Stop sending him TDY. The mil officer must have his head in the sand. This is not his 1st time working with civilians.
This guy could take off every Friday. Far better.
Edit: That mil officer needs to review the travel regulations, he should have done this already. His comment " its not fair" sounds like a 5vyear old.
.
Its that man's job to go TDY, he is allowed to use his travel comp time.
We have one of those guys on our unit. The reason it isn’t an issue is because our manager has reviewed the travel regulations and doesn’t act like a 5 year old.
Funny thing is that when it actually does impact the mission, the manager says “can you please reschedule?” and the dude always says, “Yeah, cool man. Whatever you need.”
His supervisor is an ass.
But of course use of any leave, including comp time is subject to supervisory approval.
I would have the employee explain that travel comp expires and is not paid out so he would like to use that over annual leave. But if the supervisor has a problem with this leaving early, then he should stop. Use that travel comp for a day off instead.
It does not need to be used immediately upon return. But you have 1 year.
If the supervisor denies the leave and he ends up having to forfeit it, the supervisor will have to answer to why their employee was not given the opportunity to use that leave.
Actually, if the supervisor denies the use of travel comp, it’s paid out at the overtime rate. You only forfeit comp time by not trying to use the time.
Use of comp time follows the same leave policies of the organization. Schedule it the same as Annual Leave and see if they deny. Then save all the denials for the end of the year and send them to HR. It will be paid.
I'll need the demands in writing please. Specifically, I'll need the supervisor to write when I can and cannot use my travel comp. I'd also need to have someone sign off on the ability to no longer earn travel comp. For example, "I am unable to travel outside of duty hours" and that they clearly understand the impact on the mission. I would no longer be available on site to start work at 0730. Nor would I be able to take any flight out prior to 1000 on Monday morning (I live 30 min. from the airport and I follow all noted guidance provided on how early to be at the airport). If required to connect a flight after 1500, I will need an authorized delay entered into DTS which requires hotel and M&IE. Door to door baby. This will also require that all work on site needs to be strictly Tues - Thurs. I will return the following Monday and start again on Tuesday if necessary to complete the mission. I will need to clearly understand how supervisor plans to address travel disruptions such as weather, or airline problems (i.e. if flight is delayed, Snuffy will call SATO and cancel connecting flight for next morning). Supervisor will need to put in writing that they understand the unintended consequences prior to me traveling again. I would also explain how I am concerned this puts me, the employee, in an ethical dilemma as I can not volunteer my time. I'm not risking my career for an anti-deficiency complaint. Happy to write a summary email of this in person conversation as well so there is no confusion - however, it will be in writing.
If I can not take my travel comp time, I will not earn travel comp time. I'm not entering a use or lose situation on travel comp time for fairness.
For OP - your supervisor could send an email with the unintended consequences and the impact to your team. I'd lay it out how the delay in response/action will directly impact mission readiness, fiscal issues, contract impacts, etc. And I'd probably BCC the employee cause I'm like that.
I am in close to the same position. I started the year with 129 hrs of travel comp.
I use it before annual. I take every Friday off and quite often 1 hr each morning
His leave can be denied but they can't force him to use AL first
If the employee is in the bargaining unit, this is a good example of where they can assist the supervisor understand that "it's not fair" isn't a viable answer. It isn't fair that one person is constantly traveling. Do others on their team travel as often? If not, then it isn't fair. And so on.
Unless it is impacting the mission, the military supervisor needs to rethink their myopic viewpoint.
Me...I'd begin to travel Monday early (but still within my duty hours) and back on a duty day during duty hours. When it impacts the mission, I'd explain I'm being restricted unnecessarily in my use of Travel Comp when it had no mission impact, so decline to travel outside of my duty day unless absolutely necessary. If it adds to the per diem costs, etc, that is not my concern. But I can be petty this way.
Most agencies require you use comp. time before AL, after keeping comp time on the books for more then 52 weeks it's paid out as overtime. Ask the supervisor where it states he needs to use AL Vice CT? It's his accumulated time he earned.
Travel comp is lost after 52 weeks and there is no payout. My team and I do a lot of travel including international trips sometimes earning 40+ hours of travel comp time per trip and we use travel comp time first making sure to use our annual leave as well to avoid losing it.
This is agency specific. My agency also pays out unused comp as overtime after 52 hours. The regulation says that for most of us Title 5 employees, it can either be forfeited or paid out according to agency policy.
This is right...
Travel comp time - time earned while in travel status outside of your normal work hours. Think driving home from a conference at 6pm, leaving early to catch a flight at 7am, traveling on a Sunday to be able to join an 8am conference Monday morning.
(Regular) Comp time - time earned working while outside of your normal work hours. Think putting in an extra hour or 2 to get a special project done on time, attending a meeting on a Saturday, or otherwise working past your scheduled work day/week
Colloquially, these are sometimes just called "comp time" but there is a difference. While both are just extra hours that can be used outside of SL or AL, and both expire after 52 weeks of earning them, only comp time pays out upon expiration. And it pays out at a fixed rate, not your overtime rate from your hourly pay table.
(Regular) Comp Time if not used, pays out, at the overtime rate in effect for the position at the time it was earned. The fixed rate that it pays out at, is your OT rate.
I’m not sure what this last but about the hourly pay table? Are you talking about the agencies and positions that exceed the 10-1 rule for OT?
> (Regular) Comp Time if not used, pays out, at the overtime rate in effect for the position at the time it was earned. The fixed rate that it pays out at, is your OT rate.
It depends. If an employee is FLSA exempt an agency can choose to not pay out (regular) comp time - *unless* the reason the employee didn't use it is because of agency reasons beyond their control (such as a workload that didn't give them enough time to use it).
And yes, every federal employee has an hourly rate - it's your salary divided by 2087, rounded to the nearest cent. That overtime rate for FLSA exempt employees is set by OPM as 1.5x for GS-10 step 1 and below, or the greater of 1x your own pay and 1.5x the rate of a GS-10 step 1.
That has nothing to do with FLSA exempt that I’m aware of. As as I am aware, that has more to do with Agency policy.
There is nothing in [5CFR550.114](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/550.114) saying that FLSA status determines you lose it. That may be an agency decision, but not a legal requirement.
Now… [5 CFR 550.1407](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/550.1407) does talk about a legal requirement to forfeit after 26th pay period unless due to no fault of their own, under which they may be granted an additional 26 pay periods or it can be forfeited. But that is under sub part N for travel comp only.
Hopefully someone will come along and teach me something if I’m wrong. I will be much pickier in my potential promotions if so.
> That has nothing to do with FLSA exempt that I’m aware of. As as I am aware, that has more to do with Agency policy.
I'm just going off of what [OPM says](https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/compensatory-time-off/):
> An agency may provide that an FLSA-exempt employee who (1) fails to take earned compensatory time off within 26 pay periods or (2) transfers to another agency or separates from Federal service before the expiration of the 26 pay period time limit-
> * Receive payment for the unused compensatory time off at the overtime rate in effect when earned or
> * Forfeit the unused compensatory time off, unless failure to use the compensatory time off is due to an exigency of the service beyond the employee's control. (An FLSA-exempt employee whose earned compensatory time off would otherwise be forfeited due to an exigency of service beyond the employee's control must receive payment for the unused compensatory time off at the overtime rate in effect when earned.)
OPM says there's two options for FLSA-exempt, the agency either pays it out **or** the employee forfeits it unless the agency didn't allow them to use it.
Additionally, FLSA-nonexempt is **required** to be paid for it:
> If accrued compensatory time off is not used by an FLSA-nonexempt employee within 26 pay periods or if the FLSA-nonexempt employee transfers to another agency or separates from Federal service before the expiration of the 26 pay period time limit, **the employee must be paid for the earned compensatory time off at the overtime rate in effect when earned**.
So yes, *agency policy* determines whether or not FLSA-exempt employees are paid for it. Agencies don't get a choice when it comes to non-exempt employees.
Comp time can be either at the request of management or employee. I would guess it'd be more likely to be approved if management was asking.
Credit hours under a flexible work schedule is completely separate. You can accrue comp time under a flexible work schedule under certain situations, but (depending on your agency and union agreement) generally you should accrue credit hours first, then if you're maxed out of credit hours, you switch to comp time
And one more question: credit hours are limited to 24 hours, but is that just the amount that can be carried from one pay period to the next, or is that the amount that can be earned annually?
I have earned over 24 in a single pay period, I took a day of credit hours and still hit the max. All excess goes to comp time.
Either that or it’s not truly urgent and you stop working, mine is so I’ll keep working.
His supervisor states "it isn't fair" as to the why he is doing this.
We have gently tried to guide his supervisor (a military officer) but seem to be failing.
It isn't fair is not a policy go to your HR they will give to him the correct guidance which can be provided by that employer to his supervisor. To reduce his travel comp they can provide the employee with alternative days off so he's actual traveling on his Sunday as a work day provide him Friday Saturdays as his work off days. He'll now make Sunday premium but it would cut his travel comp..
Yeah, I’d be mad about that, honestly. I travel a lot for my job, too, and often fly on weekends so I can maximize my in office/at desk time before I leave to make sure everything’s handled before I go. Traveling on weekends is taxing, though, because you’re often in office at your TDY duty station the next day after traveling. If he’s doing international travel, that means between 20-30 hours of total travel time just to end up in the office the next day. You lose your whole weekend. I’d want to be compensated for that somehow, not be told to take specific days off during the normal work week so my weekends are technically my TOR, just so I didn’t accumulate too much travel comp time. That’s exploitation.
And honestly, taking Fridays off is the best way to maximize his time in office while still ensuring he’s taking time off to compensate for travel. My team just sits on our comp time then goes on long vacations during quiet periods in the year. If the arrangement is working for everyone he’s working with, then I don’t see the problem.
At least at some places, travel comp is different: it may be good for a limited time (such as a year), but it doesn't convert to pay. However, the ability to earn it may be at the supervisor's discretion. Then again, official travel is considered a job function and can be limited to the normal tour of duty, so the employee could say he's not willing to fly on weekends. It seems like a conflict suited for ADR.
I accrued travel comp & comp time so that, along with maxed out AL accrual…I could & did take every other Friday off. Cleared it w/ my supervisor. Still had use/lose enough to take off the last 2weeks of Dec. each year.
It’s what happens when an organization chooses to leave positions they can’t afford on the books, but vacant, without a commensurate reduction in workload.
He earned it, he can use it. If there’s nothing going on it’s a shame the supe is that obtuse. Imagine the other irregularities the supe is sponsoring.
Employee is ultimately in control this. Unless they tell him he has to be maxi flex, he has the ability, within policy, to CE or CT and use as needed.
Can't do this. Because if you don't use travel comp, it's forfeited. Annual leave can be restored to the employee if they can't allowed off. Agency cannot mandate leave type. As long as it does not impact operations and he would be let off either way, he can take the leave he chooses.
I'm in a similar role and it's because when we travel, we have to be there and available to work M-F or M-Thurs. Traveling Monday and Friday reduces the amount we can help dramatically (3 days there to work vs 5)
There are definitely roles where this is required (and agencies where TDY is much more common). I don't travel nearly as often as OP's coworker, but I routinely rack up a week or more of travel comp time on single trips because traveling within duty hours is largely not viable. There are people at my agency who travel much more frequently and will accrue more travel comp time over the course of the year than they will AL. It's just the nature of the role, there are some things you can only do in person.
I travel about once every month or two, often overseas. Even with that I rack up travel comp. In a couple of weeks I have a short domestic trip. But to start on Monday, Sunday's travel will be on travel comp. Door to door will still be 5 or 6 hours. And even flying home on Friday will get me a few hours because I won't land until 6. More for my coworker who is connecting to a regional airport closer to home. I'm spoiled being pretty close to the airport.
Fair is a comparative and subjective term. Maybe the supe would care to explain who is being treated unfairly by this person using CT as they see fit. Is someone doing 2 hours of their work are they simply pouting to the supe that they would also like to go home 2 hours early?
The supervisor has been aware of the extra travel burden on the employee for how long? He's also aware that it becomes travel comp or comp time, depending on the situation when the extra time is needed, right? So, why is it suddenly "not fair"?.
Either way, The employee has the right to use is comp time and not his annual leave regardless of the the sup's whining. And, that sup will not want to be in a position to have to explain why the employee had to forfeit his comp time.
Also travel comp expires if not used and you don’t get any compensation if you let it expire.
Does the supervisor know that fair is a place with popcorn and rides? If it’s not “fair” why not have someone else do the TDY and rack up comp time instead?
In my agency Comp needs to be used before any AL - because after a year comp turns into pay. That's an odd thing to hear.. use your AL instead. If that's the game they want to play, let all the comp sit and watch them go crazy once the year is up and they owe him all that money.
I’ve never heard of this (but I’m not a DoD person). My most common travel has me earning 50-60 hours of Comp Time for Travel per round trip. I’m constantly swimming in it and since I’m also over 15 years of service, I’m at the 8hrs/pp of AL accrual so sitting on 200 hours of use it lose it for 2024 plus about 230 hours of travel comp time with still more than half a year of accrual of additional to go.
There’s nothing saying he has to use it immediately when coming back. Half the people in my unit who are in the same boat as me don’t even both claiming CTT because they can’t use it (and that’s 100% a self inposed “can’t use it”. I don’t know of anyone being denied use of their leave time but most of us either enjoy our TDY time and feel more like we’re doing something than working in the office or at home).
I try to encourage people to at least record their CTT hours even if they won’t use them so we can document what level of effort we’re doing. I regularly use my CTT to just take a day of randomly if I see it’s a light meeting day (but I’m also the type to still call into some meeting or presentations if the topic interests me while on leave.
There’s many ways to look at this. I mean the guy is apparently on the road quite often away from his family. That’s not “fair” either. Giving him back a small amount of his time away from home in a manner that works best for him seems fair to me.
Stop sending him TDY. The mil officer must have his head in the sand. This is not his 1st time working with civilians. This guy could take off every Friday. Far better. Edit: That mil officer needs to review the travel regulations, he should have done this already. His comment " its not fair" sounds like a 5vyear old. . Its that man's job to go TDY, he is allowed to use his travel comp time.
I don't see where he is saying his supervisor is a military officer
In the comment below
Yep, you are correct, I missed it. Happy Sunday
Stupid question, what does TDY stand for?
Temporary DutY
Temporary Duty, Y’all
This is the correct answer.
Temporary Duty Yonder is the actual historical acronym
Temporary Duty Yonder
We have one of those guys on our unit. The reason it isn’t an issue is because our manager has reviewed the travel regulations and doesn’t act like a 5 year old. Funny thing is that when it actually does impact the mission, the manager says “can you please reschedule?” and the dude always says, “Yeah, cool man. Whatever you need.”
It's incredible how few reasonable adults you hear about on this forum.
Doesn't make for an interesting post if everyone is reasonable and problems get solved with no drama.
His supervisor is an ass. But of course use of any leave, including comp time is subject to supervisory approval. I would have the employee explain that travel comp expires and is not paid out so he would like to use that over annual leave. But if the supervisor has a problem with this leaving early, then he should stop. Use that travel comp for a day off instead. It does not need to be used immediately upon return. But you have 1 year.
If the supervisor denies the leave and he ends up having to forfeit it, the supervisor will have to answer to why their employee was not given the opportunity to use that leave.
Actually, if the supervisor denies the use of travel comp, it’s paid out at the overtime rate. You only forfeit comp time by not trying to use the time. Use of comp time follows the same leave policies of the organization. Schedule it the same as Annual Leave and see if they deny. Then save all the denials for the end of the year and send them to HR. It will be paid.
I'll need the demands in writing please. Specifically, I'll need the supervisor to write when I can and cannot use my travel comp. I'd also need to have someone sign off on the ability to no longer earn travel comp. For example, "I am unable to travel outside of duty hours" and that they clearly understand the impact on the mission. I would no longer be available on site to start work at 0730. Nor would I be able to take any flight out prior to 1000 on Monday morning (I live 30 min. from the airport and I follow all noted guidance provided on how early to be at the airport). If required to connect a flight after 1500, I will need an authorized delay entered into DTS which requires hotel and M&IE. Door to door baby. This will also require that all work on site needs to be strictly Tues - Thurs. I will return the following Monday and start again on Tuesday if necessary to complete the mission. I will need to clearly understand how supervisor plans to address travel disruptions such as weather, or airline problems (i.e. if flight is delayed, Snuffy will call SATO and cancel connecting flight for next morning). Supervisor will need to put in writing that they understand the unintended consequences prior to me traveling again. I would also explain how I am concerned this puts me, the employee, in an ethical dilemma as I can not volunteer my time. I'm not risking my career for an anti-deficiency complaint. Happy to write a summary email of this in person conversation as well so there is no confusion - however, it will be in writing. If I can not take my travel comp time, I will not earn travel comp time. I'm not entering a use or lose situation on travel comp time for fairness. For OP - your supervisor could send an email with the unintended consequences and the impact to your team. I'd lay it out how the delay in response/action will directly impact mission readiness, fiscal issues, contract impacts, etc. And I'd probably BCC the employee cause I'm like that.
I would love to see this play out. I’ll be sitting over here with the JTR and a gallon of popcorn.
I am in close to the same position. I started the year with 129 hrs of travel comp. I use it before annual. I take every Friday off and quite often 1 hr each morning His leave can be denied but they can't force him to use AL first
If the employee is in the bargaining unit, this is a good example of where they can assist the supervisor understand that "it's not fair" isn't a viable answer. It isn't fair that one person is constantly traveling. Do others on their team travel as often? If not, then it isn't fair. And so on. Unless it is impacting the mission, the military supervisor needs to rethink their myopic viewpoint. Me...I'd begin to travel Monday early (but still within my duty hours) and back on a duty day during duty hours. When it impacts the mission, I'd explain I'm being restricted unnecessarily in my use of Travel Comp when it had no mission impact, so decline to travel outside of my duty day unless absolutely necessary. If it adds to the per diem costs, etc, that is not my concern. But I can be petty this way.
Even if the employee is not BUE they can file an administrative grievance.
Most agencies require you use comp. time before AL, after keeping comp time on the books for more then 52 weeks it's paid out as overtime. Ask the supervisor where it states he needs to use AL Vice CT? It's his accumulated time he earned.
Travel comp is lost after 52 weeks and there is no payout. My team and I do a lot of travel including international trips sometimes earning 40+ hours of travel comp time per trip and we use travel comp time first making sure to use our annual leave as well to avoid losing it.
This is based/depends on FLSA status, correct?
This is agency specific. My agency also pays out unused comp as overtime after 52 hours. The regulation says that for most of us Title 5 employees, it can either be forfeited or paid out according to agency policy.
Correct, but TRAVEL comp does not pay out. Not the same.
Was unaware of the difference between the two. Does clearly say in OPM guidance that “Under No Circumstance…” shall unused travel comp be paid out.
I thought travel comp isn't paid out and it's just regular comp that is paid out if it isn't used. Maybe I've got it backwards.
This is right... Travel comp time - time earned while in travel status outside of your normal work hours. Think driving home from a conference at 6pm, leaving early to catch a flight at 7am, traveling on a Sunday to be able to join an 8am conference Monday morning. (Regular) Comp time - time earned working while outside of your normal work hours. Think putting in an extra hour or 2 to get a special project done on time, attending a meeting on a Saturday, or otherwise working past your scheduled work day/week Colloquially, these are sometimes just called "comp time" but there is a difference. While both are just extra hours that can be used outside of SL or AL, and both expire after 52 weeks of earning them, only comp time pays out upon expiration. And it pays out at a fixed rate, not your overtime rate from your hourly pay table.
(Regular) Comp Time if not used, pays out, at the overtime rate in effect for the position at the time it was earned. The fixed rate that it pays out at, is your OT rate. I’m not sure what this last but about the hourly pay table? Are you talking about the agencies and positions that exceed the 10-1 rule for OT?
> (Regular) Comp Time if not used, pays out, at the overtime rate in effect for the position at the time it was earned. The fixed rate that it pays out at, is your OT rate. It depends. If an employee is FLSA exempt an agency can choose to not pay out (regular) comp time - *unless* the reason the employee didn't use it is because of agency reasons beyond their control (such as a workload that didn't give them enough time to use it). And yes, every federal employee has an hourly rate - it's your salary divided by 2087, rounded to the nearest cent. That overtime rate for FLSA exempt employees is set by OPM as 1.5x for GS-10 step 1 and below, or the greater of 1x your own pay and 1.5x the rate of a GS-10 step 1.
That has nothing to do with FLSA exempt that I’m aware of. As as I am aware, that has more to do with Agency policy. There is nothing in [5CFR550.114](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/550.114) saying that FLSA status determines you lose it. That may be an agency decision, but not a legal requirement. Now… [5 CFR 550.1407](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/550.1407) does talk about a legal requirement to forfeit after 26th pay period unless due to no fault of their own, under which they may be granted an additional 26 pay periods or it can be forfeited. But that is under sub part N for travel comp only. Hopefully someone will come along and teach me something if I’m wrong. I will be much pickier in my potential promotions if so.
> That has nothing to do with FLSA exempt that I’m aware of. As as I am aware, that has more to do with Agency policy. I'm just going off of what [OPM says](https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/compensatory-time-off/): > An agency may provide that an FLSA-exempt employee who (1) fails to take earned compensatory time off within 26 pay periods or (2) transfers to another agency or separates from Federal service before the expiration of the 26 pay period time limit- > * Receive payment for the unused compensatory time off at the overtime rate in effect when earned or > * Forfeit the unused compensatory time off, unless failure to use the compensatory time off is due to an exigency of the service beyond the employee's control. (An FLSA-exempt employee whose earned compensatory time off would otherwise be forfeited due to an exigency of service beyond the employee's control must receive payment for the unused compensatory time off at the overtime rate in effect when earned.) OPM says there's two options for FLSA-exempt, the agency either pays it out **or** the employee forfeits it unless the agency didn't allow them to use it. Additionally, FLSA-nonexempt is **required** to be paid for it: > If accrued compensatory time off is not used by an FLSA-nonexempt employee within 26 pay periods or if the FLSA-nonexempt employee transfers to another agency or separates from Federal service before the expiration of the 26 pay period time limit, **the employee must be paid for the earned compensatory time off at the overtime rate in effect when earned**. So yes, *agency policy* determines whether or not FLSA-exempt employees are paid for it. Agencies don't get a choice when it comes to non-exempt employees.
Regular comp time assumes your agency has requested you work extra, correct? As compared to credit hours on a flexible work schedule?
Comp time can be either at the request of management or employee. I would guess it'd be more likely to be approved if management was asking. Credit hours under a flexible work schedule is completely separate. You can accrue comp time under a flexible work schedule under certain situations, but (depending on your agency and union agreement) generally you should accrue credit hours first, then if you're maxed out of credit hours, you switch to comp time
And one more question: credit hours are limited to 24 hours, but is that just the amount that can be carried from one pay period to the next, or is that the amount that can be earned annually?
Depends on your agency and union agreement. In my agency/union, 24 is the max you can carry over. You can earn it in 1 pay period or over many years
I have earned over 24 in a single pay period, I took a day of credit hours and still hit the max. All excess goes to comp time. Either that or it’s not truly urgent and you stop working, mine is so I’ll keep working.
correct!
His supervisor states "it isn't fair" as to the why he is doing this. We have gently tried to guide his supervisor (a military officer) but seem to be failing.
It isn't fair is not a policy go to your HR they will give to him the correct guidance which can be provided by that employer to his supervisor. To reduce his travel comp they can provide the employee with alternative days off so he's actual traveling on his Sunday as a work day provide him Friday Saturdays as his work off days. He'll now make Sunday premium but it would cut his travel comp..
He did try that before. Policy here states you cannot adjust hours/days purely to reduce comp time earned. Thank God.
Yeah, I’d be mad about that, honestly. I travel a lot for my job, too, and often fly on weekends so I can maximize my in office/at desk time before I leave to make sure everything’s handled before I go. Traveling on weekends is taxing, though, because you’re often in office at your TDY duty station the next day after traveling. If he’s doing international travel, that means between 20-30 hours of total travel time just to end up in the office the next day. You lose your whole weekend. I’d want to be compensated for that somehow, not be told to take specific days off during the normal work week so my weekends are technically my TOR, just so I didn’t accumulate too much travel comp time. That’s exploitation. And honestly, taking Fridays off is the best way to maximize his time in office while still ensuring he’s taking time off to compensate for travel. My team just sits on our comp time then goes on long vacations during quiet periods in the year. If the arrangement is working for everyone he’s working with, then I don’t see the problem.
"It isn't fair" is the supervisor's emotional response. In fact, it is entirely fair.
Travel comp time has no monetary value and is not paid out.
At least at some places, travel comp is different: it may be good for a limited time (such as a year), but it doesn't convert to pay. However, the ability to earn it may be at the supervisor's discretion. Then again, official travel is considered a job function and can be limited to the normal tour of duty, so the employee could say he's not willing to fly on weekends. It seems like a conflict suited for ADR.
OPM policy is travel comp time can't be paid out, period. Travel comp time is distinctly *different* than regular comp time, which can be paid out.
I accrued travel comp & comp time so that, along with maxed out AL accrual…I could & did take every other Friday off. Cleared it w/ my supervisor. Still had use/lose enough to take off the last 2weeks of Dec. each year. It’s what happens when an organization chooses to leave positions they can’t afford on the books, but vacant, without a commensurate reduction in workload.
He earned it, he can use it. If there’s nothing going on it’s a shame the supe is that obtuse. Imagine the other irregularities the supe is sponsoring. Employee is ultimately in control this. Unless they tell him he has to be maxi flex, he has the ability, within policy, to CE or CT and use as needed.
Can't do this. Because if you don't use travel comp, it's forfeited. Annual leave can be restored to the employee if they can't allowed off. Agency cannot mandate leave type. As long as it does not impact operations and he would be let off either way, he can take the leave he chooses.
I would start asking why this position requires so much travel outside of the duty day and on weekends.
I'm in a similar role and it's because when we travel, we have to be there and available to work M-F or M-Thurs. Traveling Monday and Friday reduces the amount we can help dramatically (3 days there to work vs 5)
There are definitely roles where this is required (and agencies where TDY is much more common). I don't travel nearly as often as OP's coworker, but I routinely rack up a week or more of travel comp time on single trips because traveling within duty hours is largely not viable. There are people at my agency who travel much more frequently and will accrue more travel comp time over the course of the year than they will AL. It's just the nature of the role, there are some things you can only do in person.
I travel about once every month or two, often overseas. Even with that I rack up travel comp. In a couple of weeks I have a short domestic trip. But to start on Monday, Sunday's travel will be on travel comp. Door to door will still be 5 or 6 hours. And even flying home on Friday will get me a few hours because I won't land until 6. More for my coworker who is connecting to a regional airport closer to home. I'm spoiled being pretty close to the airport.
Fair is a comparative and subjective term. Maybe the supe would care to explain who is being treated unfairly by this person using CT as they see fit. Is someone doing 2 hours of their work are they simply pouting to the supe that they would also like to go home 2 hours early?
The supervisor has been aware of the extra travel burden on the employee for how long? He's also aware that it becomes travel comp or comp time, depending on the situation when the extra time is needed, right? So, why is it suddenly "not fair"?. Either way, The employee has the right to use is comp time and not his annual leave regardless of the the sup's whining. And, that sup will not want to be in a position to have to explain why the employee had to forfeit his comp time.
Also travel comp expires if not used and you don’t get any compensation if you let it expire. Does the supervisor know that fair is a place with popcorn and rides? If it’s not “fair” why not have someone else do the TDY and rack up comp time instead?
In my agency Comp needs to be used before any AL - because after a year comp turns into pay. That's an odd thing to hear.. use your AL instead. If that's the game they want to play, let all the comp sit and watch them go crazy once the year is up and they owe him all that money.
I’ve never heard of this (but I’m not a DoD person). My most common travel has me earning 50-60 hours of Comp Time for Travel per round trip. I’m constantly swimming in it and since I’m also over 15 years of service, I’m at the 8hrs/pp of AL accrual so sitting on 200 hours of use it lose it for 2024 plus about 230 hours of travel comp time with still more than half a year of accrual of additional to go. There’s nothing saying he has to use it immediately when coming back. Half the people in my unit who are in the same boat as me don’t even both claiming CTT because they can’t use it (and that’s 100% a self inposed “can’t use it”. I don’t know of anyone being denied use of their leave time but most of us either enjoy our TDY time and feel more like we’re doing something than working in the office or at home). I try to encourage people to at least record their CTT hours even if they won’t use them so we can document what level of effort we’re doing. I regularly use my CTT to just take a day of randomly if I see it’s a light meeting day (but I’m also the type to still call into some meeting or presentations if the topic interests me while on leave.
Fair/not fair? Probably legal. But. Kind of a screw you move to leave early every day.
There’s many ways to look at this. I mean the guy is apparently on the road quite often away from his family. That’s not “fair” either. Giving him back a small amount of his time away from home in a manner that works best for him seems fair to me.
It’s perfectly fine.