[Claim for Waiver of Erroneous Overpayment]

An Army employee appealed a Claims Group determination which denied her claim for waiver of an overpayment. On several occasions, the Army had incorrectly recorded her GS grade classification which resulted in her promotion to a higher grade than that to which she was entitled and led to erroneous overpayments. The Army requested a waiver of her debt on the grounds that she was unaware of the overpayment and that the overpayment was due to an administrative error. The Claims Group denied the waiver on the ground that records received by the employee should have been questioned for accuracy and that she was at least partially at fault by failing to do so. In the absence of any indication of fraud, misrepresentation, or lack of good faith, the determination as to whether to waive a debt takes into consideration whether the employee is partially at fault. However, GAO has not held that employees should know that the rate upon promotion must exceed the current rate by at least two step increases and any increases beyond that should be questioned. Moreover, there was no evidence that the employee received the documents which would have placed her on notice of an error in her grade classification. Accordingly, the employee's indebtedness may be waived.