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This part establishes procedures for the following:
- Requesting a waiver of a claim made by the Postal Service against a current or former employee for the recovery of pay that was erroneously paid, and
- Applying for a refund of money paid by or deducted from a current or former employee as a result of such a claim.
Definitions relevant to waiver of claims for erroneous payment of pay include the following:
- Pay — salary, wages, or compensation for services including all forms of premium pay, holiday pay, or shift differentials; payment for leave, whether accumulated, accrued, or advanced; and severance pay. Pay does not include rental allowances or payment for travel, transportation, or relocation expenses.
- Employee — throughout 437, a former employee as well as a current employee.
- Applicant — an employee (current or former) or an individual acting on behalf of the employee who applies for a waiver of a claim for overpayment of pay.
- Installation head — the postmaster, manager, or director of a field facility or the head (or designee) of a Headquarters field unit where the employee is employed or was last employed.
Waiver action may not be taken after the expiration of 3 years immediately following the date on which the erroneous payment of pay was discovered.
The applicant requests a waiver of a claim or a refund of money paid as a result of a claim by submitting PS Form 3074, Request for Waiver of Claim for Erroneous Payment of Pay, in triplicate to the installation head. The completed PS Form 3074 must contain:
- Information sufficient to identify the claim for which the waiver is sought including the amount of the claim, the period during which the erroneous payment occurred, and the nature of the erroneous payment.
- A copy of the invoice and/or demand letter sent by the Postal Service, if available, or a statement setting forth the date the erroneous payment was discovered.
- A statement of the circumstances that the applicant feels would justify a waiver of the claim by the Postal Service.
- The dates and amount of any payments made by the employee in response to the claim.
The installation head investigates the claim and writes a report of the investigation on the reverse side of the PS Form 3074. The report should include the following data and/or attachments:
- All relevant facts or circumstances that are not described or are incorrectly described by the applicant on the PS Form 3074.
- An explanation of the cause of the overpayment.
- If available, a listing of the following for each pay period in which an overpayment was made:
- The employee’s pay rate;
- The gross amount due the employee; and
- The gross amount that was actually paid.
- A statement as to whether there is any indication of fraud, misrepresentation, fault, or lack of good faith on the part of anyone having an interest.
- A recommendation for approval or disapproval of the claim based upon review of the facts and circumstances.
- A copy of the invoice or notice to the employee of the amount requested to be repaid to the Postal Service together with the PS Form 3074. If neither of these items is available, a statement establishing the discovery date of the Postal Service claim should be included.
- Copies of pertinent PS Forms 50, Notifications of Personnel Action; and any correspondence having a bearing on the claims, obtained from the employee’s official personnel folder and included with the PS Form 3074.
- Any other information that would assist in making a determination of whether collection action to collect the claim would be against equity or good conscience and would not be in the best interest of the Postal Service.
The installation head forwards the PS Form 3074 to the servicing Human Resources official, who:
- Reviews the file for accuracy and completeness.
- Completes part III of PS Form 3074.
- Adds any pertinent comments to the file.
- Forwards the entire file to the Financial Processing Branch of the Eagan Accounting Service Center.
The Eagan ASC waives the claim if it can determine from a review of the file that all of the following conditions are met:
- The overpayment occurred through administration error of the Postal Service. Excluded from consideration for waiver of collection are overpayments resulting from errors in time keeping, keypunching, machine processing of time cards or time credit, coding, and any typographical errors that are adjusted routinely in the process of current operations.
- Everyone having an interest in obtaining a waiver acted reasonably under the circumstances, without any indication of fraud, misrepresentation, fault, or lack of good faith.
- Collection of the claim would be against equity and good conscience and would not be in the best interest of the Postal Service.
When a request for waiver has been partially or completely denied, the applicant may submit a written appeal to the Eagan ASC within 15 days of receipt of the determination. The appeal letter should clearly indicate that the employee is appealing the disallowance of the waiver request and explain in detail the reasons why the employee believes the claim should be waived.
The Eagan ASC then forwards the appeal, with the entire case file, to the applicable area Finance manager for area employees or to the manager of National Accounting at Headquarters for Headquarters and area office employees for a final decision. The area Finance manager or manager of National Accounting advises the employee concerned and the Eagan ASC of his or her final decision. If necessary, the Eagan ASC adjusts its records.
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