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Unusual Working Conditions and Lunch Expenses

B-194798 Jan 23, 1980
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Highlights

The Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, asked whether the Government should pay for the lunches of its employees due to unusual working conditions. As part of their responsibilities, the employees made inspection trips to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The inspection trips were usually completed within 8 to 10 hours and spanned the noon lunch period. During the lunch period, the inspectors had no choice but to obtain their lunches on site. Conditions prohibited them from bringing lunch from home. The Geological Survey considered three alternate means of reimbursing the employees for lunch expenses. These included: (1) use of per diem allowances, (2) payment based on duty at a remote worksite, and (3) payment of actual subsistence expenses due to the unusual circumstances of the travel assignment, as provided by Federal Travel Regulations. Use of per diem allowances to pay for the lunches was rejected by the Geological Survey because the employees' travel did not satisfy Federal Travel Regulations pertaining to per diem. Payment of an allowance based on duty at a remote worksite was also rejected because the employees' official duty site was onshore and because the Government provided transportation to the worksites. GAO held that the Geological Survey analyses of the first two points were legally correct. As for the third point, GAO held that the referenced regulation did not apply in this case. Actual subsistence expenses were payable only when an employee was entitled to per diem and the maximum per diem allowance was inadequate to cover the travel expenses. Since the employees in this case were not entitled to per diem allowances, they were held to be likewise precluded from entitlement to actual subsistence allowances. GAO has held that the Government may not pay the subsistence expenses of or furnish free food to civilian employees from appropriated funds without the specific authority of law even though the employees may have been working under unusual circumstances. The only exception to this rule is when food expenses are incurred during an extreme emergency involving danger to human life or threat to Government property. As this was not the case here, GAO held that the lunch expenses of the employees could not be paid by the Government.

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