Relocation Expenses and New Appointees

Two new appointees of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare at the GS-12 level were advised that expenses of moving to their first duty station would be reimbursable. This advice was based on the assumption that the new employees were "Manpower Shortage" category employees. This was an error, however, since the Manpower Shortage Categorization was limited to positions relating to the education of the handicapped. There is no authority for reimbursement of the moving expenses of "nonshortage" category new appointees to their first duty station in the continental United States. The fact that the employees relied on the erroneous advice of agency employees in accepting their positions will not affect the Government's liability, since the Government cannot be bound if its employees exceed their actual authority.