Section 550.111 - Authorization of overtime pay(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (d), (f), and (g) of this section, overtime work means work in excess of 8 hours in a day or in excess of 40 hours in an administrative workweek that is-(1) Officially ordered or approved; and(2) Performed by an employee. Hours of work in excess of 8 in a day are not included in computing hours of work in excess of 40 hours in an administrative workweek.(b) Except as otherwise provided in this subpart, a department shall pay for overtime work at the rates provided in § 550.113 .(c) Overtime work in excess of any included in a regularly scheduled administrative workweek may be ordered or approved only in writing by an officer or employee to whom this authority has been specifically delegated.(d) For an employee for whom the first 40 hours of duty in an administrative workweek is his basic workweek under § 610.111(b) of this chapter, overtime work means work in excess of 40 hours in an administrative workweek that is:(1) Officially ordered or approved, and(2) Performed by an employee, when the employee's basic pay exceeds the minimum rate for GS-10 (including any applicable special rate of pay for law enforcement officers or special pay adjustment for law enforcement officers under section 403 or 404 of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-509 ), respectively; a locality-based comparability payment under 5 U.S.C. 5304 ; and any applicable special rate of pay under 5 U.S.C. 5305 or similar provision of law) or when the employee is engaged in professional or technical, engineering or scientific activities. For purposes of this section and section 5542(a) of title 5. United States Code, an employee is engaged in professional or technical engineering or scientfic activities when he or she is assigned to perform the duties of a profeesional or support technician position in the physical, mathematical, natural, medical, or social sciences or engineering or architecture.(e) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (d) of this section, when an employee's basic workweek includes a daily tour of duty of more than 8 hours and his hourly rate of basic pay exceeds the hourly rate of overtime pay provided by § 550.113 , the department shall pay him at his basic rate of pay for each hour of his daily tour of duty within his basic workweek.(f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (f)(2) of this section, for any criminal investigator receiving availability pay under § 550.181 , overtime work means actual work that is scheduled in advance of the administrative workweek- (i) In excess of 10 hours on a day containing hours that are part of such investigator's basic 40-hour workweek; or(ii) On a day not containing hours that are part of such investigator's basic 40-hour workweek.(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (f)(1) of this section, all overtime work scheduled in advance of the administrative workweek on a day containing part of a criminal investigator's basic 40-hour workweek must be compensated under this section if both of the following conditions are met:(i) The overtime work involves protective duties authorized by section 3056(a) of title 18, United States Code, or section 2709(a)(3) of title 22, United States Code; and(ii) The investigator performs on that same day at least 2 consecutive hours of overtime work that are not scheduled in advance of the administrative workweek and are compensated by availability pay.(3) Any work that would be overtime work under this section but for paragraphs (f)(1) and (f)(2) of this section will be compensated by availability pay under § 550.181 .(g) For firefighters compensated under subpart M of this part, overtime work means officially ordered or approved work in excess of 106 hours in a biweekly pay period, or, if the agency establishes a weekly basis for overtime pay computations, in excess of 53 hours in an administrative workweek.(h) Availability hours, as described in § 550.182(c) , are not hours of work for the purpose of determining overtime pay under this section.(i) An employee is not entitled to overtime pay under this subpart for time spent in training, except as provided in § 410.402 of this chapter.(j) For Border Patrol agents covered by 5 U.S.C. 5550 and subpart P of this part, overtime work means hours of work in excess of applicable thresholds, as specified in § 550.1623 , excluding hours that are-(1) Compensated by payment of an overtime supplement for regularly scheduled overtime within the agent's regular tour of duty under § 550.1621 ;(2) Compensated by the earning of compensatory time off under § 550.1625 ; or(3) Used in substitution or application under § 550.1626 .33 FR 12458, Sept. 4, 1968, as amended at 34 FR 19495, Dec. 10, 1969; 48 FR 36805, Aug. 15, 1983; 56 FR 20341, May 3, 1991; 57 FR 2434, Jan. 22, 1992; 59 FR 66151, Dec. 23, 1994; 61 FR 3542, Feb. 1, 1996; 63 FR 64592, Nov. 23, 1998; 64 FR 4520, Jan. 29, 1999; 64 FR 69175, Dec. 10, 1999; 80 FR 58111 , Sept. 25, 2015