[Request for Waiver of Erroneous Salary Overpayment]

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed a request for waiver of an Air Force nurse's salary overpayment. The Air Force advised that, 6 months after paying the claimant for overtime work she performed over several weeks, it discovered that its calculation of the lump-sum overtime payment failed to take into account several weeks in which she worked less than 40 hours. GAO held that the claimant was not at fault for the overpayment, since: (1) she lacked sufficient knowledge of civil service compensation matters to recognize the overpayment; and (2) the Air Force did not promptly recognize or notify the claimant of the erroneous payment. Accordingly, the waiver was granted.