470 Administrative Offsets for Former Postal Service Nonbargaining Unit Employees

471 General

471.1 Definitions

For purposes of this subchapter, the following definitions apply:

  1. Administrative offset — the withholding of money due and payable by the Postal Service or the United States to an individual, or held by the Postal Service or the United States on behalf of an individual, to satisfy a debt owed the United States by that person, as defined in 31 U.S.C. 3701(a)(1).
  2. Debt — an amount of money, funds, or property that has been determined by an agency official to be due to the United States from any person, organization, or entity (except another federal agency), including an amount of money, funds, or property owed by a person to a state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
  3. Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) — standards promulgated by the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury and codified at 31 CFR 900–904.
  4. Former employee — an individual whose employment with the Postal Service has ceased; an employee is considered formally separated from the Postal Service rolls as of close of business on the effective date of his or her separation.

471.2 Scope

These regulations apply to the collection by administrative offset of any debt owed the Postal Service by a former employee who is not included in a collective bargaining unit. Before collecting a debt by administrative offset, the Postal Service will, to the extent feasible, facilitate the informal resolution of the debt and provide the individual with an opportunity to voluntarily repay the debt.

471.3 Authority

Under section 10 of the Debt Collection Act, 31 U.S.C. 3716, the Postal Service may, after providing certain procedural rights, take an administrative offset from payments due to a former employee in order to satisfy any debt that former employee owes to the Postal Service.