Request for Waiver of Erroneous Payment of Foreign Quarters Allowance

An employee appealed the denial of his request for waiver of his debt incurred by erroneous payments made to him for foreign quarters allowance. The overpayments, due to administrative error, were reflected in the employee's biweekly earnings and leave statements for almost 3 years, and were not reported by him until they had ceased. The employee claimed that he was unaware of the overpayments because of an administrative tangle at the beginning of his employment when he did not receive pay for the first month, and received fluctuating pay for 3 months before his pay stabilized. He further claimed that he was unaware of the error because his checks were automatically deposited in a bank and his leave and earnings statements lacked a code for foreign quarters allowance. GAO has held that each employee is obligated to examine his biweekly leave and earnings statement to determine its correctness. Although there was no specific code on the statement designated as a foreign quarters allowance, it did show a nontaxable item of a substantial amount which, upon examination and inquiry would have revealed the erroneous payment. It was concluded that the employee was at fault in the matter for failing to examine his leave and earnings statement and not reporting the indicated overpayment. The fact that the employee may have suffered a financial hardship in repaying the amount was not sufficient to authorize waiver of his debt. The action denying the waiver was sustained.