Entitlement to Transportation of Household Goods

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested an advance decision as to whether an agency may reimburse an employee in excess of the commuted rate allowance for moving expenses. Comtemporaneous with his discharge from the Army an employee was to accede to a manpower shortage position with NRC. As a discharged member, he was entitled to transportation of his household goods from his discharge point to his home of record or to any other location not to exceed the cost of relocation to his home of record. Likewise, as an individual acceding to a manpower shortage position, he was entitled to transportation of his household goods. Because of his dual entitlement, the claimant spoke with appropriate Army and NRC personnel to ascertain his entitlements. He was informed that the move should be done under his military entitlement but that NRC would reimburse him for excess costs due to his new duty station being over 550 miles further than his home of record. GAO held that the Government would bear the expense of the employee's move up to the larger of the two entitlements. Where an employee has dual entitlement to transportation of household goods because of accession to a manpower shortage position with a Government agency contemporaneous with a military discharge, the cost factors involved in the shipment of household goods by the Army and the cost factors which compose the commuted rate payable by civilian agencies may not be interchanged to increase or decrease an employee's entitlement.