tucker Foreman, Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services, requested a decision concerning authority to make mileage payments to meat graders, stating that the Civil Service Commission (CSC) ruled that time spent transporting meat grading equipment to and from work constituted "hours of work" under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Kenneth T. Blaylock, National President, American Federation of Government Employees, stated that mileage should be paid for all traveltime and requested that employees be paid for storing equipment. The authority for granting mileage is 5 U.S.C. 5704, not the FLSA. The fact that an employee is on official business does not in itself, in the absence of his agency's authorization, entitle him to mileage. However, since the agency has the discretion to allow mileage, mileage may be allowed in the future under the circumstances described, but past travel is governed by policies then in effect. Storage payments may not be allowed.