179.213—Coordinating salary offset with other agencies.

(a) Responsibility of OPM as the creditor agency. (1) The Director or his or her designee shall coordinate debt collections with other agencies and shall, as appropriate:

(i) Arrange for a hearing or special review upon proper petitioning by a Federal employee; and

(ii) Prescribe, upon consultation with the General Counsel, such additional practices and procedures as may be necessary to carry out the intent of this regulation.

(2) The designated salary offset coordinator will be responsible for:

(i) Ensuring that each notice of intent to offset is consistent with the requirements of § 179.206 ;

(ii) Ensuring that each certification of debt that is sent to a paying agency is consistent with the requirements of § 179.208 ;

(iii) Obtaining hearing officials from other agencies pursuant to § 179.207(f); and

(iv) Ensuring 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 Office must:

(i) Certify, in writing, to the paying agency that the employee owes the debt, the amount and basis of the debt, the date on which payment(s) is due, the date the Government's right to collect the debt first accrued, and that the Office's regulations implementing 5 U.S.C. 5514 have been approved by the Office of Personnel Management;

(ii) Advise the paying agency of the amount or percentage of disposable pay to be collected in each installment and the number and commencing date of the installments (if a date other than the next officially established pay period is required);

(iii) Advise the paying agency of the action(s) taken under 5 U.S.C. 5514(b) and give the date(s) and action(s) was taken (unless the employee has consented to the salary offset in writing or signed a statement acknowledging receipt of the required procedures and the written consent or statement is forwarded to the paying agency);

(iv) Submit a debt claim certification containing the information specified in paragraphs (a)(3)(i), (a)(3)(ii) and (a)(3)(iii) of this section and an installment agreement (or other instruction on the payment schedule), if applicable, to the employee's paying agency; and

(v) Submit the debt claim, as provided in § 179.208, to the employee's paying agency for collection 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 paying agency must certify the total amount of its collection on the debt and send a copy of the certification to the employee and another copy to the creditor agency. 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 notification of the outstanding debt to the agency responsible for making such other payments to the debtor employee. The written notification shall state that the employee owes a debt (including the amount) and that the provisions of this section have been fully complied with. The Office must submit a properly certified claim to the agency responsible for making such payments before the collection can be made.

(4) Separated employee. If the employee is already separated and all payments due from his or her former paying agency have been paid, the Office may request, unless otherwise prohibited, that money due and payable to the employee from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund ( 5 CFR 831.1801 et seq. or 5 CFR 845.401 et seq.) or other similar funds, be administratively offset to collect the debt (31 U.S.C. 3716 and the FCCS).

(5) Employee transfer. When an employee transfers from one paying agency to another paying agency, the Office is not required to repeat the due process procedures described in 5 U.S.C. 5514 and this subpart to resume the collection. The Office 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 Office as the paying agency— (1) Complete claim. When the Office receives a certified claim from a creditor agency, deductions should be scheduled to begin at the next officially established pay interval. Before deductions can begin, the employee must receive written notice from the Office including:

(i) A statement that the Office 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 Office receives an incomplete certification of debt from a creditor agency, the Office must return the debt claim with notice that procedures under 5 U.S.C. 5514 and 5 CFR 550.1101 et seq. 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 Office 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 Office, the employee transfers from OPM to a different paying agency before the debt is collected in full, the Office will certify the total amount collected on the debt. One copy of the certification will be furnished to the employee and one copy to the creditor agency along with notice of the employee's transfer.