12/12/2002

It is a settled rule of statutory construction that the interpretation of a statutory provision, as expressed in implementing regulations by those charged with the execution of the statute, is to be sustained and is deemed to be within an agency's statutory authority and consistent with congressional intent unless

8/27/2002

A debt that arises due to a reconciliation of an employee's living quarters allowance (LQA) cannot be considered for waiver under 5 U.S.C. § 5584 if the advance LQA payment was proper when made. The fact that the debt resulted merely because of a decline in exchange rates between the dollar and the local currency does not make an advance of LQA erroneous if it was not otherwise erroneous when paid.

8/27/2002

When an employee who is on leave without pay (LWOP) receives a payment, he has a duty to question the accuracy of the payment and hold the overpayment for the eventual refund to the government.

8/7/2002

Waiver is inappropriate to relieve an employee for an indebtedness that resulted when the employee was re-employed following a reduction-in-force and continued to collect severance pay simultaneously with the salary from her new appointment.

07/29/2002

When an employee is aware or should be aware that he is receiving payments in excess of his entitlements, he does not acquire title to the excess amounts and has a duty to hold them for eventual repayment.

05/21/2002

At the time she changed agencies, an employee's health insurance coverage was erroneously changed from the plan she had elected to a less expensive plan. The error was not discovered for over five years. Waiver of the resulting debt under 5 U.S.C. § 5584 is denied since the employee is partially at fault for not verifying the correctness of the Leave and Earnings Statements she received regularly.

05/13/2002

Under 5 U.S.C. § 5584, waiver is precluded when an employee is aware that he is being overpaid. The employee does not acquire title to any excess payments merely because the government has committed an administrative error. He has the duty to hold the overpayment for the eventual repayment to the Government.

05/09/2002

When an employee is aware or should be aware that he has received an overpayment, he does not acquire title to the excess amounts, and he has a duty to hold the money for eventual repayment. In such circumstances, waiver is not proper under 5 U.S.C. § 5584.

04/18/2002

When an employee is aware or should be aware that he is receiving payments in excess of his entitlements, he does not acquire title to the excess amounts and has a duty to hold them for eventual repayment.

04/17/2002

An employee received 80 hours of salary while in leave without pay (LWOP) status. She should have been aware that she was not entitled to salary while on LWOP. Therefore, she did not acquire title to the money and had a duty to hold the money for eventual repayment. Under such circumstances, waiver is not proper.

04/02/2002

When an employee is aware or should be aware that she is receiving payments in excess of her entitlements, she does not acquire title to the excess amounts and has a duty to hold them for eventual repayment.

03/14/2002

An Army employee who transferred to another agency received an erroneous deposit of living quarters allowance and basic salary in an amount and at a time approximating a regular pay day payment that he would have received if he had continued to work for the Army. The employee insists that he expected to receive payment of a claim in the amount deposited, but he is partially at fault for not verifying that the deposit was the amount due for the claim.

03/12/2002

1. An arbitrator issuing an opinion in a collective bargaining agreement does not have the authority to waive a debt or make factual findings to try to influence a DOHA waiver decision under 5 U.S.C. § 5584. 2. When an employee is aware or should be aware that he is receiving payments in excess of her entitlements, she does not require title to the excess amounts and has a duty to hold them for eventual repayment.