U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Compensatory Time Off for Travel:

Updated April 17, 2007

Examples of Creditable Travel Time

Example 1: Travel to a temporary duty station on a workday

From home to business meeting

From business meeting to home

On a workday, an employee is required to travel from home to a temporary duty station for an afternoon meeting. The employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In total, the employee spends 13 hours (6:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.) traveling to and from the worksite. However, the time between 8:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. is compensable as part of the employee's regular working hours. Also, an employee's time spent traveling outside of regular working hours to or from a transportation terminal (e.g., an airport or train station) within the limits of his or her official duty station is considered to be equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable travel time. (See 5 CFR 550.1404(d).) In this case, the employee spends 2 hours traveling to and from an airport within the limits of his official duty station.

In this example, the employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as follows:

Example 2: Travel to a temporary duty station on a nonworkday

Travel from home to a hotel on a Sunday

Travel from a hotel to home on the following Saturday

An employee is required to travel to a temporary duty station for a week-long conference. The employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Because the conference begins early Monday morning, the employee travels to a hotel at the temporary duty station the Sunday evening before the conference. The conference is scheduled to continue into the evening on Friday, so the employee returns home on Saturday morning.

In total, the employee spends 13 hours (5:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Sunday and 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the following Saturday) traveling to and from the conference. However, the hour the employee spends on Sunday traveling to the airport and the hour the employee spends on Saturday traveling from the airport within the limits of her official duty station is considered equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable time in a travel status.

*The agency's compensatory time off for travel policy allows up to 90 minutes of creditable waiting time at a transportation terminal. Therefore, only the time from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m. is creditable as "usual waiting time." (See 5 CFR 550.1404(b)(1).) The time from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. is considered "extended waiting time" and is not creditable. (See 5 CFR 550.1404(b)(2).)

In this example, the employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as follows:

Example 3: Travel from a temporary duty station on a workday (with cancelled connecting flight)

From temporary duty station to intervening airport for connecting flight on a Friday

Employee checks into hotel near airport. No creditable travel time. Employee returns to airport on Saturday morning.

On a Friday (workday), an employee is required to travel from a temporary duty station to home. However, due to severe weather, the employee's connecting flight is cancelled until Saturday morning (nonworkday). On Friday, the employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In total, the employee spends 17.5 hours (5:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday and 6:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday) traveling from the temporary duty station. However, the time between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. is compensable as part of the employee's regular working hours. (For the purpose of this example, we are assuming the employee has a 30-minute meal period during his regular working hours.) The extended waiting period from 4:30 p.m. until the employee departs for the airport on Saturday morning is not creditable travel time, since the employee is free to use the time for his own purposes. (See 5 CFR 550.1404(b)(2).) Also, an employee's time spent traveling outside of regular working hours to or from a transportation terminal (e.g., an airport or train station) within the limits of his or her official duty station is considered to be equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable travel time. (See 5 CFR 550.1404(d).) In this case, the employee spent 1 hour traveling from an airport within the limits of his official duty station.

In this example, the employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as follows:

Example 4: Driving to and from a temporary duty station on a workday

Travel to and from a training session

An employee is required to travel to a temporary duty station on a workday for a 1-day training session. The training location is a 2-hour drive from the employee's home. The employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In total, the employee spends 4 hours (6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) driving to and from the training session.

If an employee travels directly between home and a temporary duty station outside the limits of his or her official duty station, the time spent traveling outside regular working hours is creditable travel time. However, the agency must deduct the time the employee would have spent in normal home-to-work/work-to-home commuting. (See 5 CFR 550.1404(c).) In this case, the employee's normal daily commuting time is 2 hours (1 hour each way). Therefore, 2 hours must be deducted from the employee's creditable travel time.

In this example, the employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as follows:

Example 5: Travel to multiple temporary duty stations on a workday

Travel from home to first presentation site

Travel from first presentation site to second presentation site

Travel from second presentation site to home

An employee is required to travel on a workday to two temporary duty stations to make presentations to stakeholders. The employee's regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In total, the employee spends 13.5 hours traveling (6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.) between home and the two presentation sites. However, the time between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. is compensable as the employee's regular working hours. (For the purpose of this example, we are assuming the employee has a 30-minute meal period during her regular working hours.) Also, the 2 hours the employee spends traveling outside of regular working hours to and from the airport within the limits of her official duty station is not creditable travel time.

In this example, the employee's compensatory time off for travel entitlement is as follows:

 

 

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