Q: I am a night shift employee. If I go away for training out of state and I am there for a week or two and my training class is in the day does this apply [i.e., do I continue to receive night shift differential while attending the daytime class]?
A: So, you are a GS employee who took training classes that lasted either one or two weeks. You are regularly assigned to the night shift, but the training was given during daytime hours, and you want to know if you will continue to receive night differential while attending the training classes? The short answer is no.
The reasons the answer is no are: first, under the regulations you are paid night differential if you actually perform work during a regularly scheduled shift that occurs between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. (see 5 C.F.R. § 550.121(a)). As a GS employee who is not performing work during a regularly scheduled night shift, you are not eligible for night pay. Second, the training regulations prohibit the payment of premium pay including night differential except under very limited exceptions. It does not sound like your training situation meets any of those exceptions (see 5 C.F.R. § 410.402).
