Claim for Living Quarters Allowance by Employee Recruited Outside United States

A civilian employee of the Army appealed a decision not to allow him living quarters allowances. The employee was hired locally by the Army for employment in Frankfurt, Germany. His appointment followed a period of employment in Europe with a U.S. company. He contended that he was erroneously advised at the time of his appointment that he was not entitled to a living quarters allowance. He claimed that because his employment resulted in his moving from Kaiserslautern to Frankfort, Germany, he was entitled to the allowances. The employee further claimed that the head of the agency should have waived the requirements because of the unusual circumstances of his case. These circumstances related to his qualifications and value to the Army. Department of Defense and Army regulations prohibit the granting of living quarters allowances to personnel hired locally. Thus, GAO held that the employee was not entitled to quarters allowances for his move between cities within Germany at the time of his appointment. Since the circumstances of his employment did not meet the conditions for a waiver of the regulations and the head of the agency did not otherwise waive them, the employee was properly disallowed the quarters allowance. Thus, the decision to disallow the claim was sustained.