12. Do these meal reimbursement provisions apply to regular part-time employees? If so, are there any special rules to follow?

Although it was not within the original intent of the amendments to the statutes and regulations to allow part-time employees to claim meal reimbursement when not travelling overnight, there is nothing to prohibit an agency head from making the decision to allow reimbursement. Part-time employees are subject to the same restrictions as other employees, but as long as the travel is over 30 miles from the official station, and the employee's regular work schedule is extended by three hours or more, one meal may be paid at the agency head's discretion.

Example: The employee's regular work schedule is 8 - noon each day. The employee is asked to travel with a group (to a location over 30 miles away) and work 8 - 5 on a particular day. Since the employee is working 8 hours that day, and this exceeds their normal work schedule by three hours, the employee could be paid for one meal at the agency head's discretion (probably lunch). However, any other full time staff (assuming their normal work schedule is 8 - 4:30) traveling with this employee would not be eligible for meal reimbursement since the normal work schedule was not extended by three or more hours.