Changes to per diem policy that DoD implemented last fall could hamper the department’s ability to line up employees willing to take long-term temporary duty assignments, a bipartisan group of senators has said in a letter to the Pentagon.
Under the revised policy, for long-term temporary duty of 31 to 180 days, the authorized rate is 75 percent of the locality rate (lodging plus meals & incidental expenses) payable for each full day of temporary duty at that location; for TDY greater than 180 days, it is 55 percent. In making the change, DoD said that for assignments of 31 days or more, savings can be achieved by staying in extended-stay type lodgings that cost less per day than short-term hotel or motel rates.
But a letter from six senators asking DoD to reconsider the policy says the change “could lead to experienced employees forgoing longer temporary duty assignments, causing replacements or less experienced employees to be called upon, which in the end could lead to delays and increased DoD costs.”
“Further, if employees are forced to finance certain expenses out of pocket, DoD can expect more senior level employees to consider private sector options where benefits and pay might be more appealing, as well as further increased difficulty in recruiting high level employees,” it adds.
A move was made in Congress late in 2014 to overturn it, and another such attempt could be made this year, possibly by trying to attach language to a DoD spending bill.
