| |
Does not have legal custody and control of the
dependents
Sharers
The term sharer as applied to overseas station
allowances is defined as a member who is entitled to
OHA and resides with one or more of the following
persons:
Members entitled to an OHA
Federal civilian employees, including
dependents, entitled to a living quarters
allowance
Individuals, excluding dependents of the
member, who contribute money toward the
payment of rent, mortgage, and/or utilities
Vicinity
For the purpose of overseas station allowances,
dependents will be considered to be residing in the
vicinity of the member’s duty station for any period
during which they reside in the country, state (when in
Alaska or Hawaii), or territory or possession of the
United States within which the member’s PDS is
located. When a member resides with the dependents
at, and commutes to, the PDS from a place in an adjacent
country (except the United States), the dependents will
be considered also as residing in the vicinity of the
member’s PDS.
ENTITLEMENT AND PAYABILITY
REQUIREMENTS
The general conditions under which OHAs and
COLAs are payable are the same. Based on the
overseas command, entitlement and playability
requirements for TLAs may vary. In the following
paragraphs, we will discuss the general conditions
under which these allowances begin and end. Later in
the chapter as we discuss each entitlement in greater
detail, we will look at the more specific eligibility and
playability requirements.
Commencement
Generally, a member’s entitlement to OHA and
COLA begins on the day the member reports to the new
PDS.
The allowances begin on the day following the day
the member reports to the new PDS under the following
circumstances:
The member reports without dependents and is
entitled to a mileage allowance in lieu of
transportation plus flat per diem allowance
(MALT PLUS) or TLA.
The member reports with dependents and is
entitled to a MALT PLUS for the member and a
TLA for the dependents or is entitled to a TLA
for both the member and dependents.
Commencement of entitlement may also vary
based on the location of the old duty station. In the case
of a member with dependents, it may vary according to
the vicinity in which the dependents were residing
during the member’s tour at the old PDS before the
member received orders to the new PDS. In some cases,
the entitlement can begin before the member’s arrival
at the new PDS. A common example of this is when
the dependents precede the member to the new PDS. In
these cases, however, the member’s old PDS must be
outside CONUS, and the dependents must have been
residing in the vicinity of the old PDS before the orders
to the new PDS were issued. If the member’s old duty
station is inside CONUS, the commencement of
entitlement must begin when the dependents arrive on
or after the effective date of the member’s orders or the
day the member departs CONUS, whichever is later.
Termination
Entitlement to OHA and COLA generally ends on
the day before the member departs in compliance with
PCS orders. If dependents remain after the member
departs because of reasons beyond the control of the
member or dependents, the allowances may continue up
to 60 days after the effective date of the member’s
orders. Some examples of qualifying reasons are illness
or hospitalization of dependents; completion of school
term; lack of acceptable housing at the new PDS; and
difficulties related to transportation of dependents,
shipment of household goods, or exigencies of the
service.
In the following sections, we will discuss each of
these allowances in detail. Notice how entitlement and
playability conditions vary, depending on the type of
allowance.
8-2
|
