Payment of Overtime Compensation

A Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee claimed payment of overtime compensation for work he had performed during the period from 1966 to 1976. A review of the claim by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) (now the Office of Personnel Management) found that the employee was entitled to overtime compensation, but USDA questioned that finding. The employee performed overtime work for a period of time during each of the years in question and agreed with his immediate supervisors to take 1 hour of compensatory time for each overtime hour he worked. These supervisors were not authorized to order or approve hours of overtime work. The administrators vested with that authority said they were not aware of the overtime work by the employee, and it did not appear in his official records until after 1976. The employee claimed the overtime compensation on the basis that he was not advised that he could have received overtime compensation, rather than compensatory time. GAO did not consider that portion of the employee's claim that occurred before 1972 because of the statutory limitation on filing compensation claims. The CSC determination was based on the provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows payment when overtime is suffered or permitted by management officials. The CSC determined that the amount of compensation due should be offset by the compensatory time taken. GAO held that since the employee was not entitled to compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay, the CSC properly found that the payment of compensatory time did not nullify the claimant's entitlement to overtime compensation. The payment of compensatory time, however, was held to be an erroneous payment. Since there was no indication of fraud, misrepresentation, or lack of good faith, GAO held that the erroneous payment should be waived.