Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 ___________________ May 30, 2000 ___________________ GSBCA 15264-TRAV In the Matter of KENNETH E. BILLINGS Kenneth E. Billings, Staunton, IL, Claimant. Jon J. Canerday, Office of General Counsel, National Credit Union Administration, Alexandria, VA, appearing for National Credit Union Administration. PARKER, Board Judge. Kenneth E. Billings has asked the Board to review the National Credit Union Administration s (NCUA s) denial of his claim for per diem expenses. As explained below, we agree with the agency that the claim should be denied. Mr. Billings was appointed as a Financial Institution Examiner on May 11, 1997. His appointment document indicates that the organization to which he was assigned was Region IV Chicago, FS Examiners - SE group G. The document also indicated that Mr. Billings s official duty station was Escanaba, Michigan. At the time of Mr. Billings s appointment, he lived in Staunton, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis. All of the work performed by Mr. Billings occurred in the area in and around his home in Staunton. Mr. Billings never lived or worked (even temporarily) in the vicinity of Escanaba, Michigan. NCUA has explained that Mr. Billings and other employees were assigned improperly, and on paper only, to false duty stations such as Escanaba in an attempt by certain agency officials to circumvent competitive hiring procedures. A review by the Office of Personnel Management ultimately led to suspensions and demotions for several NCUA officials, as well as the discontinuance of the improper hiring practices. Shortly before resigning from NCUA in March 1998, Mr. Billings filed a claim for almost $20,000 in per diem expenses, covering the entire time that he worked for NCUA. Mr. Billings maintains that, since his official duty station was Escanaba, 2 Michigan, he should be paid per diem while he was on temporary duty travel to Staunton, Illinois. Discussion Mr. Billings argues that, even though he lived and worked in the Staunton, Illinois area during his entire tenure with NCUA, he is entitled to per diem because One s real, actual, functional, and operational duty station is the duty station recorded on his SF [Standard Form] 50 end of story. As explained below, the information contained on an SF 50 is not the end of the story. An employee may be entitled to per diem expenses when traveling on official business away from the employee s designated post of duty . . . . 5 U.S.C. 5702(a)(1) (1994). It is well established, however, that the papers processed by an agency and an agency s statements [are] not conclusive proof of the location of an employee s duty station. John P. DeLeo, GSBCA 14042-TRAV, 97-2 BCA 29,156, at 144,999. The location of an employee s permanent duty station is a question of fact and is determined by where an employee expects and is expected to spend the greater part of his time. Id. The facts here establish that Mr. Billings s duty station was Staunton, Illinois, not Escanaba, Michigan. Mr. Billings worked in the Staunton area during the entire time that he was employed by NCUA. He never worked in Escanaba. He lived in Staunton before, during, and after the time he was employed by NCUA. Mr. Billings s argument that his permanent duty station was Escanaba, and his corresponding claim for per diem expenses based upon the erroneous entry in his appointment document, are simply without a reasonable basis. The purpose of per diem is to reimburse an employee for meals and lodging while on temporary duty while he also maintains a residence at his permanent duty station. Frederick C. Welch, 62 Comp. Gen. 80 (1982). To pay Mr. Billings in these circumstances would violate not only the letter, but the spirit, of the law. 3 Mr. Billings also maintains that he should be paid because NCUA paid other examiners in the same situation, at the same period in time, this exact type travel claim. Obviously, the fact that NCUA may have made improper payments to others does not entitle Mr. Billings to such payments. __________________________ ROBERT W. PARKER Board Judge