§ 7457. On-call pay

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

1. 1991

   Department of Veterans Affairs Health-Care Personnel Act of 1991

   Pub. L. 102–40 title IV § 401(b)(4) · 105 Stat. 187

   Enacted · 38 U.S.C. § 7457

   (Added Pub. L. 102–40, title IV, § 401(b)(4), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 236.)

   Source evidence

   Code source credit
   (Added Pub. L. 102–40, title IV, § 401(b)(4), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 236.)

   Enacted provision · exact public law section
   (4) Chapter 74 is further amended by inserting after subchapter III (as added by section 102) the following: “SUBCHAPTER IV— PAY FOR NURSES AND OTHER HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL “§ 7453. Nurses: additional pay “(a) In addition to the rate of basic pay provided for nurses, a nurse shall receive additional pay as provided by this section. “(b) A nurse performing service on a tour of duty, any part of which is within the period commencing at 6 postmeridian and ending at 6 antemeridian, shall receive additional pay for each hour of service on such tour at a rate equal to 10 percent of the nurse’s hourly rate of basic pay if at least four hours of such tour fall between 6 postmeridian and 6 antemeridian. When less than four hours of such tour fall between 6 postmeridian and 6 antemeridian, the nurse shall be paid the differential for each hour of service performed between those hours. “(c) A nurse performing service on a tour of duty, any part of which is within the period commencing at midnight Friday and ending at midnight Sunday, shall receive additional pay for each hour of service on such tour at a rate equal to 25 percent of such nurse’s hourly rate of basic pay. “(d) A nurse performing service on a holiday designated by Federal statute or Executive order shall receive for each hour of such service the nurse’s hourly rate of basic pay, plus additional pay at a rate equal to such hourly rate of basic pay, for that holiday service, including overtime service. Any service required to be performed by a nurse on such a designated holiday shall be deemed to be a minimum of two hours in duration. “(e) (1) A nurse performing officially ordered or approved hours of service in excess of 40 hours in an administrative workweek, or in excess of eight hours in a day, shall receive overtime pay for each hour of such additional service. The overtime rates shall be one and one-half times such nurse’s hourly rate of basic pay. “(2) For the purposes of this subsection, overtime must be of at least 15 minutes duration in a day to be creditable for overtime pay. “(3) Compensatory time off in lieu of pay for service performed under the provisions of this subsection shall not be permitted, except as voluntarily requested in writing by the nurse in question. “(4) Any excess service performed under this subsection on a day when service was not scheduled for such nurse, or for which such nurse is required to return to the nurse’s place of employment, shall be deemed to be a minimum of two hours in duration. “(5) For the purposes of this subsection, the period of a nurse’s officially ordered or approved travel away from such nurse’s duty station may not be considered to be hours of service unless— “(A) such travel occurs during such nurse’s tour of duty; or “(B) such travel— “(i) involves the performance of services while traveling, “(ii) is incident to travel that involves the performance of services while traveling, “(iii) is carried out under arduous conditions as determined by the Secretary, or “(iv) results from an event which could not be scheduled or controlled administratively. “(f) For the purpose of computing the additional pay provided by subsections (b), (c), (d), or (e), a nurse’s hourly rate of basic pay shall be derived by dividing such nurse’s annual rate of basic pay by 2,080. “(g) When a nurse is entitled to two or more forms of additional pay under subsections (b), (c), (d), or (e) for the same period of service, the amounts of such additional pay shall be computed separately on the basis of such nurse’s hourly rate of basic pay, except that no overtime pay as provided in subsection (e) shall be payable for overtime service performed on a holiday designated by Federal statute or Executive order in addition to pay received under subsection (d) for such service. “(h) A nurse who is officially scheduled to be on call outside such nurse’s regular hours or on a holiday designated by Federal statute or Executive order shall be paid for each hour of such on-call duty, except for such time as such nurse may be called back to work, at a rate equal to 10 percent of the hourly rate for excess service as provided in subsection (e). “(i) Any additional pay paid pursuant to this section shall not be considered as basic pay for the purposes of the following provisions of title 5 (and any other provision of law relating to benefits based on basic pay): “(1) Subchapter VI of chapter 55. “(2) Section 5595. “(3) Chapters 81, 83, 84, and 87 of title 5. “(j) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary may increase the rates of additional pay authorized under subsections (b) through (h) if the Secretary determines that it is necessary to do so in order to obtain or retain the services of nurses. “(2) An increase under paragraph (1) in rates of additional pay— “(A) may be made at any specific Department health-care facility in order to provide nurses, or any category of nurses, at such facility additional pay in an amount competitive with, but not exceeding, the amount of the same type of pay that is paid to the same category of nurses at non-Federal health-care facilities in the same geographic area as such Department health-care facility (based upon a reasonably representative sampling of such non-Federal facilities); and “(B) may be made on a nation-wide, local, or other geographic basis if the Secretary finds that such an increase is justified on the basis of a review of the need for such increase (based upon a reasonably representative sampling of non-Federal health-care facilities in the geographic area involved). “§ 7454. Physician assistants and other health care professionals: additional pay “(a) Physician assistants and expanded-function dental auxiliaries shall be entitled to additional pay on the same basis as provided for nurses in section 7453 of this title. “(b) When the Secretary determines it to be necessary in order to obtain or retain the services of certified or registered respiratory therapists, licensed physical therapists, licensed practical or vocational nurses, pharmacists, or occupational therapists, the Secretary may, on a nation-wide, local, or other geographic basis, pay persons employed in such positions additional pay on the same basis as provided for nurses in section 7453 of this title. “(c) The Secretary shall prescribe by regulation standards for compensation and payment under this section. “§ 7455. Increases in rates of basic pay “(a) (1) Subject to subsections (b), (c), and (d), when the Secretary determines it to be necessary in order to obtain or retain the services of persons described in paragraph (2), the Secretary may increase the minimum, intermediate, or maximum rates of basic pay authorized under applicable statutes and regulations. Any increase in such rates of basic pay— “(A) may be made on a nation-wide basis, local basis, or other geographic basis; and “(B) may be made— “(i) for one or more of the grades listed in the schedules in subsection (b)(1) of section 7404 of this title; “(ii) for one or more of the health personnel fields within such grades; or “(iii) for one or more of the grades of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5. “(2) Paragraph (1) applies to the following: “(A) Individuals employed in positions listed in paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 7401 of this title. “(B) Health-care personnel who— “(i) are employed in the Administration (other than administrative, clerical, and physical plant maintenance and protective services employees); “(ii) are paid under the General Schedule pursuant to section 5332 of title 5; “(iii) are determined by the Secretary to be providing either direct patient-care services or services incident to direct patient-care services; and “(iv) would not otherwise be available to provide medical care and treatment for veterans. “(C) Employees who are Department police officers providing services under section 218 of this title. “(b) Increases in rates of basic pay may be made under subsection (a) only in order— “(1) to provide pay in an amount competitive with, but not exceeding, the amount of the same type of pay paid to the same category of personnel at non-Federal facilities in the same labor market; “(2) to achieve adequate staffing at particular facilities; or “(3) to recruit personnel with specialized skills, especially those with skills which are especially difficult or demanding. “(c) The amount of any increase under subsection (a) in the maximum rate for any grade may not (except in the case of nurse anesthetists and licensed physical therapists) exceed the amount by which the maximum for such grade (under applicable provisions of law other than this subsection) exceeds the minimum for such grade (under applicable provisions of law other than this subsection), and the maximum rate as so increased may not exceed the rate paid for individuals serving as Assistant Chief Medical Director. “(d) (1) In the exercise of the authority provided in subsection (a) President. with respect to personnel described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (2) of that subsection to increase the rates of basic pay for any category of personnel not appointed under subchapter I, the Secretary shall, not less than 45 days before the effective date of a proposed increase, notify the President of the Secretary’s intention to provide such an increase. “(2) Such a proposed increase shall not take effect if, before the effective date of the proposed increase, the President disapproves such increase and provides the appropriate committees of the Congress with a written statement of the President’s reasons for such disapproval. “(3) If, before that effective date, the President approves such increase, the Secretary may advance the effective date to any date not earlier than the date of the President’s approval. “§ 7456. Nurses: special rules for weekend duty “(a) Subject to subsection (b), if the Secretary determines it to be necessary in order to obtain or retain the services of nurses at any Department health-care facility, the Secretary may provide, in the case of nurses appointed under this chapter and employed at such facility, that such nurses who work two regularly scheduled 12-hour tours of duty within the period commencing at midnight Friday and ending at midnight the following Sunday shall be considered for all purposes (except computation of full-time equivalent employees for the purposes of determining compliance with personnel ceilings) to have worked a full 40-hour basic workweek. “(b) (1) Basic and additional pay for a nurse who is considered under subsection (a) to have worked a full 40-hour basic workweek shall be subject to paragraphs (2) and (3). “(2) The hourly rate of basic pay for such a nurse for service performed as part of a regularly scheduled 12-hour tour of duty within the period commencing at midnight Friday and ending at midnight the following Sunday shall be derived by dividing the nurse’s annual rate of basic pay by 1,248. “(3) (A) Such a nurse who performs a period of service in excess of such nurse’s regularly scheduled two 12-hour tours of duty is entitled to overtime pay under section 7453(e) of this title, or other applicable law, for officially ordered or approved service performed in excess of eight hours on a day other than a Saturday or Sunday or in excess of 24 hours within the period commencing at midnight Friday and ending at midnight the following Sunday. “(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), a nurse to whom this subsection is applicable is not entitled to additional pay under section 7453 of this title, or other applicable law, for any period included in a regularly scheduled 12-hour tour of duty. “(C) If the Secretary determines it to be further necessary in order to obtain or retain the services of nurses at a particular facility, a nurse to whom this paragraph is applicable who performs service in excess of such nurse s regularly scheduled two 12-hour tours of duty may be paid overtime pay under section 7453(e) of this title, or other applicable law, for all or part of the hours of officially ordered or approved service performed by such nurse in excess of 40 hours during an administrative workweek. “(c) A nurse described in subsection (b)(1) who is absent on approved sick leave or annual leave during a regularly scheduled 12-hour tour of duty shall be charged for such leave at a rate of five hours of leave for three hours of absence. “(d) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for the implementation of this section. “§ 7457. On-call pay “(a) The Secretary may pay an employee to whom this section applies pay at the rate provided in section 7453(h) of this title except for such time as the employee may be called back to work. “(b) This section applies to an employee who meets each of the following criteria: “(1) The employee is employed in a position listed in paragraph (3) of section 7401 of this title or meets the criteria specified in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of section 7455(a)(2)(B) of this title. “(2) The employee is employed in a work unit for which on-call premium pay is authorized. “(3) The employee is officially scheduled to be on call outside such employee’s regular hours or on a holiday designated by Federal statute or Executive order. “(c) An employee who is eligible for on-call pay under subsection (a) and who was receiving standby premium pay pursuant to section 5545 of title 5 on May 20, 1988, shall, as long as such employee is employed in the same position and work unit and remains eligible for such standby pay, receive pay for any period of on-call duty at the rate equal to the greater of— “(1) the rate of pay which such employee would receive if being paid the rate of standby pay pursuant to such section that such individual would be entitled to receive if such individual were not scheduled to be on call instead, or “(2) the rate of pay which such employee is entitled to receive including on-call premium pay described in subsection (a).”.

1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision