[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 2, Parts 700 to 1199]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR831.902]

[Page 128-129]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
          CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (Continued)
 
PART 831--RETIREMENT--Table of Contents
 
          Subpart I--Law Enforcement Officers and Firefighters
 
Sec. 831.902  Definitions.

    In this subpart--
    Agency head means, for the executive branch agencies, the head of an 
executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105; for the legislative branch, 
the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, 
or the head of any other legislative branch agency; for the judicial 
branch the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; for 
the Postal Service, the Postmaster General; and for any other 
independent establishment that is an entity of the Federal Government, 
the head of the establishment. For purposes of this subpart, agency head 
is

[[Page 129]]

also deemed to include the designated representative of the head of an 
executive department as defined in 5 U.S.C. 101, except that the 
designated representative must be a department headquarters-level 
official who reports directly to the executive department head, or to 
the deputy department head, and who is the sole such representative for 
the entire department.
    Detention duties means duties that require frequent direct contact 
in the detention, direction, supervision, inspection, training, 
employment, care, transportation, or rehabilitation of individuals 
suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of the 
United States or the District of Columbia or offenses against the 
punitive articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (10 U.S.C. 
chapter 47). (See 5 U.S.C. 8331(20).)
    Firefighter means an employee, whose duties are primarily to perform 
work directly connected with the control and extinguishment of fires or 
the maintenance and use of firefighting apparatus and equipment. Also 
included in this definition is an employee engaged in this activity who 
is transferred to a supervisory or administrative position. (See 5 
U.S.C. 8331(21).) An employee whose primary duties are the performance 
of routine fire prevention inspection is excluded from this definition.
    Frequent direct contact means personal, immediate, and regularly-
assigned contact with detainees while performing detention duties, which 
is repeated and continual over a typical work cycle.
    Law enforcement officer means an employee, the duties of whose 
position are primarily the investigation, apprehension, or detention of 
individuals suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws 
of the United States, including an employee engaged in this activity who 
is transferred to a supervisory or administrative position. (See 5 
U.S.C. 8331(20).) The definition does not include an employee whose 
primary duties involve maintaining law and order, protecting life and 
property, guarding against or inspecting for violations of law, or 
investigating persons other than persons who are suspected or convicted 
of offenses against the criminal laws of the United States.
    Primary duties are those duties of a position that--
    (1) (i) Are paramount in influence or weight; that is, constitute 
the basic reasons for the existence of the position;
    (ii) Occupy a substantial portion of the individual's working time 
over a typical work cycle; and
    (iii) Are assigned on a regular and recurring basis.
    (2) Duties that are of an emergency, incidental, or temporary nature 
cannot be considered ``primary'' even if they meet the substantial 
portion of time criterion. In general, if an employee spends an average 
of at least 50 percent of his or her time performing a duty or group of 
duties, they are his or her primary duties.
    Primary position means a position whose primary duties are:
    (1) To perform work directly connected with controlling and 
extinguishing fires or maintaining and using firefighter apparatus and 
equipment; or
    (2) Investigation, apprehension, or detention of individuals 
suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of the 
United States.
    Secondary position means a position that:
    (1) Is clearly in the law enforcement or firefighting field;
    (2) Is in an organization having a law enforcement or firefighting 
mission; and
    (3) Is either--
    (i) Supervisory; i.e., a position whose primary duties are as a 
first-level supervisor of law enforcement officers or firefighters in 
primary positions; or
    (ii) Administrative; i.e., an executive, managerial, technical, 
semiprofessional, or professional position for which experience in a 
primary law enforcement or firefighting position, or equivalent 
experience outside the Federal government, is a prerequisite.

[58 FR 64367, Dec. 7, 1993, as amended at 60 FR 3339, Jan. 17, 1995]