Claim for Relocation Expenses

When the official duty station of an employee of the Department of Agriculture was changed, the employee chose to move even though his residence was located midway between his old duty station and the new duty station. The question arose as to whether the employee should be reimbursed for expenses incurred in connection with the transfer of station. It was held that the relocation was incident to the transfer and, therefore, the employee's claim for reimbursement of relocation expenses may be paid. The regulations governing expenses for transferred employees need not be interpreted to mean that in order to be incident to a transfer of duty station, a relocation must invariably result in less commuting time and distance.