Rule on Sunday premium pay takes effect next month
A 2009 court case decided part-time employees are eligible for special pay.
Part-time federal employees can receive premium pay for work performed on Sundays, according to a final rule that takes effect Sept. 22.
The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday published in the Federal Register the final regulation extending Sunday premium pay, removing all references to full-time employees. In May 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided in Fathauer v. United States that part-time workers are eligible for such pay when they work on Sundays. The case involved meteorologists at the National Weather Service.
Sunday premium pay is equal to 25 percent of an employee's rate of basic pay for each hour of Sunday work. OPM issued a memorandum in December 2009 to agencies after the court decision notifying them of the change and providing them with guidance on processing claims for back pay retroactive to May 26, 2009.
Occasional, or intermittent, employees are not eligible to earn Sunday premium pay, the final rule stated. "Sunday premium pay may be paid only to full-time and part-time employees who have Sundays as part of their non-overtime regularly scheduled tour of duty," the regulation said.