Overtime Compensation: Immigration Inspectors

An Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) employee appealed a Claims Division settlement denying him additional overtime compensation for work performed on two Sundays. On the days in question, the employee worked an 8-hour shift. In addition, he worked for a period of time before his shift that morning and again for a period of time following his shift that night. He received 2 days' pay for his Sunday shift. In computing the overtime payment due to him, INS added the two overtime periods together and paid him one and one-half days' pay for time on duty of 5 hours or more, but less than 7 hours. The employee contended that the overtime periods should have been considered separately. Computed this way, he would have received 2 days' pay for the time in question, rather than the one and one-half days computed by INS. GAO found no basis for questioning the INS determination insofar as it treated the period from midnight-to-midnight on Sundays and holidays, exclusive of the hours of Sunday or holiday duty, as a single period for computing overtime. Accordingly, the Claims Division settlement denying the employee's claim for an additional half-day's pay was sustained.