5 U.S.C. § 5724 — Travel and transportation expenses of employees transferred; advancement of funds; reimbursement on commuted basistransferred

(a) Under section 5738 regulations, and with the agency head’s or designee’s approval, the agency must pay from Government funds: (1) the employee’s travel and the immediate family’s transportation when the employee transfers for permanent duty in the Government’s interest, or a payment instead of that transportation under section 5704; (2) transporting, packing, crating, temporary storage, hauling, and unpacking the employee’s household goods and personal effects, up to 18,000 pounds net weight; and (3) when a career appointee separates, or dies while in service, the appointee’s applicable travel, the immediate family’s transportation, and moving the household goods and personal effects, up to 18,000 pounds net weight, to the place where the person will live in the United States. If the appointee dies in service, or dies after separation before the travel and move are finished, the destination is where the family will live. The last payment is available only if (A) during or after the five years before becoming eligible for an annuity under subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84, the person was transferred in the Government’s interest for permanent duty as a Senior Executive Service career appointee or as a director under 38 U.S.C. § 4103(a)(8), as that provision existed on November 17, 1988; and (B) the person is eligible for an annuity upon separation, or, for an in-service death, met the annuity-eligibility requirements on the date of death.

(b) Under section 5738 regulations, an employee who moves a house trailer or mobile dwelling for use as a residence inside the continental United States, inside Alaska, or between those areas, and who otherwise qualifies for household-goods transportation under subsection (a), may instead receive: (1) a reasonable transportation allowance if the employee moves it; or (2) Government-paid commercial transportation, or reimbursement, including necessary tolls, charges, and permit fees, if someone else moves it. This payment cannot exceed what the employee could have received under subsection (a) for transporting and temporarily storing household goods and personal effects.

(c) For a transfer between points inside the continental United States, the employee must generally receive a commuted reimbursement instead of actual moving costs. The reimbursement uses per-100-pound rates set by zones in the regulations and cannot exceed the authorized weight allowance. The regulations may allow actual costs when the agency head finds that doing so costs the Government less.

(d) For a transfer to a duty post outside the continental United States, travel and transportation to and from the post are allowed to the same extent, and with the same limits, as for a new appointee under section 5722.

(e) When an employee transfers between agencies, the receiving agency pays the expenses authorized here. But for a transfer caused by a reduction in force or transfer of function, the heads of the agencies may agree that either agency will pay all or part of the expenses under this section, sections 5726(b) and 5727 (except expenses connected with a foreign-country transfer), and section 5724a(a) through (f).

(f) Regulations under section 5738 may allow an advance of funds, with the safeguards required by section 5705.

(g) These allowances do not apply to an employee transferred under the Foreign Service Act of 1980.

(h) If the transfer is mainly for the employee’s convenience or benefit, or is made at the employee’s request, Government funds may not pay the employee’s travel or transportation, or the costs of moving household goods and personal effects. This also applies to an employee in the Foreign Service of the United States.

(i) For an employee transferred within the continental United States, an agency may pay the listed travel, transportation, storage, and relocation allowances only after the employee signs an agreement to stay in Government service for 12 months after the transfer. The agreement does not apply if the employee is separated for reasons beyond the employee’s control that the agency accepts. If the employee breaks the agreement, the Government may recover its spending as a debt owed by the employee.

(j) The regulations must require reasonable advance notice before a permanent-duty reassignment or transfer from one official station or agency to another outside the employee’s commuting area. Emergency circumstances must be considered when deciding what notice is reasonable.