Title 5Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73

§5942a Separate maintenance allowance for duty at Johnston Island

Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart D— - Pay and Allowances › Chapter CHAPTER 59— - ALLOWANCES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - MISCELLANEOUS ALLOWANCES › § 5942a

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

A federal employee (not one who works for a government-owned corporation) sent to work at Johnston Island can get a separate maintenance allowance under rules the President sets. The head of the employee’s agency must find two things: that the employee needs to keep a spouse or dependents living somewhere else because Johnston Island is dangerous or because it’s needed for the government’s convenience, and that the allowance will help pay the extra costs of keeping them off the island. The President’s rules will also say how the allowance amount is set.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §5942a

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Notwithstanding section 5536 of this title, and under regulations prescribed by the President, an employee of an Executive agency (other than a Government corporation) who is assigned to a post of duty at Johnston Island, a possession of the United States in the Pacific Ocean, is entitled to receive a separate maintenance allowance if the head of the employing agency finds that—
(1)it is necessary for the employee to maintain the employee’s spouse or dependents, or both, at a location other than Johnston Island—
(A)by reason of dangerous or adverse living conditions at Johnston Island; or
(B)for the convenience of the Federal Government; and
(2)the allowance is needed to help the employee meet the additional expenses involved in maintaining the employee’s spouse or dependents, or both, at such other location rather than at the post.
(b)The regulations prescribed by the President shall include provisions for determining the rate at which an allowance under this section shall be paid.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 102–190, div. A, title X, § 1092(b), Dec. 5, 1991, 105 Stat. 1487, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by subsection (a) [enacting this section] shall take effect on the first day of the first month beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 5, 1991].”

Executive Documents

Delegation of Functions Authority of President under this section to prescribe

Regulations

delegated to the Office of Personnel Management by section 8(4) of Ex. Ord. No. 11609, set out as a note under section 301 of Title 3, The President.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 5942a

Title 5Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73