Federal Physicians Comparability Allowance Agreements

A question was considered regarding the provisions of the Federal Physicians Comparability Allowance Act of 1978. The question pertained to the Government's claim against a former Army physician for the total amount of physicians comparability allowance he received pursuant to a 2-year service agreement with the Army. The physician terminated his employment with the Army before completing 1 year of service and accepted a position with the Veterans Administration (VA). The Army demanded that the physician repay the allowance paid to him during the period of his contracted service. The physician protested the recoupment action and contended that, when he asked his supervisor about executing the agreement in view of his impending transfer, the supervisor advised him to sign the agreement since, if he should transfer to a new assignment, he could retain that portion of the allowance already paid at the date of the transfer. The physician stated that he signed the agreement in good faith on the basis of the erroneous advice of his supervisor. The physician expressed the view that, since he transferred from a civil service position with the Army to another civil service position with VA, he should not be required to repay the allowance. GAO concluded that the agreement does not pertain to transfers between Federal agencies. The statute which authorizes the allowance provides that an agreement can only be made between the agency head and the physician for service in the employing agency; the agreement may not extend to employment in some other Federal agency. Therefore, neither the physician's agreement with the Army nor the authorizing statute permits him to retain any portion of the allowance in question, even though he transferred to VA. The physician also requested waiver of his debt since he signed the agreement in good faith on the basis of the erroneous advice of his supervisor. The statute, which authorizes waiver of the Government's claim against an employee, applies only to claims arising out of erroneous payments. Since the allowance was properly and legally paid to the physician in accordance with the agreement he executed with the Army, the payments should not be considered erroneous, because he was obligated to repay them due to his voluntary termination of employment under the agreement. Therefore, the Government's claim against the physician for the allowance paid under his agreement with the Army was for recoupment and was not subject to waiver.