[Request for Decision Concerning Forest Service Employee's Entitlement to Reimbursement of Relocation Expenses]

The Forest Service requested a decision regarding a repeatedly transferred employee's claim for relocation and return travel expenses. The claimant initially worked for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), then transferred to the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in Alaska. The claimant subsequently accepted employment with the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon but, before exercising his return travel rights, accepted another position with BPA in Oregon. Finally, less than a month after BPA employed him, the claimant accepted a position with the Forest Service in Oregon. BPA and MMS had initially agreed to pay his relocation expenses from Alaska; however, MMS subsequently determined that its liability was limited to the claimant's return travel expenses. BPA contended that it should not pay any of the claimant's expenses because it employed him for less than a month. GAO held that: (1) the claimant's lack of travel orders did not defeat his entitlement to relocation expenses because all of the agencies involved clearly intended to transfer him; (2) BPA was liable for all of the claimant's relocation expenses, except for his return travel, because he maintained continuous government service for more than 1 year after his transfer; and (3) MMS was liable for the claimant's return travel from Alaska. Accordingly, the claim was allowed.