The Foreign Service Journal, April 2003

8 AFSA NEWS • APRIL 2003 Overseas Comparability Pay AFSA met with Under Secretary Green on Feb. 12. During the meeting, he said that the department continues to seek adminis- tration support for giving employees abroad overseas comparabili- ty pay. We also discussed a number of other issues, including: overseas security, the assignments process, support for consular officers, and repealing the World War II-era law that limits overtime compensation for Foreign Service specialists serving overseas. We thanked Under Secretary Green for all that he, Secretary Powell and other senior managers have done over the past two years to improve diplomatic readiness. Watch Out for Identity Theft Hardly a week goes by without a major U.S. newspaper or tele- vision network running a story warning of the rising tide of financial fraud committed with stolen identities (e.g., credit card numbers, Social Security numbers). Here are a few tips to help you avoid identity theft: buy a paper shredder and shred all trash showing your Social Security or credit card numbers; guard your Social Security number (note: if it doubles as your driver’s license number, then get it off there the next time that you renew); order your credit report from the main credit reporting bureaus (www.equifax.com, ww w.experian.com, an d www.tuc.com) to check for errors and unknown accounts; and keep your virus protection software updated to guard against malicious codes causing your computer to transmit files. D.C. Tax Information AFSA has learned that the District of Columbia’s Chief Financial Officer’s Web site, which contains all DC’s tax information, has changed. The address is now http://cfo.dc.gov. O ur apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. TDY in Your Own House? BY JAMES YORKE I n three recent cases, Foreign Service employees have taken advantage of a number of decisions by the Board of Contract Appeals at the General Service Administration to buy a house in the local area for use while on temporary duty between overseas assignments. In the first case, the employee learned that his onward assignment would be via language training at FSI, so he bought a property to occupy during the training period. After an initial refusal by the Resource Management Bureau, the employee was able to muster an array of decisions in his favor, including one that allowed for the payment of a per diem allowance based on the meals and miscella- neous expenses allowance and a prorated lodging allowance consist- ing of monthly interest, tax and utility costs (but not mortgage prin- cipal). The facts in the other two cases were sufficiently similar that RM agreed to pay per diem based on the first case. The BCA decisions all hinged on the fact that the residence in question had been purchased as housing for a particular period of temporary duty away from the employee’s permanent place of duty. Most employees on training between assignments meet this require- ment when they elect to be detailed, rather than assigned, to FSI, since they remain officially assigned to their previous post until arrival at the new post. What is not clear is whether an employee can return to the same house for subsequent periods of TDY between overseas assignments later on in a career. There will probably need to be a test case and another decision from the BCA, and the decision may rest on whether the house was ever occupied as a home while the employee was actually assigned to D.C. AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Continued from page 5 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: Service to America Medals The Service to America Medals (“SAMMIES”) program was created last year by the Partnership for Public Service and the Atlantic Media Company ( Government Executive , the National Journal , and The Atlantic Monthly ) to honor federal employees who have made a significant contribution to our country. SAMMIES honor unsung heroes throughout the federal workforce who make a difference every day in their work. Nomination categories include National Security and International Affairs. Awardees will be honored at an awards dinner on Oct. 15 in Washington, D.C. Significant monetary prizes ($3,000 to $10,000) are associated with the awards. Nominations will be accepted through May 2 and must be submitted online. Go to www.govexec.com/pps for more information and to submit a nomination. AFSA would like to see Foreign Service employees honored.