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Entitlement to Mileage and Per Diem for Travel Outside Official Duty Stations

B-191104 May 09, 1979
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Highlights

An employees' union requested a decision as to whether six Customs Service inspectors were entitled to mileage and per diem for travel outside their official duty stations. The inspectors were called upon from time to time to perform relief assignments at various Customs stations along the Canadian border. Employees who travel to temporary duty stations are entitled to mileage and per diem, whereas payment of travel expenses is not allowed for travel which takes place within an inspector's regular duty station. The question involved concerned whether the Customs stations in the relief assignments should be considered temporary duty stations or merely part of the regular duty station. The governing regulations appeared to be inconsistent on this point. The Customs Service viewed the stations as part of the inspectors' port of entry but did not offer any explantion concerning the discrepancy in regulations. The ambiguity should be resolved in favor of the inspectors since travel to a Customs station was travel to a temporary duty station, for which mileage and per diem are payable. Therefore, the employees were entitled to travel expense.

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