Skip to main content

Entitlement to Regularly Scheduled or Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime

B-198036 Nov 07, 1980
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

A decision was requested as to whether certain Federal law enforcement agents are entitled to compensation for regularly scheduled overtime in addition to annual premium pay for administratively uncontrollable overtime while detailed to protective duties. Pre-established schedules were issued for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents detailed to the State Department, but in some instances the agents worked either fewer or more hours than scheduled, and the scheduled hours were not necessarily at the same time each day or for the same number of hours. Legislation provides that an employee in a position in which the hours of duty cannot be controlled administratively, and which requires substantial amounts of irregular, unscheduled, overtime duty with the employee generally being responsible for recognizing circumstances requiring him to remain on duty, shall receive premium pay on an annual basis. Premium pay and regularly scheduled overtime are two distinct forms of compensation, and, while an employee may receive regular overtime pay in addition to annual premium pay, he cannot claim both for the same work. It has been held that regularly scheduled work must be duly authorized in advance and scheduled to recur on successive days or at specified intervals. Since the agents in this case were assigned in advance to 12-hour shifts and the overtime was scheduled on successive days, they were entitled to be paid for the regularly scheduled overtime worked in excess of 8 hours each day. The overtime need not be worked at the same time each day. Under the law, hours of work in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week are overtime work. If the employees in question had already worked 40 hours in the administrative workweek, they would be entitled to overtime compensation for the entire shift. A determination as to whether overtime work performed on Saturday or Sunday during the assignment would be considered regularly scheduled depends on the facts of each case. If variance from the schedule occurs occasionally or infrequently, the overtime would continue to be considered regularly scheduled. Where the agency assigns the agents to a straight 8-hour or 12-hour tour of duty within which a lunch period is authorized, the agency may offset the lunch period against any overtime claimed by the agents. However, where agents actually performed subtantial duties during their lunch periods, offset against other overtime would not be warranted.

Downloads

GAO Contacts

Office of Public Affairs