[Claims for Retroactive Overtime Under Federal Labor Standards Act]

A GAO decision was requested concerning the claims of 17 Army recruiting specialists for retroactive overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Office of Personnel Management has ruled that this position is not exempt under the act and that employees are entitled to overtime payments under the act retroactive to May 1, 1974. GAO held that the 17 claimants were entitled to retroactive payments of overtime subject to their producing sufficient proof of their claims and subject to the 6-year statute of limitations. An agency cannot deny overtime claims on the basis of incomplete or unavailable records; where an agency failed to keep records, it must rebut an employee's evidence by other means or pay the claims. GAO found that 5 of the employees met their burden of proof and similar evidence should be sought from the other 12 employees in question. The entitlement of the employees to overtime under the FLSA for the period they received night differential payments would depend on whether they worked more than 40 hours during a workweek in which they were paid a night differential. Accordingly, the Army should compute and settle the claims to conform with this decision.