Request for Compensation for Traveltime

The Department of Labor asked whether an employee could be paid premium pay for time spent traveling on a holiday. The employee was a witness at a hearing for the agency in a city away from her official duty station, and the hearing was extended. She had to cancel her air travel reservations and was only able to procure reservations for Thanksgiving Day or the following Tuesday. The employee elected to travel on Thanksgiving Day, a legal holiday, and submitted a claim for premium pay for travel on that day. The employee contended that this return travel resulted from an event which could not be controlled administratively. Hours of work performed on a holiday outside an employee's regular duty hours are compensable at overtime rates. The agency advised that such traveltime which cannot be controlled administratively is hours of employment. GAO held that the record did not indicate an uncontrollable event which necessitated the employee's return travel. Such traveltime was not hours of employment so there was no entitlement to premium pay. Travel on a holiday is not considered hours of employment unless the employee is regularly scheduled to work on that particular holiday. The employee's claim for premium pay for travel on a holiday may not be allowed.