Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 ________________________ June 1, 1998 ________________________ GSBCA 14401-TRAV In the Matter of HERMAN T. WHITWORTH Herman T. Whitworth, Waveland, MS, Claimant. Edgar Aviles, Team Leader, Travel, United States Customs Service, Indianapolis, IN, appearing for Department of the Treasury. PARKER, Board Judge. Herman T. Whitworth, an employee of the United States Customs Service, was authorized to travel from Waveland, Mississippi, to Fayetteville, Arkansas, from January 8 to January 9, 1997, to attend a meeting. Mr. Whitworth's permanent duty station is in New Orleans, Louisiana; he lives in Waveland, which is about 68 miles from New Orleans. On January 8, Mr. Whitworth left his house in Waveland at 4:30 a.m. When the meeting in Fayetteville ended at about 3:00 p.m. that day, Mr. Whitworth decided to return home. He was accompanied by two of his supervisors whose permanent duty stations were someplace other than New Orleans. The group arrived in New Orleans at about 10:00 p.m and, not having eaten since lunch, the travelers decided to stop at a downtown restaurant. At dinner, it was agreed that the supervisors and Mr. Whitworth would have a working breakfast the next morning at 7:00 a.m. Although no one authorized him to do so, Mr. Whitworth, who had been traveling since 4:30 a.m. and was facing a 68 mile drive back to Waveland, decided to rent a hotel room in New Orleans. When Customs denied his request for reimbursement of the $82.67 charge for the room, Mr. Whitworth asked the Board to review Customs' decision. Discussion The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) is very specific as to when an employee may be paid a per diem allowance: (a) No allowance at official station. A per diem allowance shall not be allowed within the limits of the official station . . . or at, or within the vicinity of, the place of abode (home) from which the employee commutes daily to the official station. 41 CFR 301-7.5(a) (1997). Because lodging expenses are a component of the per diem allowance, 41 CFR 301-7.6(b), this means that, in the absence of specific statutory authority to the contrary, lodging expenses may not be reimbursed when the employee stays at his official duty station. This is true regardless of any unusual working conditions involved. General Services Administration -- Meals and Lodging at Headquarters Incident to Attendance at Meeting, B-182586 (Dec. 17, 1974); John C. Mackall, B-169163 (Sept. 11, 1970).[foot #] 1 Here, Mr. Whitworth rented a hotel room in New Orleans, which was his official duty station. We are not aware of, nor has Mr. Whitworth pointed us to, any statutory authority which would permit reimbursement of Mr. Whitworth's lodging expenses in these circumstances. Thus, although we are sympathetic to Mr. Whitworth's situation, we agree with Customs that the law requires that Mr. Whitworth's claim be denied. _________________________ ROBERT W. PARKER Board Judge ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS --------- [foot #] 1 Mr. Whitworth's travel expenses were being reimbursed through the payment of per diem allowances. 41 CFR 301-7. The same rule regarding reimbursement of travel expenses at an employee's official station applies to reimbursement under the actual expense method, the other method of reimbursing travelers on official business. 41 CFR 301-8.1(d).