The Foreign Service Journal, November 2009

T he VP State column is often devoted to the big issues. But part of my job is also to help our members avoid problems. Although AFSA’s Labor Management office handles a broad variety of cases,many are related to shipping and transportation, medical bills, the Separate Maintenance Allowance and reporting of foreign contacts. These are areas in which the department is traditionally not very flexible, usually claiming (rightly or wrongly) when disputes arise that employees made poor decisions. I would like to examine these common problems more closely in this column. Shipping and Transportation: Al- though the department does most of the work related to shipping and transportation, responsibility for compliance with the regulations ulti- mately falls to the employee. Com- mon issues include disputes over billing for excess household effects weight and over unusual or prohibited routing (e.g., failure to comply with the Fly America Act), as well as issues related to travel accounting. We strongly encourage you to pack out on orders early enough to obtain the accurate weight of household effects and storage before traveling. That way, overages can be ad- dressed before shipment and charges for excess weight avoided. Obtain in writing any advice related to the propri- ety of a given routing. You should also be aware that you might be held liable for transportation of goods that might not be considered legitimate household effects (such as wooden planks or ceramic tiles) and will be held liable for shipment of prohibited items (such as ivory carvings). When in doubt, check with post management and AFSA before shipping questionable items. With regard to records, note that vouchers and/or out- standing advances may be audited several years after travel has occurred. It is wise to retain copies of vouchers for at least five years, or even longer, after traveling. Paying for Medical Treatment: If you or a family member is treated at a hospital overseas or evacuated to the U.S. for medical treatment, do not confuse the absence of a bill with the absence of an obligation. When the department makes the initial payment to the hospital, remember that you are required to submit any bill to your insurance company and turn over what the insurance company pays you to the de- partment. The department then acts as the secondary in- surer. It is not unusual for bills to go to the wrong place and to take considerable time to catch up to the employee. The first claim for payment may come from the department months, or even years, after the event in the form of a notice to gar- nish the employee’s wages. Members are advised to follow up immediately after medical treatment and to monitor the status of billing to avoid nasty surprises. Selection of a Virtual Separate Maintenance Allowance or Involuntary SMA Location: Many employees have foreign-born spouses or, for other reasons, choose to arrange for family members to reside outside the U.S. under Separate Maintenance Allowance agreements. In these situations, the employee must select a virtual SMA location within the U.S. for the purpose of cal- culating and receiving benefits. Often this is the home leave address, but it could be anywhere in the U.S. Bear in mind that the selection of a virtual SMA location may obligate the employee to bear the costs for shipping and transportation to an onward assignment. Members are strongly encouraged to explore all implications of selecting a particular location before declaring it as a virtual SMA site. Contact Reporting: The new Foreign Affairs Manual sec- tions (12 FAM 262 and 270) published in February, clarify contact reporting and other reporting requirements affect- ing Foreign Service members, both overseas and domesti- cally. They also greatly expand the definition of contact and the variety of situations that must be reported. Failure to comply with these requirements is a recurring reason for the suspension and often revocation of security clearances. It is incumbent on all Foreign Service members to familiarize themselves with the rules and comply with them. As with other official documents, members would be wise to retain copies of all DS-1887 forms and other documents they pro- vide in compliance with these requirements. One should never assume that files inWashington will be complete. What should be small issues can quickly become big ones. AFSA is here to help resolve any disputes that might arise. But the best protection is to anticipate problems before they occur. ❏ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51 A F S A N E W S An Ounce of Prevention V.P. VOICE: STATE ■ BY DANIEL HIRSCH AFSA is here to help resolve any disputes that might arise, but the best protection is to anticipate problems before they occur.