Request for Waiver of Overpayment of Pay

An employee of the Army Corps of Engineers requested that the partial waiver he was previously granted for overpayment of pay be reconsidered. The record showed that, as a part of a reduction in force, the employee was demoted. However, approximately 18 months later he was repromoted; about 7 months after that, he accepted a demotion so that he could transfer to a Corps office in Saudi Arabia. While in Saudi Arabia, he was again repromoted. Subsequently, the employee was advised by a letter that an error had been made setting the step of the grade he held after his first repromotion. In his initial request for waiver, the employee was granted waiver of the overpayment for the first repromotion. However, the overpayment which resulted from the second repromotion was only partially waived. The remainder was not waived on the grounds that the employee had been informed that his pay was improper during this period and that he had a duty to inquire and resolve the problem. Since the employee did not resolve the problem, he was partially at fault, and waiver was barred. In his request that the partial waiver be reconsidered, the employee detailed his efforts to ascertain his correct status. Additionally, he contended that the amount considered for waiver should be the net amount of the overpayment and that the cut-off date for waiver of overpayment for the first repromotion was erroneous. GAO held that waiver is granted or denied as to the gross amount paid, not the net. Additionally, GAO held that the cut-off date should have been extended to the date that the employee stated that he received the letter notifying him of the overpayments. However, waiver was denied for overpayments beyond that time since the employee knew that his pay for his second repromotion was similarly improper.