Thanks to Jerry Seper for reporting on the overtime issue that is negatively impacting our agents and operations (click title above for article). As has been reported on http://www.nbpc.net/, the Office of Border Patrol, under the direction of Chief Fisher, unilaterally lowered the overtime cap for Border Patrol Agents to $30,000. The legislated overtime cap for all federal employees is $35,000. Although Border Patrol is under Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the cap does not apply to other employees within CBP and there was not a similar cap implemented in the other offices within CBP.
As a result, Border Patrol Agents are being sent home at a critical time in operations instead of being allowed to work Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO) . Canine handlers are being prohibited from working with their canine partners because they have been kenneled to avoid dealing with the cap. In some cases, Border Patrol Agents have called for a canine to assist, but been told there are none available because they are in the kennels.
It should be noted, canine handlers historically have been projected to go over the cap because they receive one hour of pay per day under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for caring for their canine partners. While the legislation allows for the head of an agency to grant a waiver, the Border Patrol typically changes the agents' schedules and kennel the canines before requesting a waiver near the end of the year.
