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Claim for Per Diem

B-205440 May 25, 1982
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Highlights

An employee appealed a Claims Group settlement which disallowed his claim for per diem at a temporary duty station on the basis that it eventually became his permanent duty station. The employee was paid per diem by his agency for the period considered to be temporary; however, the agency sought to recover those funds on the basis that Federal travel regulations preclude payment of per diem to an employee while at his permanent duty station. Thus, whether the employee was erroneously paid per diem for that time depended on the effective date of his transfer. The general rule is that the effective date of an employee's transfer to a new duty station is the date on which he remains at the station permanently. However, if the employee is already at the new station on a temporary duty assignment, the rule is that the effective date of the transfer is the day the employee receives a permanent change-of-station order. In this case, the determination as to the effective date of the employee's transfer was complicated by a record of inconsistent travel orders. These inconsistencies prohibited a settlement of the date in question. GAO held that, in view of the confusion regarding the temporary assignment and, since the employee had temporary duty travel orders for periods he spent at the new station, he did not become permanently transferred until his temporary duties were completed and until he remained at his new permanent duty station for good. Accordingly, the Claims Group's action denying his claim for per diem was reversed.

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