Federal Employees Lose Bid for Commute Pay

(CN) - Citing two clear precedents, the Federal Circuit ruled that the government is not required to pay federal employees for their daily commutes.

Judge Bryson said the case was "identical" to the dispute in Adams v. U.S. and "similar" to the dispute in Bobo v. U.S.

Those cases also involved employees who claimed that they should be paid for their commutes in company cars, because the cars came with restrictions. Employees couldn't run errands or use the cars for any personal reasons during the commutes.

The court in Bobo and Adams ruled that Border Patrol dog handlers and law enforcement officers weren't entitled to travel pay, because the restrictions placed a minimal burden on their commutes.

"The task in this case is therefore to determine whether there is any reason for us to distinguish or depart from the Adams and Bobo decisions," Judge Bryson wrote.

The court concluded there wasn't and upheld the Court of Federal Claims' ruling for the government.

"We have little to add to the thorough opinion of the Court of Federal Claims," Bryson wrote.

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