Dual Pay From More Than One Position

GAO was asked for a decision as to whether an employee of the Office of the Architect is indebted to the United States for having received pay from more than one position. Federal law prohibits the use of appropriated funds to pay an individual for more than one position, if the pay of one of the positions is paid by the Clerk of the House of Representatives or if one of the positions is under the Office of the Architect of the Capitol and the aggregate gross pay from the positions exceeds $7,724. The law applies to positions in the legislative, executive, or judicial branch of the Government or in the government of the District of Columbia. The record showed that the employee was employed by the Office of the Architect of the Capitol for a period of about 6 years as a full-time laborer assigned to the cleaning force. For most of the 6 years, the employee was also employed by the District of Columbia Public Schools and was being paid an annual aggregate gross pay from the two positions in excess of the above limit. Thus, GAO held that the employee was in violation of Federal law. Any pay that the employee received from the District of Columbia during the period of dual employment was an erroneous payment for which the employee was indebted to the District of Columbia. Accordingly, the matter was referred to the government of the District of Columbia for the collection or other appropriate action.