Claim for Temporary Duty Commuting and Lodging Expenses

GAO was requested to review a decision by an authorized certifying officer of the Department of Energy (DOE) concerning an employee's reclaim voucher which involved expenses incurred while on temporary duty. The employee, who stayed at a second family residence located outside of the city limits, commuted between his home and his temporary duty station. In his original voucher, he claimed per diem reimbursement for the days he commuted to the city. He computed the per diem expenses that would have been incurred if he had stayed in the city and compared that to his commuting expenses from his residence. The hypothetical per diem costs for staying in the city were less than the actual reimbursement for the round-trip mileage between his residence and his station. However, DOE did not pay his commuting costs and limited payment to per diem using the average lodging cost actually incurred for the period covered by the voucher. The employee then submitted a reclaim voucher based on expenses incurred using the average daily cost of his city apartment as the cost of lodging for each night he stayed in the city. The statutory rule is that properly reimbursable lodging expenses are those incurred by reason of travel and are in addition to the usual expenses of maintaining a residence. Since the costs of renting and maintaining the apartment were incurred because of the employee's desire to maintain a second residence and not because of his travel, he was not entitled to reimbursement for those expenses. However, when the employee stayed at his second family residence, he drove to the temporary duty site and claimed constructive per diem in lieu of mileage reimbursement, which was higher. The employee's travel orders authorized travel by privately owned vehicle. GAO held that reimbursement for commuting expenses to the temporary duty station could be paid, but at an amount not to exceed the per diem and travel expenses which would have been allowable had the employee lodged in the immediate vicinity of his temporary duty station. Accordingly, the voucher was returned for payment within the above-stated rules.