September 21, 2000 In the Matter of the Petition by DONNA M. WALKER 8851 Marge Court, Villa B at Boynton Beach, FL 33436-2453 P.S. Docket No. DCA 00-281 APPEARANCE FOR PETITIONER: Charlie Robbins P.O. Box 17749 West Palm Beach, FL 33416-7749 APPEARANCE FOR RESPONDENT: William Miranda Labor Relations Specialist United States Postal Service P.O. Box 163564 West Palm Beach, FL 33416-3564
FINAL DECISION UNDER THE DEBT COLLECTION ACT OF 1982
Petitioner, Donna M. Walker, filed a timely Petition after receiving a Notice of Involuntary Administrative Salary Offsets on July 13, 2000. The Notice stated the Postal Service’s intention to withhold $401.84 from Petitioner’s salary to recover alleged salary overpayments.
Petitioner elected a hearing on written submissions and both parties were given the opportunity to file evidence and arguments in addition to that contained in the Petition and Postal Service Answer. Only Respondent availed itself of the opportunity to do so. The following findings of fact are based on all the material submitted by the parties.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Petitioner was a limited duty employee in pay periods 19/97 through 1/98, working 4 hours a day. During this period she was compensated by the Office of Workers Compensation Program (OWCP) for an additional 4 hours of pay each work day. As a result of timekeeper error, Petitioner received 8 hours of pay on certain holidays and sick leave days during this period, resulting in a total overpayment of $401.84. (Declaration of Sandra Haywood).
2. Petitioner was aware of the fact that she was being overpaid during this period, and had notified her supervisor on previous occasions when she received similar overpayments (Respondent’s Answer, Exhibit 1).
3. On July 13, 2000, the Postal Service issued her a Notice of Involuntary Administrative Salary Offsets seeking repayment of the $401.84 overpayment and Petitioner filed a timely Petition of this action on July 24, 2000 (Petition).
4. On July 14, 2000, Petitioner submitted a request for waiver of an erroneous payment of pay, and this request is still pending (Respondent’s Answer, Exhibit 5).
DECISION
Petitioner acknowledges receiving $401.84 in overpayments but argues that she should be relieved of the obligation to repay the debt because she was not properly advised of her appeal rights under her union’s collective bargaining agreement. Petitioner also argues that she should receive a waiver of the obligation to repay the debt because it resulted from Respondent’s administrative error and because she meets the requirements for a waiver of debt to the Postal Service set forth at section 437.6 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual.
Respondent’s position is simply that an administrative error was made in computing the amount of Petitioner’s pay and, even though Petitioner was not at fault, she is not entitled to keep the overpayment. Respondent further argues that any error in notifying her of her appeal rights under the collective bargaining agreement was not harmful since she filed a grievance1 and is now pursuing her rights under the Debt Collection Act of 1982.
Petitioner acknowledges receiving the overpayment, and has provided no basis which can be considered in this forum for relieving her of the obligation to repay the $401.84 at issue here. The alleged failure to advise her of appeal rights under the collective bargaining agreement may give rise to some rights under that agreement, but is not relevant in the context of this Debt Collection Act proceeding. Similarly, that she may qualify for a waiver of repayment cannot be considered here, since the Hearing Official in a Debt Collection Act proceeding has no authority to approve or disapprove her request for waiver.
Inasmuch as Petitioner has offered no other basis for relieving her of the obligation to repay the overpayment, the Petition is denied. Respondent may collect $401.84 from Petitioner’s salary.
William K. Mahn Administrative Judge