Reimbursement of POV Travel for Personal Convenience

A civilian employee of the Army Corps of Engineers requested reconsideration of his claim for additional travel reimbursement based on his use of a privately owned vehicle (POV), overtime compensation for hours spent traveling, and recredit of annual leave charged because of excessive travel time. The agency had determined that the POV travel, as opposed to air travel, was for the convenience of the employee rather than the Government and reimbursement was based upon the constructive cost of commercial air travel and per diem. The employee claimed that flying was adverse to his health and that the required medical certificate substantiating his contention was unnecessary to prove that his aversion made POV travel advantageous to the Government. Since the employee did not obtain the medical certificate, and the agency did not abuse its discretion in its determination, the excess travel time was properly charged to annual leave and overtime compensation could not be authorized. Accordingly, the previous disallowance of the claim was sustained.