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Waiver of Erroneous Overpayment of Salary

B-198263 Mar 30, 1981
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Highlights

A Forest Service employee requested reconsideration of a Claims Division determination which denied his request for waiver of erroneous payments of compensation. The record indicates that, due to a reduction in force, the employee was advised that the installation where he worked was being closed and his position abolished. He was offered a reassignment at a post which had a lower hourly rate. Although he did not qualify for retained pay, the employee alleged that he was told by his personnel office that he was entitled to pay retention and his pay would be adjusted upon his transfer. He maintained that the 2-year pay retention was a factor in his decision to transfer. The employee accepted the offered position and was reassigned at what appeared to be the correct rate. Shortly thereafter, he received a notification of a pay increase due to a Federal Wage System area increase. However, the increase was only applicable to his old area of work and should not have been applied to his pay at the new area. When the employee inquired as to when his 2-year pay retention period ended, the overpayment was discovered. The agency disallowed his request for waiver of the overpayment because it concluded that he was not completely free from fault in the matter. The GAO Claims Division concurred with the decision as the large increase in hourly wage should have put the employee on notice that something was wrong. It denied the request for waiver. On reconsideration, GAO held that there were sufficient grounds for concluding that the employee did believe that he was entitled to pay retention and that there was insufficient evidence of fault or lack of good faith on his part to deny the waiver of indebtedness. The claim for overpayment of pay was waived.

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