Entitlement to Environmental Differential Pay

An employee of the Veterans Administration appealed a settlement which disallowed his claim for environmental differential (cold work). The dispute involved the number of exposures to cold work by the employee, who worked as a refrigeration mechanic at a Veterans Hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The employee was paid for 102 hours environmental differential for work at memperatures of 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below in the walk-in meat freezer, but the VA hospital director asserted that the temperature in the walk-in refrigerated storage area was a constant 34 degrees Fahrenheit during the remainder of the hours claimed as environmental differential work by the employee. The VA administrative report cited the lack of official documentation to substantiate both the number of exposures and that refrigerator temperatures were maintained at lower than 32 degrees Fahrenheit as reasons for determining that the employee did not meet the criteria for environmental differential for more than 102 hours. The authority to determine the criteria under which the employee may qualify for payment is primarily vested in the agency concerned. GAO will not substitute its judgment for that of the agency in the absence of clear and convincing evidence that the determination made by the agency was arbitrary and capricious. Hence, the disallowance of the claim was sustained.