The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has denied 1,100 IRS lawyers
payment for overtime hours worked without the written
approval from an authorized agency representative under
the Federal Employees Pay Act.
The plaintiffs work in agency field offices and filed for
partial summary judgment; if they prevailed, the court would
have had to determine damages in the next phase of the case,
according to No. 99-758C.
The government also filed for summary judgment, arguing it
is not liable for the overtime hours worked by the plaintiffs
in connection with travel or by class members under flexible
schedules, which are beyond administrative control of the IRS.
However, while the plaintiffs acknowledged that their overtime
hours weren’t officially approved, they said they are
entitled to recovery based upon the interpretation of the
statutes and regulations applicable to flexible schedules, and
because they were induced, encouraged, and expected to work
overtime in meeting the demands of their jobs, according to
the decision.
It cited a similar case from the Federal Circuit appellate court
in 2004 — Doe v. United States — in which Department of
Justice lawyers were denied overtime pay where the statutes and
regulations requiring approval were not followed, and said the
IRS lawyers are also governed by Doe.
The court pointed out that IRS field offices employ a procedure
and form within a chief counsel directives manual that is
available for the request and approval of overtime compensation,
and that the manual was not used by the plaintiffs’ class for
the hours in question.
It noted that lawyers have another potential avenue for relief
— annual premium pay of 25 percent rather than overtime
compensation — where “the hours of duty cannot be controlled
administratively” and where there are “substantial amounts of
irregular, unscheduled overtime duty.”
It said that provision could be useful to some members of the
plaintiff’s class, but warned that the provision should not be
used by agencies as a way to evade the requirements of FEPA and
to coerce unpaid overtime. The court dismissed the claims.
