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57 FLRA No. 47
NAGE, Local R5-136 and U.S. States Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina (Benedetto, Arbitrator), 0-AR- 3368 (Decided May 31,2001)
The Arbitrator denied a grievance that alleged that the Agency improperly failed to pay a group of employees a minimum of two hours of overtime pay for work performed at their residences. The Authority denied the Union's exceptions.
The Authority concluded that the award was not contrary to 5 U.S.C. § 5542(b)(1). The Union maintained that there can be no reading of the statute that imposes a requirement to travel. Instead, the Union reads 5 U.S.C. § 5542(b)(1) as requiring the payment of a minimum of two hours of overtime pay anytime an employee performs work outside of his regular working hours, regardless of whether or not the employee must return to his or her place of employment to perform that overtime work. The Authority found that such a construction of 5 U.S.C. § 5542(b)(1), however, is not supported by the language of the statute, its legislative history or relevant precedent.
The Authority concluded, contrary to the Union's assertion, that the two hour statutory minimum does not apply where, as here, the employee works at home. Here, the employees d id not have to deal with the inconveniences that motivated Congress in enacting 5 U.S.C. § 5542(b)(1), i.e., having to leave their residences. Rather, the employees receive telephone calls and pages at their residences and perform the work there, and they do not have to prepare for work or travel back to their worksite to perform the repairs. Accordingly, they are not entitled to a minimum of two hours overtime pay under 5 U.S.C. § 5542(b)(1). Lastly, the Authority found that the award did not fail to draws its essence from the agreement.