
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 38USC7453]

 
                      TITLE 38--VETERANS' BENEFITS
 
              PART V--BOARDS, ADMINISTRATIONS, AND SERVICES
 
          CHAPTER 74--VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION--PERSONNEL
 
      SUBCHAPTER IV--PAY FOR NURSES AND OTHER HEALTH-CARE PERSONNEL
 
Sec. 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 
subsection (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 subsection (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.

    (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 nationwide, 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).

(Added Pub. L. 102-40, title IV, Sec. 401(b)(4), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 
232; amended Pub. L. 103-446, title XII, Sec. 1201(e)(24), (g)(6), Nov. 
2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4686, 4687.)


                            Prior Provisions

    Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in 
section 4107(e) of this title prior to the repeal of that section as 
part of the complete revision of chapter 73 of this title by Pub. L. 
102-40.


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 103-446, Sec. 1201(e)(24), 
substituted ``subsection (b), (c), (d), or (e)'' for ``subsections (b), 
(c), (d), or (e)''.
    Subsec. (i)(3). Pub. L. 103-446, Sec. 1201(g)(6), struck out ``of 
title 5'' before period at end.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 7454, 7456, 7457 of this 
title; title 5 sections 6123, 6128.
