Title 5
SECTION 1639.28
1639.28 Coordinating salary offset with other agencies.
§ 1639.28 Coordinating salary offset with other agencies.(a) Responsibility of the Board as the creditor agency. (1) The Board will coordinate debt collections with other agencies and will, as appropriate:
(i) Arrange for a hearing or special review upon proper petitioning by the debtor; and
(ii) Prescribe, upon consultation with the General Counsel, the additional practices and procedures that may be necessary to carry out the intent of this subpart.
(2) The Board will ensure:
(i) That each notice of intent to offset is consistent with the requirements of § 1639.22;
(ii) That each certification of debt that is sent to a paying agency is consistent with the requirements of § 1639.24; and
(iii) That hearings are properly scheduled.
(3) Requesting recovery from current paying agency. Upon completion of the procedures established in these regulations and pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5514, the Board will provide the paying agency with a certification as provided in § 1639.24.
(4) If the employee is in the process of separating and has not received a final salary check or other final payment(s) from the paying agency, the Board must submit a debt claim to the paying agency for collection under 31 U.S.C. 3716. The paying agency must certify the total amount of its collection on the debt and notify the employee and the Board. If the paying agency's collection does not fully satisfy the debt, and the paying agency is aware that the debtor is entitled to payments from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund or other similar payments that may be due the debtor employee from other Federal Government sources, the paying agency will provide written notice of the outstanding debt to the agency responsible for making the other payments to the debtor employee. The written notice will state that the employee owes a debt, the amount of the debt, and that the provisions of this section have been fully complied with. The Board must submit a properly certified claim to the agency responsible for making the payments before the collection can be made.
(5) Separated employee. If the employee is already separated and all payments due from his or her former paying agency have been paid, the Board may request, unless otherwise prohibited, that money due and payable to the employee from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (5 CFR part 831, subpart R, or 5 CFR part 845, subpart D) or other similar funds, be administratively offset to collect the debt.
(6) Employee transfer. When an employee transfers from one paying agency to another paying agency, the Board will not repeat the due process procedures described in 5 U.S.C. 5514 and this subpart to resume the collection. The Board will submit a properly certified claim to the new paying agency and will subsequently review the debt to make sure the collection is resumed by the new paying agency.
(b) Responsibility of the Board as the paying agency - (1) Complete claim. When the Board receives a certified claim from a creditor agency, deductions should be scheduled to begin within three officially established pay intervals. Before deductions can begin, the employee will receive a written notice from the Board including:
(i) A statement that the Board has received a certified debt claim from the creditor agency;
(ii) The amount of the debt claim;
(iii) The date salary offset deductions will begin, and
(iv) The amount of such deductions.
(2) Incomplete claim. When the Board receives an incomplete certification of debt from a creditor agency, the Board will return the debt claim with a notice that procedures under 5 U.S.C. 5514 and 5 CFR part 550, subpart K, must be followed and a properly certified debt claim received before action will be taken to collect from the employee's current pay account.
(3) Review. The Board is not authorized to review the merits of the creditor agency's determination with respect to the amount or validity of the debt certified by the creditor agency.
(4) Employees who transfer from one paying agency to another. If, after the creditor agency has submitted the debt claim to the Board, the employee transfers from the Board to a different paying agency before the debt is collected in full, the Board will certify the total amount collected on the debt and notify the employee and the creditor agency in writing. The notification to the creditor agency will include information on the employee's transfer.