DoD Issues Travel Comp Time Policy

The Defense Department has issued guidance carrying out authority enacted last year for agencies to grant compensatory time off for time employees spend traveling on official duty but which is not otherwise compensable. The policy generally follows earlier Office of Personnel Management guidance regarding which types of time are compensable and under what circumstances, while adding DoD-specific policies in certain areas, such as requiring that the employee must submit a request for compensatory time off within five workdays of returning to the official duty station. Also, for every 8 ½ hours of time claimed by the employee, ½ hour will be deducted as a meal period in most cases. DoD components will decide whether to credit time off in increments of either six or 15 minutes.