Handbooks

Revision: Handbook F-15, Travel and Relocation

Effective April 26, 2007, Handbook F-15, Travel and Relocation, is revised to clarify approved trips home during extended duty assignments or details.

Handbook F-15, Travel and Relocation

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8 While You’re Traveling 8-1 Allowable Expenses

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8-1.9.2 During Extended Duty Assignments Or Details

[Revise 8-1.9.2 to read as follows:]

The approving official who approves your expense report determines the frequency of your paid intermediate trips home.

! Important: A weekend return trip is authorized only to the employee’s permanent duty station. Travel to another loca­tion must be authorized in advance by the employee’s management. Cost differential in travel between the employee’s permanent duty station and the alternate approved location is absorbed by the employee.

A week is defined as 7 days. If the duration of the training session or extended duty assignment is more than 3 full weeks but less than 4 full weeks, no return trip home is authorized. Likewise, if the training session or extended duty assignment is more than 6 full weeks but less than 7 full weeks, only one trip home is allowed, and so forth.

 

 

If Your Assignment Lasts...	Then You Are allowed This Many Trips Home...
a. 3 weeks or less (up to 27 days)	None.
b. 4 weeks (28 days) to 6 weeks (up to 48 days)	One.
c. 7 weeks (49 days) to 9 weeks (up to 69 days)	Two.
d. 10 weeks (70 days) to 12 weeks (84 days)	Three.
e. Longer than 12 weeks (84 days)	One trip every 3 weeks (21 days).

 

The Postal Service may allow you to return home every weekend if the total cost of your trip home — including such items as transportation, mileage, parking, and per diem — is less than the cost of staying at your temporary duty station for that weekend. Be sure to have such weekly trips approved in advance and to include a cost compari­son with your expense report when you request reimbursement.

If your spouse is traveling with you, see 9-7.1 for informa­tion about his or her trip home.

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B Instructions for Submitting Forms

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B-7 PS Form 1018, eTravel Repayment for Overpayments or Cash Advances

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B-7.3 When Your Reimbursement Exceeds That to Which You Are Entitled

[Revise B-7.3 to read as follows:]

Occasionally, errors are made when you complete your travel expense report that results in an excess reimburse­ment to you. These excess reimbursements are considered to be employee debts. If you discover the error, you should complete PS Form 1018 and follow the instructions in section B-7.4. If the error is discovered by Back Office Processing or by an approving manager in the field, recov­ery of the excess reimbursement will be made in accor­dance with the provisions found in the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) Subchapters 450 and 460.

B-7.4 Processing a Repayment

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[Revise the last sentence of B-7.4 to read as follows:]

You may call the Accounting Help Desk at 866-9-SHARED or 866-974-2733 for all payment issues.

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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed edition of Handbook F-15 and into the next update of the online version accessible on the Postal Service™ Pol­icyNet Web site.

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
• Under “Essential Links” in the left-hand column, click on References.
• Under “References” in the right-hand column, under “Policies,” click on PolicyNet.
• Then click on HBKs.

(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)

— National Accounting,
Finance, 4-26-07