B-232122, Jan 18, 1989

B-232122, Jan 18, 1989

CIVILIAN PERSONNEL - Relocation - Temporary quarters - Actual subsistence expenses - Reimbursement - Deadlines CIVILIAN PERSONNEL - Relocation - Temporary quarters - Actual subsistence expenses - Reimbursement - Eligibility DIGEST: An employee, who was transferred from an overseas location with long term training en route to his new permanent duty station in Leesburg, Virginia, questions when he must begin claiming temporary quarters subsistence at his new permanent station. Since the employee did not report for duty in Leesburg prior to his long-term training assignment, the period must begin not later than 30 days after the date he reports for duty in Leesburg.

Marcos Costilla, Jr. - Temporary Quarters Subsistence Expense Eligibility:

This decision is in response to a request from the Director of Accounting, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), United States Department of Transportation. The question asked is what is the latest date that an employee remains eligible to qualify for temporary quarters subsistence expense incident to a permanent change of station with long- term training en route. We conclude that the employee may begin claiming temporary quarters expenses not later than the 3Oth day following the date he reports for duty at his new permanent station.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Marcos Costilla, Jr., an FAA employee assigned to the Civil Aviation Assistance Group, Madrid, Spain, was transferred to the FAA's Leesburg Center, Leesburg, Virginia, with long-term training in Montgomery, Alabama, en route. That training assignment, which began on August 1, 1988, is to last 10 months, at the conclusion of which he is to report for duty at the Leesburg Center.

Mr. Costilla and his family have been in Madrid since 1985 and do not have an established residence in the United States where his family can live during his training. As a result, his family plans to live with him in Montgomery during the training assignment and then plans to relocate to Leesburg in May 1989.

Mr. Costilla has requested that his temporary quarters allowance entitlement for himself and his family be deferred until he reports for duty at the Leesburg Center. The FAA is uncertain whether the request may be granted in view of certain of the provisions of the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) which state that temporary quarters must begin not later than 30 days after the date the family vacates their residence at the old duty station. In Mr. Costilla's case, that event occurred on July 16, 1988.

OPINION The operative language contained in the FTR governing the period for which an employee becomes entitled to temporary quarters expenses is contained in paragraph 2-5.2e. /1/ That paragraph provides in part:

"e. Beginning of eligibility period. ... The period ... must begin not later than 30 days from the date the employee reported for duty at his/her new official station, or if not begun during this period, not later than 30 days from under the above provisions, the basic limitation focuses on the employee and the date the employee reports for duty. The second clause suggests delayed family travel; that is, where an employee's family does not perform concurrent travel to the employee's new permanent duty station, the employee may defer the temporary quarters claim period from the period immediately following the reporting for duty until the family arrives, so long as that temporary quarters period begins within 30 days of their delayed departure from the old station. We have held that an employee is not required to choose in advance which period to claim and that an employee may properly claim either period for temporary quarters expense reimbursement, whichever would provide the greater reimbursement. Ronald H. Brown, B-193412, Aug. 3, 1979; Huai Su, B-215701, Dec. 3, 1984.

In the present case, while Mr. Costilla's assignment to the FAA Eastern Region was effective July 31, 1988, that reassignment was for administration purposes only. The significant point is that he did not report for duty at his new station in Leesburg and is not scheduled to report until May 1989. Therefore, we conclude that he has 30 days following the date he reports for duty at the Leesburg Center after completion of his training assignment within which to begin the authorized period of temporary quarters.

/1/ FTR, para. 2-5.2e (Supp. 10, Mar. 13, 1984), incorp. by ref., 41 C.F.R. Sec. 101-7.003 (1987).