Dimitri & Eugenia Arensburger-Temporary Duty-Overseas

B-257926.2 Oct 02, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights He is entitled to transportation to and from Geneva. Her residence at the time she received an assignment is the equivalent of her official station. She is entitled to transportation to and from Geneva. When she was living at her residence in Geneva upon receiving an assignment. She is not entitled to per diem while on that assignment in Geneva nor to any transportation at government expense between Geneva and Washington at the completion of that Geneva assignment. DECISION This decision responds to a request from the Acting Inspector General of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA). [1] The issue is whether two individuals who own a residence at a temporary duty location overseas and resided there while performing that duty. View Decision Matter of: Dimitri & Eugenia Arensburger-Temporary Duty-Overseas Location-Per Diem File: B-257926.2 Date: October 2, 1996 An employee of the Department of State owns a residence at his permanent duty station in Washington, D.C., and also owns a residence in Geneva, Switzerland. Whenever he performed temporary duty travel to Geneva, he occupied the residence there. He is entitled to transportation to and from Geneva, and the meals and incidental expenses portion of per diem, but not the lodging portion of per diem where he did not incur any lodging costs in excess of the usual expenses of maintaining his residence there. An individual employed as a contract interpreter by the Department of State on an as required basis has no official station other than her residence. Therefore, for the purposes of the Federal Travel Regulation, currently 41 C.F.R. Sec. 301-1.3(c)(4) (1995), her residence at the time she received an assignment is the equivalent of her official station. An individual employed as a contract interpreter by the Department of State on an as required basis owns a residence in the Washington, D.C., area, and also owns a residence in Geneva, Switzerland. When she performed an assignment in Geneva, she occupied the residence there. When assigned to Geneva while residing in the Washington, D.C., area, she is entitled to transportation to and from Geneva, the meals and incidental expenses portion of per diem, but not the lodging portion of per diem where she did not incur any lodging costs in excess of the usual expenses of maintaining the residence there. However, when she was living at her residence in Geneva upon receiving an assignment, her Geneva residence became her official station for the purpose of that assignment; therefore, she is not entitled to per diem while on that assignment in Geneva nor to any transportation at government expense between Geneva and Washington at the completion of that Geneva assignment. DECISION This decision responds to a request from the Acting Inspector General of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA). [1] The issue is whether two individuals who own a residence at a temporary duty location overseas and resided there while performing that duty, are entitled to per diem. As discussed below, partial per diem may be paid in certain circumstances. BACKGROUND Mr. Dimitri Arensburger, a staff interpreter employed in the Language Services branch of the Department of State, is officially stationed in Washington, D.C. His wife, Mrs. Eugenia Arensburger, is employed as a contract interpreter with the same branch of the Department of State; but, since she is not a regular employee of the federal government, she has no official duty station. Mr. and Mrs. Arensburger own a residence in the Washington area, which they purchased in 1977. They also own a residence in Geneva, Switzerland, which they purchased in 1978. Whenever either or both of them receive an assignment in Geneva, they occupy their residence in Geneva. When Mr. Arensburger received a temporary duty assignment to Geneva, his travel would usually begin at Washington, D.C., his permanent duty station, but that was not necessarily the case with Mrs. Arensburger. When her services as a contract interpreter were required in Geneva, she occasionally began her assignment travel from her residence in the Washington, D.C. area. However, there were other times when Mr. Arensburger traveled to Geneva on official business that she simply accompanied him at personal expense. After they arrived in Geneva, and occupied their residence there, occasionally she was asked to serve as an interpreter in Geneva under her basic ordering agreement with the Department of State. During the period October 1, 1986, to September 30, 1990, Mr. and Mrs. Arensburger were on assignment in Geneva 7 times and 6 times, respectively, and submitted 13 travel vouchers claiming the maximum per diem authorized for Geneva. Each of these vouchers was approved and payment was made to the Arensburgers.