[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 19, Volume 1]

[Revised as of April 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 19CFR24.16]



[Page 382-388]

 

                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES

 

   CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF 

              HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

 

PART 24_CUSTOMS FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING PROCEDURE--Table of Contents

 

Sec.  24.16  Overtime services; overtime compensation and premium pay 

for Customs Officers; rate of compensation.



    (a) General. Customs services for which overtime compensation is 

provided for by section 5 of the Act of February 13, 1911, as amended 

(19 U.S.C. 267), or section 451, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 

U.S.C. 1451), shall be furnished only upon compliance with the 

requirements of those statutes for applying for such services and giving 

security for reimbursement of the overtime compensation, unless the 

compensation is nonreimbursable under the said section 451, or section 

53 of the Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970, as amended (49 

U.S.C. 1741). Reimbursements of overtime compensation shall be collected 

by the port director from the applicants for the services. Customs 

Officers entitled to overtime compensation and premium pay, pursuant to 

the provisions of the Customs Officer Pay Reform legislation (19 U.S.C. 

261 and 267, as amended), shall not receive pay or other compensation 

for that work under any other provision of law. Reimbursable overtime 

services shall not be furnished to an applicant who fails to cooperate 

with the Customs Service by filing a timely application therefor during 

regular hours of business when the need for the services can reasonably 

by foreseen, nor in any case until the maximum probable reimbursement is 

adequately secured.

    (b) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following words 

and phrases have the meanings indicated:

    (1) The Act refers to Part II, Subchapter D of the Omnibus Budget 

Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103-66.

    (2) Administrative workweek means a period of seven consecutive 

calendar



[[Page 383]]



days beginning Sunday and continuing through the following Saturday.

    (3) Base pay means the rate of pay fixed by law or administrative 

action for the position held by the Customs Officer.

    (4) Callback means the irregular or occasional overtime work 

performed by a Customs Officer either on a day when work was not 

regularly scheduled for that officer or which begins at least one hour 

after the end of the officer's regularly-scheduled tour of duty and ends 

at least one hour before the beginning of the following regularly-

scheduled assignment and requires the officer to return to a place of 

work.

    (5) ``Commute compensation'' means the compensation which a Customs 

Officer is entitled to receive, in excess of the officer's base pay, for 

returning to work, under certain conditions, to perform an overtime work 

assignment. Commute compensation, within the limits prescribed by the 

Act, shall be treated as overtime compensation, and is includable for 

Federal retirement benefit purposes.

    (6) Continuous assignment means the grouping of multiple overtime 

assignments, performed by the same Customs Officer(s), which are 

separated by periods of non-work, into a single unit for computation of 

pay purposes.

    (7) Customs Officer means only those individuals assigned to 

position descriptions entitled ``Customs Inspector,'' ``Supervisory 

Customs Inspector,'' ``Canine Enforcement Officer,'' ``Supervisory 

Canine Enforcement Officer,'' ``Customs and Border Protection Officer,'' 

``Supervisory Customs and Border Protection Officer,'' ``Customs and 

Border Protection Agriculture Specialist,'' or ``Supervisory Customs and 

Border Protection Agriculture Specialist.''

    (8) Fiscal year pay cap refers to the statutory maximum, in effect 

for the year involved, in overtime and premium pay a Customs Officer 

shall receive in that fiscal year. This aggregate limit may be waived by 

the Commissioner of Customs or his/her designee in individual cases in 

order to prevent excessive costs or to meet emergency requirements of 

the Customs Service.

    (9) Holiday means any day designated as a holiday by a Federal 

statute or declared by an Executive order.

    (10) Intermittent employee is a non-full-time employee who does not 

have a regularly-scheduled tour of duty.

    (11) Majority of hours, within the context of night work 

differentials, means more than half of the hours of the daily regularly-

scheduled tour of duty.

    (12) Night work means regularly-scheduled work performed by a 

Customs Officer on tours of duty, in which a majority of the hours 

worked occur between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.

    (13) Overtime pay means the compensation which a Customs Officer is 

entitled to receive, in excess of the officer's base pay, for performing 

officially-assigned work in excess of the 40 hours of the officer's 

regularly-scheduled administrative workweek or in excess of 8 hours in a 

day, which may include commute compensation as defined at paragraph 

(b)(5) of this section. Overtime pay, within the limits prescribed by 

the Act, is includable for Federal retirement benefit purposes.

    (14) Premium pay differential means the compensation which a Customs 

Officer is entitled to receive, in excess of the officer's base pay, for 

performing officially-assigned work on holidays, Sundays and at night. 

Premium pay is not includable for Federal retirement benefit purposes.

    (15) Regularly-scheduled administrative workweek means, for a full-

time employee, the 40 hour period within an administrative workweek 

within which the employee is regularly scheduled to work, exclusive of 

any overtime; for a part-time employee, it means the officially 

prescribed days and hours within an administrative workweek during which 

the employee is regularly scheduled to work.

    (c) Application and bond. (1) Except as provided for in paragraphs 

(c)(2) and (4) of this section, an application for inspectional services 

of Customs Officers at night or on a Sunday or holiday, Customs Form 

3171, supported by the required cash deposit or bond, shall



[[Page 384]]



be filed in the office of the port director before the assignment of 

such officers for reimbursable overtime services. The cash deposit to 

secure reimbursement shall be fixed by the port director or authorized 

representative in an amount sufficient to pay the maximum probable 

compensation and expenses of the Customs Officers, or the maximum amount 

which may be charged by law, whichever is less, in connection with the 

particular services requested. The bond to secure reimbursement shall be 

on Customs Form 301, containing the appropriate bond conditions set 

forth in subpart G, part 113 of this chapter (see Sec. Sec.  113.62, 

113.63, 113.64 and 113.73), and in an amount to be fixed by the port 

director, unless another bond containing a provision to secure 

reimbursement is on file. A bond given on Customs Form 301, containing 

the appropriate bond conditions set forth in subpart G, part 113 of this 

chapter (see Sec. Sec.  113.62, 113.63, 113.64 and 113.73), to secure 

the payment of overtime services rendered private aircraft and private 

vessels shall be taken without surety or cash deposit in lieu of surety, 

and the bond shall be modified to so indicate.

    (2) Prior to the expected arrival of a pleasure vessel or private 

aircraft the port director may designate a Customs Officer to proceed to 

the place of expected arrival to receive an application for night, 

Sunday, or holiday services in connection with the arrival of such 

vessel or aircraft, together with the required cash deposit or bond. In 

each such case the assignment to perform services shall be conditional 

upon the receipt of the appropriate application and security. Where the 

security is a cash deposit, the receipt may be properly inscribed to 

make it serve as a combined receipt for cash deposit in lieu of bond and 

request for overtime services, in lieu of filing a request for overtime 

services on Customs Form 3171.



                      Request for Overtime Services



Permit Number___________________________________________________________

    I hereby request overtime services on ----------------, 19----;, at 

---- a.m., p.m., in connection with the entry of my aircraft (vessel).

________________________________________________________________________



                   (Pilot, Owner, or Person in Charge)



    (3) An application on Customs Form 3171 for overtime services of 

Customs Officers, when supported by the required cash deposit or a 

continuous bond, may be granted for a period not longer than for 1 year. 

In such a case, the application must show the exact times when the 

overtime services will be needed, unless arrangements are made so that 

the proper Customs Officer will be notified timely during official hours 

in advance of the services requested as to the exact times that the 

services will be needed.

    (4) Inspectional services will be provided to owners or operators of 

aircraft without charge for overtime on Sundays and holidays between the 

hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Applications for inspectional services 

for aircraft during those hours shall be filed as set forth in paragraph 

(c)(1) of this section, but without cash deposit or bond.

    (d) Work Assignment Priorities. The establishment of regularly-

scheduled administrative tours of duty and assignments of Customs 

Officers to overtime work under this section shall be made in accordance 

with the following priorities, listed below in priority order:

    (1) Alignment. Tours of duty should be aligned with the Customs 

workload.

    (2) Least Cost. All work assignments should be made in a manner 

which minimizes the cost to the government or party in interest. 

Decisions, including, but not limited to, what hours should be covered 

by a tour of duty or whether an assignment should be treated as a 

continuous assignment or subject to commute compensation, should be 

based on least cost considerations. However, base pay comparison of 

eligible employees shall not be used in the determination of staffing 

assignments.

    (3) Annuity integrity. For Customs Officers within 3 years of their 

statutory retirement eligibility, the amount of overtime that can be 

worked is limited to the average yearly number of overtime hours the 

Customs Officer worked during his/her career with the Customs Service. 

If the dollar value of the average yearly number of overtime hours 

worked by such Customs Officer exceeds 50 percent of the applicable 

statutory pay cap, then no overtime earning limitation based on this 

annuity



[[Page 385]]



integrity provision would apply. Waivers concerning this annuity 

integrity limitation may be granted by the Commissioner of Customs or 

the Commissioner's designee in individual cases in order to prevent 

excessive costs or to meet emergency requirements of Customs.

    (e) Overtime Pay. (1) A Customs Officer who is officially assigned 

to perform work in excess of the 40 hours in the officer's regularly-

scheduled administrative workweek or in excess of 8 hours in a day shall 

be compensated for such overtime work performed at 2 times the hourly 

rate of the officer's base pay, including any locality pay, but not 

including any premium pay differentials for holiday, Sunday, or night 

work.

    (2) The computation of the amount of overtime worked by a Customs 

Officer is subject to the following conditions:

    (i) Overtime that is less than one hour. A quarter of an hour shall 

be the smallest fraction of an hour used for paying overtime under this 

subpart.

    (ii) Absence during overtime. Except as expressly authorized by 

statute, regulation, or court order (i.e., military leave, court leave, 

continuation of pay under the workers compensation law, and back pay 

awards), a Customs Officer shall be paid for overtime work only when the 

officer reports as assigned.

    (f) Special provisions relating to overtime work on a callback 

basis--(1) Minimum duration and callback requirements. Any work for 

which overtime pay is authorized and for which the Customs Officer is 

required to return to a place of work shall be treated as being at least 

2 hours in duration, but only if such work begins at least 1 hour after 

the end of any previous regularly-scheduled work assignment and ends at 

least 1 hour before the beginning of the following regularly-scheduled 

work assignment. An unpaid meal period shall not be considered a break 

in service for purposes of callback.

    (2) Commute compensation--Eligibility. A Customs Officer shall be 

compensated for overtime when the officer is called back and officially 

assigned to perform work that:

    (i) Is in excess of the 40 hours in the officer's regularly-

scheduled administrative workweek or in excess of 8 hours in a day;

    (ii) Begins at least 1 hour after the end of any previous regularly-

scheduled work assignment;

    (iii) Commences more than 2 hours prior to the start of the 

officer's next regularly-scheduled work assignment;

    (iv) Ends at least 1 hour before the beginning of the officer's next 

regularly-scheduled work assignment; and,

    (v) Commences less than 16 hours after the officer's last regularly-

scheduled work assignment. The 16 hours shall be calculated from the end 

of the Customs Officer's last regularly-scheduled work assignment.

    (3) Commute compensation--Amount. Commute compensation under this 

section shall be in an amount equal to 3 times the hourly rate of the 

Customs Officer's base pay for a one hour period, which includes 

applicable locality pay, but does not include any premium pay 

differentials for holiday, Sunday or night work. The Customs Officer 

shall be entitled to this amount for an eligible commute regardless of 

the actual commute time. However, an unpaid meal period shall not be 

considered a break in service for purposes of commute compensation.

    (4) Maximum Compensation for Multiple Assignments. If a Customs 

Officer is assigned to perform more than one overtime assignment, in 

which the officer is required to return to a place of work more than 

once in order to complete the assignment, and otherwise satisfies the 

callback requirements of paragraph (f)(1) of this section, then the 

officer shall be entitled to commute compensation each time the officer 

returns to the place of work provided that each assignment commences 

less than 16 hours after the officer's last regularly-scheduled work 

assignment. However, in no case shall the compensation be greater than 

if some or all of the assignments were treated as one continuous 

callback assignment.

    (g) Premium pay differentials. Premium pay differentials may only be 

paid for non-overtime work performed on holidays, Sundays, or, at night 

(work performed, in whole or in part, between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 

8:00 a.m.). A Customs Officer shall receive



[[Page 386]]



payment for only one of the differentials for any one given period of 

work. The order of precedence for the payment of premium pay 

differentials is holiday, Sunday, and night work.

    (1) Holiday differential. A Customs Officer who performs any 

regularly-scheduled work on a holiday shall receive pay for that work at 

the officer's hourly rate of base pay, which includes authorized 

locality pay, plus premium pay amounting to 100 percent of that base 

rate. Holiday differential premium pay will be paid only for time 

worked. Intermittent employees are not entitled to holiday 

differentials.

    (i) When a holiday is designated by a calendar date, for example, 

January 1, July 4, November 11, or December 25, the holiday will be 

observed on that date regardless of Saturdays and Sundays. Customs 

Officers who perform regularly-scheduled, non-overtime, tours of duty on 

those days shall be paid the holiday differential. Holidays not 

designated by a specific calendar date, such as President's Day (the 

third Monday in February), shall be observed on that date, and Customs 

Officers who perform regularly-scheduled, non-overtime, work on those 

days shall be paid the holiday differential.

    (ii) Inauguration Day (January 20 of each fourth year after 1965), 

is a legal public holiday for the purpose of the Act. Customs Officers 

whose duty locations are in the District of Columbia, or Montgomery and 

Prince George counties in Maryland, or Arlington and Fairfax counties in 

Virginia, or in the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church in Virginia, 

who perform regularly-scheduled, non-overtime, work on that day shall be 

paid the holiday differential. When Inauguration Day falls on Sunday, 

the next succeeding day selected for the public observance of the 

inauguration of the President is the legal public holiday.

    (iii) If a legal holiday falls on a Customs Officer's regularly-

scheduled day off, the officer shall receive a holiday ``in lieu of'' 

that day. Holidays ``in lieu of'' shall not be granted for Inauguration 

Day. A Customs Officer who works on an ``in lieu of'' holiday shall be 

paid the holiday differential.

    (iv) If a Customs Officer is assigned to a regularly-scheduled, non-

overtime, tour of duty which contains hours within and outside the 24-

hour calendar day of a holiday--for example, a tour of duty starting at 

8 p.m. on a Monday holiday following a scheduled day off on Sunday and 

ending at 4 a.m. on Tuesday--the Customs Officer shall receive the 

holiday differential (up to 8 hours) for work performed during that 

shift. If the Customs Officer is assigned more than one regularly-

scheduled, non-overtime, tour of duty which contains hours within and 

outside the 24-hour calendar day of a holiday--for example, a tour of 

duty starting at 8 p.m. on the Wednesday before a Thursday holiday and 

ending at 4 a.m. on Thursday with another regularly-scheduled, non-

overtime, tour of duty starting at 8 p.m. on the Thursday holiday and 

ending at 4 a.m. on Friday--the management official in charge of 

assigning work shall designate one of the tours of duty as the officer's 

holiday shift and the officer shall receive holiday differential (up to 

8 hours) for work performed during the entire period of the designated 

holiday shift. The Customs Officer shall not receive holiday 

differential for any of the work performed on the tour of duty which has 

not been designated as the holiday shift but will be eligible for Sunday 

or night differential as appropriate.

    (v) Customs Officers who are regularly scheduled, but not required, 

to work on a holiday shall receive their hourly rate of base pay for 

that 8-hour tour plus any Sunday or night differential they would have 

received had the day not been designated as a holiday. To receive 

holiday pay under this paragraph, the Customs Officer must be in a pay 

status (at work or on paid leave), either the last work day before the 

holiday or the first work day following the holiday.

    (vi) A Customs Officer who works only a portion of a regularly-

scheduled, non-overtime, holiday shift will be paid the holiday 

differential for the actual hours worked and the appropriate 

differential (Sunday or night) for the remaining portion of the shift 

such officer was not required to work. The night differential premium 

pay shall be calculated based on the rate applicable to the entire 

shift.



[[Page 387]]



    (2) Sunday differential. A Customs Officer who performs any 

regularly-scheduled work on a Sunday that is not a Federal holiday shall 

receive pay for that work at the officer's hourly rate of base pay, 

which includes authorized locality pay, plus premium pay amounting to 50 

percent of that base rate. Sunday differential premium pay will be paid 

only for time worked and is not applicable to overtime work performed on 

a Sunday. A Customs Officer whose regularly-scheduled work occurs in 

part on a Sunday, that is not a Federal holiday, and in part on the 

preceding or following day, will receive the Sunday differential premium 

pay for the hours worked between 12:01 a.m. and 12 Midnight on Sunday. 

Intermittent employees are not entitled to Sunday differentials.

    (3) Night work differentials. A Customs Officer who performs any 

regularly-scheduled night work shall receive pay for that work at the 

officer's hourly rate of base pay, including locality pay as authorized, 

plus the applicable premium pay differential, as specified below, but 

shall not receive such night differential for work performed during 

overtime assignments. When all or the majority of the hours of a Customs 

Officer's regularly-scheduled work occur between 3 p.m. and 8 a.m., the 

officer shall receive a night differential premium for all the hours 

worked during that assignment. Intermittent employees are not entitled 

to night differentials.

    (i) 3 p.m. to Midnight. If more than half of the hours of a Customs 

Officer's regularly-scheduled shift occur between the hours of 3 p.m. 

and 12 Midnight, the officer shall be paid at the officer's hourly rate 

of base pay and shall also be paid a premium of 15 percent of that 

hourly rate of base pay for all the hours worked.

    (ii) 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. If more than half of the hours of a Customs 

Officer's regularly-scheduled shift occur between the hours of 11 p.m. 

and 8 a.m., the officer shall be paid at the officer's hourly rate of 

base pay and shall also be paid a premium of 20 percent of that hourly 

rate of base pay for all the hours worked.

    (iii) 7:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. Shift. If the regularly-scheduled shift 

of a Customs Officer is 7:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m., the officer shall be 

paid at the officer's hourly rate of base pay and shall also be paid a 

premium of 15 percent of that hourly rate of base pay for the work 

performed between 7:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. and 20 percent of that hourly 

rate of base pay for the work performed between 11:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m.

    (iv) Work Scheduled During Two Differential Periods. A Customs 

Officer shall only be paid one night differential rate per regularly-

scheduled shift, except as provided for in paragraph (iii) above. A 

Customs Officer whose regularly-scheduled work occurs during two 

separate differential periods shall receive the night differential 

premium rate which applies to the majority of hours scheduled.

    (v) Night Work Which Occurs in Part on a Sunday. When a Customs 

Officer's regularly-scheduled shift occurs in part on a Sunday, the 

officer shall receive Sunday differential pay for those hours of the 

work which are performed during the 24 hour period of the Sunday, and 

the night differential pay for those hours which do not fall on the 

Sunday. For example, a Customs Officer who is assigned and works a shift 

which starts at 8 p.m. Sunday and ends at 4 a.m. Monday, shall receive 4 

hours of Sunday premium pay and 4 hours of night pay. The night 

differential pay shall be calculated based on the rate applicable to the 

particular tour of duty.

    (h) Limitations. Total payments for overtime/commute, and 

differentials for holiday, Sunday, and night work that a Customs Officer 

is paid shall not exceed any applicable fiscal year pay cap established 

by Congress. The Commissioner of Customs or the Commissioner's designee 

may waive this limitation in individual cases to prevent excessive costs 

or to meet emergency requirements of the Customs Service. However, 

compensation awarded to a Customs Officer for work not performed, which 

includes overtime awards during military leave or court leave, 

continuation of pay under workers compensation law, and awards made in 

accordance with back pay settlements, shall not be applied to any 

applicable pay cap calculations.



[28 FR 14808, Dec. 31, 1963]



[[Page 388]]





    Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting Sec.  

24.16, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the 

Finding Aids section of the printed volume and on GPO Access.