Request for Waiver of Erroneous Overpayments of Compensation

A Federal employee requested reconsideration of a Claims Division determination which denied his request for waiver of erroneous overpayments of compensation. The employee received a promotion from one grade to the next and was eligible for a within-grade step increase 1 year later. However, he erroneously received the within-grade increase less than 3 months after his grade increase. This was due to the agency's failure to correct his within-grade beginning date in the payroll master record when he was promoted. As a result he was overpaid until the error was discovered. The employee authorized the agency to deduct an amount each pay period to collect the overpayment. On the same date the deduction was to begin, the employee was again erroneously granted a within-grade increase. Instead of receiving less per pay period, he received a slight increase until this error was discovered. The agency recommended that the waiver be denied, because the employee could reasonably have been expected to notice the errors in his pay. The Claims Divsion concurred and denied waiver on the ground that the employee was at least partially at fault since he did not make a prompt inquiry to the appropriate officials concerning the increases in pay. The employee contended that he was totally unaware that the within grade increase was incorrect as he was not familiar with the procedures to determine the effective date for eligibility. In the opinion of GAO, a reasonable person would have questioned the correctness of the increases in pay in this case. As a GS grade 12 with 20 years of Federal service, the employee should have been aware that the minimum waiting period for a within-grade increase is 1 year. The Claims Division's denial of the request for waiver was sustained.