P.S. Docket No. AWG 21-464

FINAL DECISION

The Postal Service seeks to collect a debt from Tiffany Griggs by administrative wage garnishment through the Department of the Treasury. The Postal Service claims that Ms. Griggs had a negative 32-hour annual leave balance, valued at $1,444.27, when she separated from the Postal Service in February 2020. The debt was referred to a collection agency acting on behalf of the Treasury Department. After the collection agency added its fees, the total amount of the debt being sought is $1,877.55. Ms. Griggs argues that she should be excused from the debt, at least in part, because the debt should not have increased once she was in a non-pay status as of November 2019.
For the reasons discussed below, the petition is denied.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Ms. Griggs worked for the Postal Service at all times relevant to this dispute. Her last day in a pay status was November 15, 2019 (Resp. Exh. 4). She officially separated from the Postal Service in February 2020 (Tr. 50).
2. Ms. Griggs began 2019 with a negative annual leave balance of 11.25 hours. During 2019 she earned 32 hours of annual leave and used 93.12 hours. Thus, as of her last day in a pay status in November 2019, she had a negative annual leave balance of 72.37 hours. (Resp. Exhs. 5, 16–17).
3. In May 2020, the Postal Service sent Ms. Griggs an invoice for $1,444.27 based on the value of the negative annual leave balance (Resp. Exh. 12). When Ms. Griggs did not respond to the invoice, the Postal Service referred the debt to the Treasury Department, which in turn referred the debt to a collection agency. In March 2021, the collection agency then sent Ms. Griggs a Notice of Intent to Initiate Administrative Wage Garnishment Proceedings. The collection agency added $433.28 in fees, bringing the total debt to $1,877.55. In response, Ms. Griggs asked for a hearing, and the matter was referred to the Judicial Officer Department for further proceedings.

DECISION

A retiring or separating employee's negative annual leave balance equates to a salary overpayment, entitling the Postal Service to recover the monetary value of the paid but unearned annual leave. To recover, the Postal Service must prove that it made the salary overpayments, the amount of the overpayments, and that the employee was not entitled to them. Employee and Labor Relations Manual, § 512.72; Amerson v. United States Postal Service, AWG 21-319, 2022 WL 622379 (February 1, 2022); Reneau v. United States Postal Service, AO 15-211, 2016 WL 10572230 (August 2, 2016). Here, the Postal Service has proved through documentary evidence and witness testimony that Ms. Griggs had a negative annual leave balance when she separated from the Postal Service (Finding 2).
In her defense, Ms. Griggs asserts that the negative annual leave balance should not have increased between November 2019—when she went into a leave without pay (LWOP) status—and February 2020 when she officially separated from the Postal Service. That argument, however, fails because it is not based on a proper understanding of the payroll records. The payroll journal for pay period 24 in 2019—which includes the date Ms. Griggs started on LWOP—shows that she had a balance of negative 11.25 hours at the start of 2019. Through pay period 24 she had used 93.12 hours of annual leave, but had earned only 32 hours of annual leave. Taken together, this represents a negative annual leave balance of negative 72.37 hours. (Resp. Exh. 17 at 2).
Ms. Griggs correctly points out that the payroll journal for pay period 24 shows a balance of negative 58.37 hours. That balance, however, was based on the possibility that Ms. Griggs could still earn another 14.00 hours of annual leave if she were in a pay status the rest of the year—as shown by the “Advanced” hours on the payroll journal. But Ms. Griggs was not in a pay status any time after November 15, 2019. She therefore did not earn any of those 14 possible hours. Because she failed to earn those hours, her subsequent payroll journals reflect that fact by showing a decreasing number of “Advanced” hours. In turn, the failure to earn those hours cemented her negative annual leave balance at negative 72.37 hours at the end of the year, as shown on the payroll journal for pay period 1 in 2020. (Resp. Exhs. 16–17).

ORDER

The petition is denied. The Postal Service, through the Treasury Department, may collect the debt underlying this petition by administrative wage garnishment.