370.550.8 - Premium Pay for Sunday Work

Date: 10/12/1988

OPR: Administration/Office of Personnel

1. Purpose. This chapter prescribes general eligibility requirements for premium pay for Sunday work.

2. Definitions.

A. Sunday Work means non-overtime work performed during a regularly scheduled daily tour of duty when any part of that daily tour is performed on a Sunday.

B. Basic workweek, for full-time employees, means the 40-hour workweek established in accordance with SM 370.610.1.

C. Tour of duty means the hours of a day (a daily tour of duty) and the days of an administrative workweek (a weekly tour of duty) that are scheduled in advance and during which an employee is required to perform work on a regularly recurring basis.

D. Administrative workweek means the 7 day calendar week Sunday through Saturday.

E. Rate of basic pay.

(1) For General Schedule (pay plans GS, GG, FC) Employees, means the rate of pay fixed by law or administrative action for the position held by an employee before any deductions and exclusive of additional pay of any kind.

(2) For Wage System Employees, means the rate of pay fixed by law or administrative action, including a retained rate of pay and rate on temporary promotion, for the job held by an employee before any deductions plus any night shift or environmental differential.

3. Authorization.

A. An employee who is paid under the General Schedule is entitled to be paid at their rate of basic pay plus premium pay at a rate equal to 25 percent of their rate of basic pay for each hour of regularly scheduled Sunday work not in excess of 8 hours.

B. A wage employee (paid under the Federal Wage System schedules) whose regular work schedule includes an 8-hour period of service a part of which is on Sunday is entitled to additional pay at the rate of 25 percent of their hourly rate for each hour of work performed during that 8-hour period of service. (Comptroller General decision B-202626, June 15, 1982.)

4. Eligibility Requirements.

A. Employment must be full-time.

B. Any time between midnight Saturday and mid night Sunday must be included in the employee's regularly scheduled tour of duty within a basic workweek approved in advance by proper authority (see SM 370.610.1.2C(4)).

5. Entitlement.

A. An employee whose regularly scheduled tour of duty includes a period of service of less than 8 hours, any part of which falls between midnight Saturday and midnight Sunday, is entitled to premium pay for the number of hours worked not in excess of the number of hours regularly scheduled for the period. (Comptroller General decision B-159950, October 19, 1966 and 46 Comptroller General 337.)

B. When an employee has two separate tours of duty on Sunday (one beginning on Saturday and ending on Sunday, and another beginning on Sunday and ending on Monday) the employee is entitled to premium pay for Sunday work which is not over time work for no more than 8 hours for each tour of duty.

6. Restrictions.

A. Maximum Limitation for General Schedule Employees. Premium pay may not be paid to an employee whose basic pay rate equals or exceeds the maximum rate for grade GS-15. An employee whose basic pay rate is less than the maximum of GS-15 may be paid premium pay only to the extent that it would not cause the aggregate rate of pay (straight-time base pay plus premium pay) to exceed the maximum rate for grade GS-15.

B. Leave of Absence. Premium pay is not payable during periods of leave of absence. (Comptroller General decision B-159779 dated August 22, 1966.)

C. Pay for Hours in Excess of 8. An employee can not be paid the Sunday premium pay for hours in excess of 8 hours on a Sunday. Hours in excess of 8 hours on a Sunday will be paid as overtime, at the same rate as overtime work performed on another day.

D. Annual Leave. Premium payment is not paid if the employee is on annual leave for the entire daily tour of duty that includes Sunday. The employee must perform some work on Sunday to be entitled to the premium pay for Sunday work.

7. Relationship to Overtime, Night, and Holiday Pay. Premium pay for Sunday work is in addition to premium pay for holiday work, overtime pay, or night shift differential. Premium pay for Sunday work is not included in the rate of basic pay used to compute the pay for holiday pay, overtime work, or night differential.

Hours in excess of 8 hours on a Sunday will be paid as overtime, at the same rate as overtime work performed on another day.