[Request for Opinion Concerning Entitlement to Overtime Pay or Compensatory Time Off]

The National Labor Relations Board requested an opinion concerning the entitlement of two employees to receive overtime pay or compensatory time off for after-hours travel. The first employee claimed compensatory time incident to a hearing conducted away from her duty station. She asserted that the hearing's late start was an uncontrollable event and that her supervisor's request that she remain at the hearing late established the official necessity to return to her duty post after hours. The second employee filed a claim because she conducted an evening interview in support of a court case. GAO held that: (1) although the first employee was delayed from returning until after hours, she was merely returning to her duty station with no special urgency requiring that travel; and (2) the after-hours interview by the second employee was set by mutual agreement and could have been arranged for a different time. Accordingly, neither employee was entitled to compensatory time.