Tell It To The Judge

• The reason you think the decision was wrong.
• The amount of money at issue.
• Your name, address, phone number and fax number.
• The name, address, phone number and fax number of the agency employee who denied the reimbursement.
• A copy of the denial of the reimbursement.
• Any other relevant information. "We'd rather see too much information than too little," says board Chairman Stephen M. Daniels. "We really want to see what happened."
• Your signature.

Cautions Daniels, make your case in a "reasoned, dispassionate" way. "You don't get extra points for being hysterical."

The board will acknowledge receiving the claim and tell you which judge your case was assigned to. Your agency then will have 30 days (or 60 days if anyone involved is overseas) to respond to the claim. You then have another 30 days (or 60 for overseas) to reply to your agency's position. The board usually issues a decision within three months.

If you aren't happy with the ruling, you then have another 30 days (or 60, if you're overseas) to ask the board to reconsider its decision. If you ask for this, you must have reasons: "Mere disagreement with a decision or reargument of points already made is not a sufficient ground for seeking reconsideration," says the board's Rule 407.

The board also offers alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation and case evaluation, for resolving travel and relocation disputes.

If your job is covered by a union contract, even if you are not a member of the union, you might not be able to file a claim with the board. If the dispute is covered by the negotiated grievance procedures, you must pursue your claim through that process. Agencies can forward a claim to the appeals board for an employee. This happens more than you might think-often when an agency wants to pay an employee for an expense but can't find any authorization in the regs to do so.

Rules governing the procedure for claims went into effect in May 1997 and can be found at www.gsbca.gsa.gov. The Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals has a similar procedure for service members. For information go to www.defenselink.mil/dodgc/doha/faq-cd.html. Past decisions on travel and relocation claims also are available at these sites.