§3657a Quarters Allowances

Summary

The Department of Defense can pay a quarters allowance to certain U.S. citizen civilian employees who work at the place that used to be called the Canal Zone when government housing is not available. "Position" means a civilian job. "Employee" means someone in the Department of Defense whose permanent duty station is in the area that, before October 1, 1979, was called the Canal Zone. Covered people include U.S. citizens who worked there before October 1, 1979 for the Panama Canal Company, the Canal Zone Government, or another agency, and other U.S. citizen employees who were recruited inside the United States. How much is paid is set by Department of Defense rules. The allowance cannot be more than the extra the employee actually pays compared with what they would have paid if government quarters had been provided. That extra is figured by taking the smaller of the employee’s actual rent and utilities or the maximum allowed under the State Department’s foreign-area rules, and subtracting the estimated rent and utilities the employee would have paid for government-provided quarters. This applies regardless of any related DoD election.