Federal agencies cannot use department funds to buy disposable flatware for employee use, as those items don't directly support an agency's mission, according to a recent decision from the Government Accountability Office. 
 
 The Department of Commerce instituted a policy in 2009 to provide disposable cups, plates and utensils, along with hand sanitizer and disinfectants to employees at the National Weather Service offices in response to concerns over an outbreak of the H1N1 virus, colloquially called "swine flu." 
 
 In 2013, Commerce announced that it would no longer provide disposable flatware to the regional offices, stating that the "purchase was for the primary benefit of the employees" and not the agency's mission. 
 
 "Because Commerce has not demonstrated that the provision of items that would otherwise constitute a personal expense directly advances its statutory mission … Commerce may not use appropriated funds to purchase these items," GAO wrote, concurring with Commerce's decision. "Here, the disposable cups, plates and cutlery are primarily for the convenience of agency employees and thus constitute a personal expense." 
 
 Federal regulations allow agencies to purchase office supplies and other goods needed for day-to-day operations, however they cannot provide items for the personal use of their employees unless those items can be tied directly to the agency's mission. 
 
 The National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO) objected to the decision, citing a 2009 memorandum of understanding between the union and Commerce Department. 
 
 The matter went to arbitration in late 2013, with the arbitrator determining that disposable utensils led to better employee performance, as they were less likely to get sick and would spend less time cleaning non-disposable dishes in the break rooms. 
 
 However, a Dec. 23, 2014 decision from the GAO found the opposite, stating that disposable flatware constitutes a personal expense and the arbitrator failed to provide sufficient evidence that "an expenditure of this nature is an essential part of accomplishing a statutory responsibility of the agency." 

 
 
 (Julia Ewan/The Washington Post) 
 
 (This post has been updated.) 
 
 Federal workers who pack their lunches should also remember to pack their own utensils. 
 
 A Government Accountability Office decision released last week determined that federal agencies cannot supply “disposable cups, plates, and cutlery” for employee use because they are for personal benefit and not a specific government purpose. 
 
 The issue was brought to light in a dispute between the Commerce Department and the National Weather Service employees. In 2009, Commerce had allowed the weather offices to supply hand sanitizer, paper goods and plasticware in response to the H1N1 flu outbreak. In 2013, Commerce determined that those offices could no longer provide “disposable plates, cups, and cutlery.” 
 
 The NWS employees organization objected and the subject went to arbitration. The arbitrator at the time sided with the employees that providing the disposable items could lead to a healthier, and thus more productive, workplace. But the Commerce Department appealed to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), and that decision is still pending. 
 
 Unbeknownst to the NWS employees, Commerce asked GAO to separately look into the dispute. The GAO made a final decision on Dec. 23 that the bar was very high for allowing taxpayer dollars to be used for anything viewed as a personal expense. 
 
 “Disposable cups, plates, and cutlery clearly constitute a personal expense,” the GAO concluded. “Commerce has not demonstrated that using appropriated funds to provide these items would directly advance its statutory mission and that the benefit accruing to the government through the provision of these items outweighs the personal nature of the expense.” 
 
 In June 2014, when Commerce’s general counsel appealed, the NWS employee organization put out a statement shaming the agency for wasting taxpayer dollars on the dispute: 
 
 “It is hard to imagine that with current international trade violations, international piracy of American intellectual property, and commercial espionage, the General Counsel of DOC would rather spend its efforts to make sure that NWS employees don’t get paper plates and utensils.” 
 
 Dan Sobien, a meteorologist and president of the National Weather Service employee organization, said he didn’t know GAO was asked to look into the issue and only found out on Christmas Eve while at his mother in law’s house when he checked his e-mail. 
 
 Sobien said most national weather offices are small, remote outposts with only two people per shift responsible for all the warnings and all the forecasts for that area. 
 
 “In most places you can’t run out to Burger King and grab a burger to bring back to work,” he said. “Many eat at their work station while monitoring weather.” 
 
 While the GAO has offered its opinion, it is Sobien’s understanding that the FLRA will make the binding decision. 
 
 “Its really a bizarre thing,” he said. “There’s no way this could cost them more than five or ten thousand dollars.” 
 
 Edda Emmanuelli Perez, managing associate general counsel at GAO, said it didn’t do an audit, just issued a ruling on the merits, so she doesn’t know how much was spent by the offices on the disposable items, or if other government agencies buy their offices such items. The GAO can’t enforce its decision, she said, but the decision is a message to the greater federal government community that it views those purchases as personal expenses. 
 

– Federal workers need to provide their own dishes and cutlery at work, according to the Government Accountability Office. National Weather Service employees have been feuding with the Commerce Department, arguing federal agencies should foot the bill for dishware, since 2013 when Commerce said it could no longer provide "disposable plates, cups, and cutlery" initially supplied during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak. An arbitrator sided with the employees, noting the items led to better work performance, but Commerce appealed. The Federal Labor Relations Authority has yet to rule on the case, but a separate decision from the GAO finds disposable utensils and tableware "clearly constitute a personal expense," the Washington Post reports. More specifically, the items "are primarily for the convenience of agency employees" and can't be paid for with taxpayer dollars, the decision reads, per the Federal Times. "Commerce has not demonstrated that using appropriated funds to provide these items would directly advance its statutory mission." The president of the NWS employee organization says most national weather offices are remote with few employees. "Many eat at their work station," he says. The workers have previously criticized Commerce for spending money on the dispute when "there's no way this could cost them more than $5,000 or $10,000," he adds. The GAO can't enforce its decision, however, and NWS workers expect the still-pending FLRA ruling to be binding.