Overtime Compensation Under Negotiated Labor-Management Agreement

A decision was requested concerning an employee's claim for overtime compensation for travel performed outside his normal working hours in connection with a training assignment. The request was submitted in accordance with the labor-management agreement concluded by the parties and was handled by GAO as a labor-relations matter under protest procedures. As a member of a bargaining unit, the hourly employee was covered by a formalized labor-management agreement under which policies, working conditions, and pay matters are negotiated between the Agency and the union. The Agency denied the claim on the basis that: (1) the labor-management agreement is silent on this specific issue; (2) the employee was in a supervisory position which made him an exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); and (3) because the employee was determined to be exempt under FLSA, there was no legal basis for payment of overtime. The Agency held that the FLSA and title 5, United States Code were paramount. The provisions of title 5 prohibit payment of premium compensation to employees during periods of training. The employee and the union took the position that it was improper for a bargaining unit member to be declared exempt and, therefore, subject to pay provisions different from other bargaining unit members. GAO found that: (1) the provisions of the labor-management agreement negotiated in accordance with the prevailing rates and pay practices govern the employee's entitlement to overtime compensation; (2) while the provisions of the labor-management agreement are protected by an applicable law which provides for payment of overtime worked in excess of 8 hours in a workday, it is silent as to hours of travel to or from training performed outside normal work hours; and (3) where an employee has been determined to be exempt from provisions of the FLSA, his entitlement to overtime compensation arises, if at all, under the labor-management agreement. Since there was no evidence of any exemption complaint, and no evidence to refute the employee's exempt status, GAO had no reason to challenge the Agency's conclusion concerning the employee's status. Accordingly, GAO found nothing in the labor-management agreement to authorize payment of overtime to the employee for 6 hours of travel.