§ 550.1002 Compensatory time off for religious observances.

(a) These interim regulations are issued pursuant to title IV of Pub. L. 95-390, enacted September 29, 1978. Under the law and these regulations, an employee whose personal religious beliefs require the abstention from work during certain periods of time may elect to engage in overtime work for time lost for meeting those religious requirements.

(b) To the extent that such modifications in work schedules do not interfere with the efficient accomplishment of an agency's mission, the agency shall in each instance afford the employee the opportunity to work compensatory overtime and shall in each instance grant compensatory time off to an employee requesting such time off for religious observances when the employee's personal religious beliefs require that the employee abstain from work during certain periods of the workday or workweek.

(c) For the purpose stated in paragraph (b) of this section, the employee may work such compensatory overtime before or after the grant of compensatory time off. A grant of advanced compensatory time off should be repaid by the appropriate amount of compensatory overtime work within a reasonable amount of time. Compensatory overtime shall be credited to an employee on an hour for hour basis or authorized fractions thereof. Appropriate records will be kept of compensatory overtime earned and used.

(d) The premium pay provisions for overtime work in Subpart A of Part 550 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, and section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, do not apply to compensatory overtime

§ 551.201 Agency authority.

The employing agency shall exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, any employee who meets the exemption criteria of this subpart and such supplemental interpretations or instructions as shall be issued by the Office of Personnel Management. § 551.202 General principles governing exemptions.

In all exemption determinations, the agency shall observe the principles that:

(a) Exemption criteria shall be narrowly construed to apply only to those employees who are clearly within the terms and spirit of the exemption.

(b) The burden of proof rests with the agency that asserts the exemption.

(c) All employees who clearly meet the criteria for exemption must be so exempted.

§ 551.203 Exemption of executive, administrative, and professional employees. The employing agency shall exempt any employee who is an executive, administrative, or professional employee as defined herein.

(a) An executive employee is a supervisor, foreman, or manager who supervises at least three subordinate employees and who meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The employce's primary duty consists of management or supervision.

(2) The workers supervised constitute a recognized organizational unit.

(3) The employee regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment, under only general supervision, in planning, directing and controlling the work of the unit supervised.

(4) The employee performs significant personnel management duties.

(5) The employee's position is classified no lower than General Schedule grade 5 (GS-5) or the equivalent level in other white collar pay systems, or the employee fully meets or exceeds the "Foreman range of responsibility" defined in the job grading standard for Wage Supervisors, if under the Federal Wage System or equivalent prevailing rate systems.

(6) In addition to the primary duty criterion that applies to all employees, Foreman level supervisors in the Federal Wage System or the equivalent in other wage systems, and employees classified below GS-10 or the equivalent in other white collar pay systems, must spend 80 percent or more of the work-time in a representative workweek on supervisory and closely related work.

(b) An administrative employee is an advisor, assistant or representative of management, or a specialist in a management or general business function or supporting service who meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The employee's primary duty consists of work that:

(i) Significantly affects the formulation or execution of management policies or programs; or

(ii) Involves general management or business functions or supporting services of substantial importance to the organization serviced; or

(iii) Involves substantial participation in the executive or administrative functions of a management official.

(2) The employee performs office or other predominantly nonmanual work which is:

(i) Intellectual and varied in nature, or

(ii) of a specialized or technical nature that requires considerable special training, experience and knowledge.

(3) The employee must frequently exercise discretion and independent judgment, under only general supervision, in performing the normal day-today work.

(4) The employee's position is classified no lower than GS-7 or the equivalent level in other white collar pay systems.

(5) In addition to the primary duty criterion that applies to all employees, General Schedule employees below GS-10, or the equivalent in other salary systems, must spend 80 percent or more of the worktime in a representative workweek on administrative functions and work that is an essential part of those functions.

(c) A professional employee is an employee who is practicing a learned or artistic profession and who meets all of the following criteria, or any teacher who is engaged in the imparting of knowledge or in the administration of an academic program in a school system or educational establishment.

(1) The employee's primary duty consists of:

(i) Work that requires knowledge in a field of science or learning customarily and characteristically acquired through education or training that meets the requirements for a bachelor's or higher degree, with major study in or pertinent to the specialized field as distinguished from general education; or is performing work, comparable to that performed by professional employees, on the basis of specialized education or training and experience which has provided both theoretical and practical knowledge of the specialty, including knowledge of related disciplines and of new developments in the field; or

(ii) Work in a recognized field of artistic endeavor that is original or cre

ative in nature (as distinguished from work which can be produced by a person endowed with general manual or intellectual ability and training) and the result of which depends on the invention, imagination, or talent of the employee.

(2) The employee's work is predominantly intellectual and varied in nature, requiring creative, analytical, evaluative, or interpretative thought process for satisfactory performance.

(3) The employee frequently exercises discretion and independent judgment, under only general supervision, in performing the normal day-to-day work.

(4) The employee's position is classified no lower than GS-7 or the equivalent level in other white collar pay systems.

(5) In addition to the primary duty criterion that applies to all employees, General Schedule employees below GS-10, or the equivalent in other salary systems, must spend 80 percent or more of the worktime in a representative workweek on professional functions and work that is an essential part of those functions.

§ 551.204 Exemption of employees serving in foreign areas.

The employing agency shall exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act any employee whose services during the workweek are performed in & workplace within a "foreign country or within territory under the jurisdiction of the United States other than in the following locations: A State of the United States; the District of Columbia; Puerto Rico; the Virgin Islands; Outer Continental Shelf Lands defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (67 Stat. 462); American Samoa; Guam; Wake Island; Eniwetok Atoll; Kwajalein Atoll; Johnston Island and the Canal Zone.

§ 572.101 Determination

of

manpower shortage for positions at level GS-16 and above (or equivalents).

(a) The head of a department or agency shall have the responsibility for determining whether a manpower shortage exists for individual positions in level GS-16 and above (or equivalents). In making such determination, the head shall consider the specific items and guidance material in the Federal Personnel Manual.

(b) A determination that a manpower shortage exists is required before a department or agency may pay travel and transportation expenses for new appointees under section 5723 of title 5, United States Code, and in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations, FPMR 101-7.

§ 591.201 Definitions.

In this subpart. (a) “Date of arrival" means the beginning of business on the workday of the employee's arrival at the post, or other designated place. When the employee's arrival is on a nonworkday, "date of arrival" means the beginning of business on the first workday following arrival.

(b) "Date of departure" means the close of business on the workday of the employee's departure from the post or other designated place. When the employee's departure is on a nonworkday, "date of departure" means the close of business on the last workday preceding departure.

(c) "Day or calendar day" means any day of the year. Fractional days are considered whole days.

(d) "Detail" means the temporary assignment or temporary duty of an employee away from his post of regular assignment, including all periods of leave while serving at the post of detail.

(e) "Nonforeign allowance" or "allowance" means a cost of living allowance established by the Office of Personnel Management and payable under section 5941 of title 5, United States Code, at a post in a nonforeign area where living costs are substantially higher than in the District of Columbia.

(f) "Nonforeign area" means the States of Alaska and Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, territories and possessions of the United States, and such additional areas located outside the continental United States as the Secretary of State shall designate as being within the scope of Part II of Executive Order 10,000, as amended.

(g) "Nonforeign differential” or “differential" means a post differential established by the Office of Personnel Management and payable under section 5941 of title 5, United States Code, at a post in a nonforeign area when conditions of environment differ substantially from conditions of environment in the Continental United States and warrant its payment as a recruitment incentive.

(h) "On assignment" or "on transfer" at a post of duty means officially occupying a position located at the post, geographically and organization

Palmyra Island

Virgin Islands of the United States
Wake Island

Any small guano islands, rocks, or keys which, in pursuance of action taken under the Act of Congress, August 18, 1856, are considered as appertaining to the United States.

Any other islands to which the United States Government reserves claim, such as Christmas Island.

§ 591.203 Agencies and employees covered. This subpart applies to civilan employees whose rates of basic pay are fixed by statute and who are employed by an executive department, independent establishment, or wholly-owned Government corporation.

§ 591.204 Exclusion of certain employees.

(a) Employees covered by other statutes. This subpart does not apply to employees in the Panama Canal Zone whose rates of basic pay are fixed by statute, or to any other groups of employees for whom allowances and dif⚫ferentials for service outside the conti

nental United States or in Alaska are otherwise specifically authorized by statute.

(b) Governors of territories. A department or agency shall not apply an allowance or differential to a governor of a territory in a nonforeign area, except that on the specific request of the department or agency concerned, OPM may authorize the payment of a differential to a governor whose pay is fixed under chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53, title 5, United States Code, if he is otherwise eligible to receive a differential and OPM determines that a payment is warranted under the circumstances.

§ 591.205 Establishment of rates for areas covered.

The Office of Personnel Management establishes the allowance and differential rates for each area covered. The department or agency concerned shall submit to OPM in writing requests for the establishment of rates of allowances or differentials for places for which they have not been established by this subpart.

§ 591.206 Allowance index table.

Cost of living survey findings shall be used to calculate a comparative cost index between Washington, D.C. and each area covered. This index shall determine the amount of allowance, expressed as a percentage of employee's basic pay, to be paid to eligible employees as set forth in the following table:

COMPARATIVE COST INDEX AND ALLOWANCE TABLE