Leave without pay during regular time and absences during obligated overtime hours.
5 C.F.R. § 550.1626
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) Substitution for leave without pay during regular time. (1) For any period of leave without pay during an agent's regular time (basic workweek), an equal period of work outside the agent's regular time in the same pay period must be substituted to the extent such work was performed. Any time substituted for leave without pay must be treated for all pay computation purposes as if it were regular time (except as provided in paragraph (a)(5) of this section) and may not be considered an overtime hour of work for any purpose, including §§ 550.1621(a)(4) and (b)(4), 550.1624, and 550.1625.
(2) Hours of work must be substituted for regular time work under paragraph (a)(1) of this section before being substituted for regularly scheduled overtime within the agent's regular tour of duty under paragraph (b) of this section.
(3) Hours used for substitution under paragraph (a)(1) of this section must be substituted in the following priority order: first, irregular overtime hours; second, regularly scheduled overtime hours outside the regular tour of duty; and third, regularly scheduled overtime hours within the regular tour of duty.
(4) The substitution of overtime hours for leave without pay is solely for pay computation purposes. The substitution does not change the hours of an agent's basic workweek or the fact that the agent was in a particular type of nonpay status during those hours. The hours that are substituted are considered to have been performed when they were worked, not during the leave without pay hours for which they are substituted. For example, if an agent performs 4 hours of overtime work outside the agent's regular tour of duty during the first week of a pay period and then is placed in leave without pay during the second week due to a shutdown furlough caused by a lapse in appropriations, the 4 hours must be substituted for furlough hours for the purpose of computing pay owed the agent for the week before the furlough began.
(5) If overtime hours are substituted for an absence without approval (AWOL) or a suspension, the basic pay for such substituted hours may not be used in computing an agent's overtime supplement.
(b) Substitution for absences during obligated overtime hours within the regular tour of duty. (1) For a period of absence during obligated overtime hours within an agent's regular tour of duty, an equal period of work outside the agent's regular tour of duty in the same pay period must be substituted to the extent such work was performed. Any time so substituted must be treated for all pay computation purposes as if it were obligated overtime work and may not be considered an overtime hour of work for any other purpose, including §§ 550.1624 and 550.1625.
(2) In substituting hours of work under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, work performed on the same day as the period of absence must be substituted first in circumstances described in § 550.1622(b)(2). Hours substituted under this paragraph must be substituted in the following priority order: first, irregular overtime hours; and second, regularly scheduled overtime hours outside the regular tour of duty.
(3) After substituting hours under paragraph (b)(2) of this section, any remaining hours used for substitution under paragraph (b)(1) of this section must be substituted in the following priority order: first, irregular overtime hours; and second, regularly scheduled overtime hours outside the regular tour of duty.
(4) The substitution of overtime hours outside the regular tour of duty for obligated overtime hours not worked is solely for pay computation purposes. The substitution does not change the hours of an agent's regular tour of duty. The hours that are substituted are considered to have been performed when they were worked, not during the obligated overtime hours for which they are substituted.
(c) Application of compensatory time off or future overtime work to offset overtime hours debt. (1) If a Border Patrol agent does not have sufficient additional work in a pay period to substitute for all periods of absence during obligated overtime hours within the agent's regular tour of duty for that pay period, any unused balance of compensatory time off hours previously earned under § 550.1625 must be applied towards the newly accrued overtime hours debt.
(2) If an agent has a remaining overtime hours debt after applying paragraphs (b) and (c)(1) of this section, any additional overtime work outside the agent's regular tour of duty in subsequent pay periods that would otherwise be credited under § 550.1624 or § 550.1625 must be applied towards the overtime hours debt until that debt is satisfied. The application of such hours must be done in the following priority order: first, irregular overtime hours; and second, regularly scheduled overtime hours outside the regular tour of duty. Any overtime hour applied under this paragraph (c)(2) may not be considered an overtime hour of work for any other purpose.
(d) Unsatisfied overtime hours debt at movement to a non-agent position or separation. (1) Any unsatisfied overtime hours debt that exists at the time of movement to a non-agent position or separation from Federal service must be recovered to the extent possible by offsetting the affected employee's positive balance (if any) of annual leave, time-off awards, or compensatory time off for travel. In cases where the offset will totally eliminate the debt, an agent's balances must be applied in the following order: first, the balance of annual leave; second, the balance of time-off awards; and third, the balance of compensatory time off for travel.
(2) Any unsatisfied overtime hours debt that exists at the time of movement to a non-agent position or separation from Federal service after applying paragraph (d)(1) of this section must be converted to a monetary debt equal to the result of multiplying the agent's hourly rate of basic pay at the time of movement to a non-agent position or separation by the number of hours in the overtime hours debt. CBP must follow standard debt collection procedures to recover any debt.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-5.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026