Trade Time Bill
In 1977, the Civil Service Commission determined that firefighters, and others could only trade time within one pay period. This was followed by a Comp Gen decision upholding that early decision. Still later, IAFF challenged this holding but lost—the decision turning on the statutory provision that OPM has the authority to issue regulations regarding the payment of overtime and the statutory provisions prohibiting the payment to individuals when they have not worked and the prohibition against the Government accepting volunteer labor except where expressly permitted under the law. This prompted IAFF to seek a regulatory fix via OPM, which failed. It then sought/or is seeking a legislative remedy. On July 17, 2008 H.R. 6549 was introduced in the House. It seeks to amend 5 USC 5542, the overtime provision of title 5 by adding the following language:
(g) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any hours worked by a firefighter under a qualified trade-of-time arrangement shall be disregarded for purposes of any determination relating to eligibility for or the amount of any overtime pay under this section.
(2) For purposes of this section--
(A) the term `qualified trade-of-time arrangement' means an arrangement under which 2 firefighters who are employed by the same agency agree, solely at their option and with the approval of their employing agency, to substitute for one another during scheduled work hours in performance of work in the same capacity; and
(B) the term `firefighter' has the meaning given such term by sections 8331(21) and 8401(14), respectively.'
While AFGE supports a measure that would permit trade time arrangements going beyond one pay period, it is our view that this measure will not solve the problem. In fact, it raises more questions than it answers. For that reason, we are working with members of Congress to amend the current language to eliminate the potential problems.