Effective August 21, 2014, the Postal Service™ is revising the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM), subchapter 470, Administrative Offsets for Former Postal Service Nonbargaining Unit Employees, and subchapter 480, Administrative Offsets for Former Postal Service Bargaining Unit Employees, as follows:
n Adding a new part 473
n Adding a new part 483
n Renumbering previous part 483 to 484 and 484 to 485.
These changes reflect the addition of a new CFR section: 39 CFR 492, Collection of Delinquent Non-tax Debts by Administrative Wage Garnishment. This new section will allow the Treasury to collect debts that the Postal Service has already referred to it for collection by garnishing any wages the debtor receives from a non-governmental, private employer.
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Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM)
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4 Pay Administration
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470 Administrative Offsets for Former Postal Service Nonbargaining Unit Employees
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[Add new section 473 to read as follows:]
473 Collection by Administrative Wage Garnishment
After the Postal Service refers a debt to the Treasury, as described in 472.3, the Treasury may decide to pursue collection of the debt by administrative wage garnishment on the Postal Service’s behalf. The Postal Service’s regulations, which authorize collection by administrative wage garnishment, are found in 39 CFR 492. Prior to collecting a debt by administrative wage garnishment, the former employee will be afforded procedural protections, such as a written notice and an opportunity for a hearing. See 31 CFR 285.11 and 39 CFR 492. However, if the former employee has already requested and been afforded a hearing on the existence or validity of the debt, then the former employee may not be entitled to a duplicative hearing.
480 Administrative Offsets for Former Postal Service Bargaining Unit Employees
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[Add new section 483 to read as follows:]
483 Referral and Administrative Wage Garnishment
483.1 Referral to Treasury
As stated in 472.3, the Postal Service provides all former employees with certain procedural protections prior to referring a debt to the Treasury for collection by administrative offset. For former bargaining unit employees, this may include the right to initiate a grievance concerning the employer claim, depending on the provisions of the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
483.2 Collection by Administrative Wage Garnishment
After referring a debt to the Treasury for collection, as described in 483.1, the Treasury may decide to pursue collection of the debt on the Postal Service’s behalf by administrative wage garnishment. The Postal Service’s regulations, which authorize collection by administrative wage garnishment, are found in 39 CFR 492. Before collecting a debt by administrative wage garnishment, the former employee will be afforded procedural protections, such as a written notice and an opportunity for a hearing. See 31 CFR 285.11 and 39 CFR 492. However, if the former employee has already requested and been afforded a hearing on the existence or validity of the debt, then the former employee may not be entitled to a duplicative hearing.
[Renumber current 483 to 484 as follows:]
484 Application of Administrative Offset Provisions
[Renumber current 483.1 to 484.1 and revise the text to read as follows:]
484.1 Procedures
If a former bargaining unit employee pursues a grievance in accordance with 482 or 483.1, the procedures regarding administrative offsets in 470 and the review procedures in 39 CFR 966 apply under the following circumstances, if the Postal Service also intends to proceed with the collection of the debt:
a. Failure to initiate a grievance in time. A former bargaining unit employee or the former employee’s union does not initiate, within 14 days of the former employee’s receipt of a letter of demand (including the notice referenced in 472.1), a grievance challenging: (1) the existence of a debt owed to the Postal Service; (2) the amount of such debt; and/or (3) the proposed repayment schedule.
b. Failure to advance a grievance in time. A former bargaining unit employee or the former employee’s union initiates a grievance in time challenging: (1) the existence of a debt owed to the Postal Service; (2) the amount of such debt; and/or (3) the proposed repayment schedule, but the former employee’s union, following receipt of a decision denying the grievance, does not advance the grievance to the next step of the grievance procedure within the time limits set forth in Article 15 of the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
c. Partial settlement of a grievance. A grievance challenging: (1) the existence of a debt owed to the Postal Service; (2) the amount of such debt: and/or (3) the proposed repayment schedule is resolved at any stage of the grievance-arbitration procedure through a written settlement agreement between the Postal Service and the union under which the former employee remains liable for all or a portion of the debt.
d. Ruling of non-arbitrability. An arbitrator rules that a grievance concerning any letter of demand is not arbitrable.
[Renumber current 483.2 to 484.2 and revise the text to read as follows:]
484.2 Exceptions
If an arbitrator opens a hearing on the merits of a grievance concerning any letter of demand, the procedures regarding administrative offsets in 470, including the review procedures in 39 CFR 966, do not apply thereafter, unless:
a. The Postal Service and the union negotiate a partial settlement of the grievance under which the former employee remains liable for all or a portion of the debt and the Postal Service intends to proceed with the collection of the debt (see 484.1c); or
b. The arbitrator makes a ruling of non-arbitrability and the Postal Service intends to proceed with the collection of the debt (see 484.1d).
[Renumber current 484 to 485 as follows:]
485 Stay of Collection of Debt
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next online update of the ELM, which is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
n In the left-hand column under “Essential Links”, click PolicyNet.
n Click Manuals.
The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.
— Compensation and Benefits,
Human Resources, 8-21-14
