[Waiver of Erroneous Overpayments]

An employee of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) appealed the Claims Group's denial of his request for waiver of overpayments caused by agency failure to deduct the correct amount for life insurance premiums from his pay. GAO noted that: (1) the employee had been undercharged for 26 pay periods before the deduction was corrected, at which time he advised NRC of the change in his deductions and requested a review; (2) NRC determined that the error was caused by an automated payroll system; (3) NRC billed the employee for $5,200 which was the total overpayment he had received; (4) NRC denied the employee's waiver request, pointing out that it was incumbent upon the employee to verify the correctness of earnings and leave statements provided to him; and (5) the employee appealed the denial to the Claims Group, which sustained the NRC denial waiver. GAO found that: (1) the employee was not at fault for the overpayments where the premiums noted on his statements appeared reasonable and he was unaware that they should have been higher; and (2) an agency has authority to waive collection of unpaid life insurance deductions if the individual is without fault and recovery would be against equity and good conscience. Accordingly, payment of the amount not deducted for the employee's life insurance premiums was waived.