Determination of Amount of Per Diem Payable to Employees on Temporary Duty Assignments Aboard Ships

A Disbursing Officer of the Naval Oceanographic Office asked what method should have been used to determine the amount of per diem payable to an employee who was on temporary duty assignment aboard a ship outside the continental United States for the periods during which the ship was in port. The Department of Defense Appropriation Act, 1978, states that employees of the Department of Defense could be required to use available Government quarters while on temporary duty assignments or face a reduction in their per diem or actual subsistence allowance. It rendered the 3 days in port rule moot as to the lodgings portion of the per diem payment. Amended Joint Travel Regulations specify that when an employee reports to a Government ship for temporary duty while the ship is in port, he is paid the same per diem rate as all other employees assigned to duty aboard the ship. Regulations do not specifically define the per diem entitlement of employees who procure their meals ashore. As a general rule, Naval Oceanographic Office employees on temporary duty aboard those ships could continue to eat their meals on the ships if they chose to do so. The Naval Oceanographic Office was charged by the commands operating the vessels only for the meals actually eaten by their employees while the ships were in port. There is no specific guidance as to how per diem is to be computed when meals are procured ashore and no mention of the 3 days in port rule. The documentation furnished in connection with this claim indicated that the Naval Oceanographic Office felt that the rate of per diem established for Government quarters available should be paid, at least after the third day in port. GAO found that for employees on temporary duty aboard vessels in ports outside the continental limits of the United States who procure meals ashore after the third day in port, per diem should be computed in accordance with the regulations governing Government quarters available. For ports inside the continental limits of the United States, if the lodgings-plus system is applicable, and meals are procured ashore after the third day in port, an average cost of lodgings of zero should be used. For ports covered by the actual expense system, actual expenses for meals procured ashore after the third day in port should be paid.