The Foreign Service Journal, September 2006

I would like to tell you about a recent incident that I see as a potential obstacle for all government employees, especially couples and partners. My wife and I are both relatively new employees of both the federal government and the Foreign Service. We are currently on temporary duty inArlington and Warrenton, Va., respectively. We have all heard cynical stories of government agencies wasting copious amounts of money due to mismanage- ment ormisinterpretation of regulations originally written to protect resources. Unfortunately, many of the stories prove to be true, though in most cases the losses were justified by regulations that have gone astray from their origi- nal intentions. Our own experience relat- ed to convoluted, drawn-out travel guidelines. This particular incident not only defies logic; it defies plain common sense. Following the recent submission of two separate expense reports, my wife and I received an e-mail from our financial management specialist explaining that we had calculated the reports incorrectly. As a result, the reports had been recalcu- lated and the total reimbursements were reduced. This e-mail led to a series of phone conversations with the financial man- agement specialist and the office supervisor. At the conclusion of our correspondence, we had a very clear understanding of why our reimbursements had been reduced, though we still could not actually believe it. While onTDY toArlington,mywife’smaximumdaily lodg- ing rate was $180. While I was onTDY toWarrenton (approx- imately 40 miles from Arlington), my maximum daily lodg- ing rate was $67. Despite the fact that we both have our own separate travel orders, my wife and I decided to share a room in Arlington for a double occupancy daily rate of $180. I sim- ply commuted toWarrenton atmy own expense. According to the State Department interpretationof federal travel regulations, Chapter 301: 11-13, the fact thatmywife and I decided to share a room(and con- sequently save the government money) reduced our total daily lodging rate to $157. Apparently, we needed to split the cost of the daily roomrate equally, somy wife’s per diem only covered $90, while my per diem only covered a maximum rate of $67. The total thus translated to a $700-per-month difference that I had to pay out of pocket. When we asked if we could just submit one expense report for my wife’s maximum allowable per diem of $180 per day, we were informed that such an act would be both illegal and immoral. We were told that in the future we should just pay for two separate rooms, regardless of their use. It would appear that in this case, the system is not only encouraging us towaste money, but is penalizing us for not wasting it. Kenya and Nicole Owens are both Foreign Service specialists assigned to Geneva. Kenya has recently completed the core training of his new-hire orientation program, while Nicole has recently been tenured. FS VOICE: THE SYSTEM AND YOU BY KENYA OWENS It would appear that in this case, the system is not only encouraging us to waste money, but is penalizing us for not wasting it. 74 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / S E P T EMB E R 2 0 0 6 A F S A N E W S Notes from the Depths of the Bureaucracy With this essay, AFSANews is initiating a new occasional feature,“The System and You,” which will highlight your stories of bureaucratic absurdities facedwhennavigating life in the ForeignService. When possible, we will try to get an explanation for the policy or regulation causing the problem and, who knows, maybe even persuade management to make changes, either in regulations or in the interpretationof them. Sendyour submissions (aimfor 500words) to FSJ AssociateEditor Shawn Dorman at dorman@afsa.org . The first installment looks at how a husband and wife, both Foreign Service employees, were penalized for not renting separate quarters while on TDY training in the D.C. area. (Note: As we go topress, we have learned that the claims office is reviewing the case todeterminewhether an error was made.) A Housing Loss