Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 _______________________________________________ February 24, 2000 _____________________________________________ GSBCA 15175-TRAV In the Matter of OLLICE C. HOLDEN Ollice C. Holden, Flossmoor, IL, Claimant. Steven O. App, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Financial Management Service, Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC, appearing for Department of the Treasury. GOODMAN, Board Judge. Ollice C. Holden, an employee of the Department of the Treasury, has requested that this Board review his agency s denial of his request for reimbursement of certain expenses incurred. Claimant is an employee of the agency s Financial Management Service (FMS) and was assigned to official duty as a management representative on the Chicago Financial Closure Negotiation Team. Negotiations were conducted in a hotel one- half mile from claimant s place of employment. Claimant states: I had verbal instructions and authorization to fully participate in the [negotiations]. Prior to the planned . . . meetings, several attempts were made by my secretary to get an approval of my projected expenses through Travel Manager with no success. Only after claimant participated for two days in the negotiations was his secretary informed that approval for payment of his expenses would not be forthcoming. Additionally, claimant states: It was projected prior to the negotiations that we would work late into the evening . . . The chief negotiator and I met early (7:15 a.m) . . . . The distance of travel from my residence to my duty station is 32-34 miles, depending on the route. The team worked beyond 9:00 p.m. on most occasions. . . . My ability to work effectively with the team would have been adversely affected had I been forced to be concerned about time constraints and leaving for home at a reasonable hour to return refreshed the next day. If I had been required to commute daily, the late night departure and early morning arrival would have made me a less effective team member. Claimant submitted a claim for the following amounts, for which the agency denied reimbursement: lodging, $598; meals and incidental expenses (M&IE), $207; local phone calls, $2.25; and miscellaneous (refreshments at negotiations), $60. The agency s denial was based upon its understanding that lodging and M&IE could not be reimbursed for an individual on duty within the limits of his official duty station. The agency further stated that the local calls and miscellaneous expense claims must be decided by FMS. Discussion By statute, a per diem allowance is authorized for government employees "when traveling on official business away from the employee's designated post of duty or away from the employee's home." 5 U.S.C. 5702 (1994). In pertinent part, the Federal Travel Regulation, which implements this statute, provides that an employee is eligible for a per diem allowance when the employee performs official travel "away from your official station. 41 CFR 301-11.1 (1997). The phrase official station is defined as the location of the employee s . . . permanent work assignment, which is further defined as the corporate limits of the city or town where stationed." 41 CFR 300-3.1. Per diem allowance is defined as follows: The per diem allowance (also referred to as subsistence allowance) is a daily payment instead of reimbursement for actual expenses for lodging (excluding taxes), meals, and related incidental expenses. The per diem allowance is separate from transportation expenses and other miscellaneous expenses. The per diem allowance covers all charges, including any service charges where applicable for: (a) Lodging . . . (b) Meals . . . (c) Incidental expenses. 41 CFR 300-3.1. Claimant rented a hotel room one-half mile from his usual place of employment so that he would not have to commute to and from his home while he worked an extended work day during negotiation sessions in the hotel. He was not on official travel. He seeks to recover lodging M&IE expenses, telephone charges and miscellaneous expenses. The lodging and M&IE expenses are components of the per diem allowance, which is only payable when an employee is traveling away from his official duty station.[foot #] 1 The expenses are not reimbursable, as claimant incurred the expenses within the limits of his official duty station. We are not aware of, nor has claimant pointed us to, any statutory authority which would permit reimbursement of lodging and M&IE expenses in these circumstances. In the absence of specific statutory authority to the contrary, lodging expenses may not be reimbursed when the employee stays at his official duty station. This is true regardless of any unusual working conditions involved or adverse weather conditions. Murray Lumpkin, GSBCA 14513-TRAV, 98-2 BCA 30,042; Herman T. Whitworth, GSBCA TRAV-14401, 98-2 BCA 29,804: Claimant s other claims, for local phone calls and miscellaneous expenses for refreshments are not claims arising from official travel or relocation. The Board's jurisdiction in the claims settlement arena extends only to expenses of employee travel and relocation. We therefore we will not address these claims. ___________________________ ALLAN H. GOODMAN Board Judge ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS --------- [foot #] 1 Before the FTR was extensively revised, it contained the following section, which made it very clear that those who are not on official travel cannot receive a per diem allowance: (a) No allowance at official station. A per diem (a) No allowance at official station allowance shall not be allowed within the limits of the official station... or at, or within the vicinity of, the place of abode (home) from which the employee commutes daily to the official station. 41 CFR 301-7.5(a) (1997).