GAO has been asked by the bipartisan leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to review the State Department’s policies for compensating employees for hardships and other costs related to assignments abroad.
Allowances can be paid for harsh or dangerous living conditions, education and housing costs, relocation costs, and expenses of maintaining family members away from a foreign post.
“These allowances cover tens of thousands of employees and hundreds of posts” at a cost of millions of dollars annually. . . concerns have been raised that the formulas the department uses to calculate these allowances are based on outdated information,” said Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Elijah Cummings, D-Md.
Hardship pay goes to those at some 400 locations worldwide while 65 qualify for danger pay; in September the department announced changes to its methods for determining which locations receive those allowances, as well as the rates.
The letter asked for a summary of the types of allowances available and what triggers their use, among other information.
