The Postal Service and the Treasury Department are seeking to collect $363.11 from Rosemary Amerson by administrative wage garnishment. all negative leave requires a medical certificate; and there will be a five-day cap on negative leave except with the managing director's/head of HR's approval. Then every paycheck afterwards it deducts 4. (Pet. So if you have to pay it back in cash, not hours of labor, you are effectively borrowing money at absurd interest. After the Treasury Department added collection fees, the total amount of the debt now being sought is $3,337.09. the link to confirm your subscription. And documents submitted by the Postal Service also appear to refute this claim (Resp. I think I could figure it out looking at several weeks of data but the question is for a Co worker. P.S. Docket No. AWG 22-30 - About.usps.com All Rights Reserved. In the present case, the Postal Service met its initial burden of proof based on the records in the payroll journal (Findings 3 and 4). Although it is possible to change your leave policies, it is best to do it in consultation with your employees. This number is shown in the AL Advanced field of your pay statement. Chicago Acting Customer Services Supervisor Bryan Thompson. Zachary Rojewski, APPEARANCE FOR RESPONDENT: Margaret L. Marshall, P.S. Almost a year after his retirement, the Postal Service sent Mr. DePumpo a letter explaining that he owed $2,674.94 for the 104 hours of unearned annual leave plus the taxes associated with this leave (Respondent Exhs. The Postal Service did not oppose this payment amount; therefore, I adopt it. Mr. Edwards was employed by the Postal Service until he separated on July 22, 2014 (Exh. If youre a full-time, part-time regular or non-traditional full-time career employee, you receive advanced annual leave. 2). In April 2019, management met with Mr. Rojewski and his union representative to discuss his attendance. It's also in the elm. However, the payroll journal for pay period 17-2013 also shows a negative annual leave balance of 8 hours (Respondent Exh. During the time that she took annual leave in 2001, Ms. Marshall had an annual salary of $40,952 (Exhs. In rebuttal, the Postal Service explained that the pay stub system had a software problem which did not show a negative sign in front of leave balances (Finding 10)2. The last pay stub (pay period 17-2013) shows a positive leave balance of 64 hours being carried forward from 2012 to 2013 (i.e., it does not have a negative sign or parenthesis around the number showing it to be a negative number). USPS should be all career positions after 1 year with starting wages of $25 per hour with free health and dental insurance. Advanced Annual Leave - U.S. Office of Personnel Management The maximum amount is prorated for part-time employees based upon the employees tour of duty. Mr. Rojewski disputes both the amount and the existence of the debt. But the relevant statute, 31 U.S.C. P.S. Docket No. AWG 21-319 - About.usps.com True or false: If you have a dependent care flexible spending account through FSA Feds, you can continue to spend your 2018 funds until Friday, March 15. 10809). The supervisor signed the forms as they were generated, but Mr. Rojewski did not sign the forms when he took the annual leave. To avoid leave errors, it is important to coordinate with the personnel office leave accruals for the first and last pay periods. Department of Veterans Affairs VA HANDBOOK 5011/35 September 14, 2021 The petition is denied. The Postal Service may not collect the debt by administrative offset. Labor Relations Specialist. Copyright 2023 USPS. B-46683, 24 Comp. Employee and Labor Relations Manual, 512.72; Amerson v. United States Postal Service, AWG 21-319, 2022 WL 622379 (February 1, 2022); Reneau v. United States Postal Service, AO 15-211, 2016 WL 10572230 (August 2, 2016). c) Paychecks USPS: Advanced Annual Leave - 21st Century Postal Worker Because the employee must taken get leave higher they or her earned, the earned annual leave balance is negative. USPS News Link article on Advanced Annual Leave needs correction 512.43. Advanced Sick Leave - U.S. Office of Personnel Management That allegation, however, fails for lack of proof. The value of this leave and the associated taxes is $2,674.94. Fill in the blank: USPS employees pledged (blank) during the most recent Combined Federal Campaign, up 20 percent from the previous cycle. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which is overseeing implementation of EFEL, finalized its guidance on the leave April 29. I find that Ms. Marshall is liable for the debt and that the Postal Service may collect the debt by administrative offset. Copyright 2023 United States Postal Service. If the leave transfer has not been received from the HR office, report any used leave as advanced leave or LWOP. Based on Ms. Amersons then-current hourly salary of $21.174, the annual leave had a value of $3,342.32 (Resp. The leave accrual will be excessive if the employee has accrued more than eight weeks paid annual leave (or more than 10 weeks paid annual leave for a shift worker). Glenn A. Patterson, P.S. The parties also discussed, and agreed to, a temporary transfer to the Monroe Post Office. 9; Tr. Mr. DePumpo retired in the middle of pay period 17, so this pay period was not included in the time remaining to earn leave. Nothing further happened until March 1, 2021, when the Treasury Department sent Ms. Amerson a Notice of Intent to Initiate Administrative Wage Garnishment Proceedings. 11; Tr. After the Treasury Department added collection fees, the total amount of the debt now being sought is $3,337.09. 2 The copy of the Notice of Debt Determination in the record is dated March 23, 2021. A correction should be made. Exh. As of that date, he had a negative 104-hour annual leave balance (Exh. At the end of 2000, Ms. Marshall had a negative annual leave balance of 8 hours (Exh. The debt was referred to a collection agency acting on behalf of the Treasury Department. Ms. Amerson then filed a petition challenging the debt with the Judicial Office, and these proceedings followed. The debt is based on a negative annual leave balance when Ms. Amerson separated from the Postal Service in February 2003. Except for one day, this argument fails. On December 31, 2013, the Postal Service issued a Notice of Intention to Collect a Debt by Administrative Offset Under the Debt Collection Act seeking to collect the $409.52 debt by administrative offset (Attachment to Petition). 1 Reply notablyunfamous 21 days ago They want you in. Exh. Advanced annual leave | USPS News Link If you have questions, contact your immediate supervisor. USPS News Link In response, the Postal Services witness credibly testified that Mr. Rojewski in fact signed the forms in her presence (Tr. The USPS published a misleading News Link article on advance annual leave on March 14th. USPS Modifies Annual Leave Carryover for Leave Year 2020 - NAPS The petition is therefore denied. February 27, 2014). Bryan is a humble person, said Acting Customer Services Manager Deborah Saffore. Its up to your workplace policies. The following definitions apply for the purposes of 510: Leave year the year beginning with the first day of the first complete pay period in a calendar year and ending on the day before the first day of the first complete pay period in the following calendar year. The pay stubs are PS Form 1223-B, are generated by the Postal Service, and provide a summary of the leave data (Tr. Statutory or regulatory restoration rights restored after service in the Armed Forces. AO 13-375 (I.D. Then in 2014, the supervisor told him not to come to work anymore. (Tr. Interruption of service by a non leave-earning period. (number) hours LWOP adjusted to paid leave. The record does not include any contemporaneous records (such as leave or payroll records) or sworn testimony establishing Mr. Flemings annual leave balance when he retired. If the Postal Service proves these elements, the burden shifts to Mr. DePumpo to demonstrate that he is entitled to keep the overpayment. 88). Exh. 77-78). P.S. Docket No. AO 14-248 - About.usps.com In his defense, Mr. Rojewski claimed that management often had to manually enter his time due to problems with his timecard or the timekeeping system. It is the position of the Postal Service that it is proper to deduct 10 hours of annual leave in the last pay period of the This is particularly important in the context of taking negative annual leave. Postal Service policy allows employees who are incapacitated due to serious health conditions to request and receive annual leave from other employees. Mr. Edwardss supervisor had tried to fire him several times before 2014. Maximum Amount of Advanced Sick Leave. If you're planning to retire or leave USPS this year, the organization wants you to pay attention to your "Earned Annual Leave Balance." The Postal Service assessed Mr. DePumpo with a debt for 104 hours of annual leave which he used, but did not earn. Got news? 1 The Postal Service advanced Mr. DePumpo 208 hours of annual leave at the beginning of the year. AO 05-62 (I.D. Because the employee has taken more leave than he or she earned, the earned annual leave balance is negative. 66). If your earned annual leave balance is negative, youll receive a bill for overdrawn leave, which means youve used more annual leave than youve earned. For Leave Year 2021, the maximum annual leave exchange amount was increased by 40 hours. The lesser amount was presumably based on an amount calculated after deductions were taken for certain items like state and federal taxes. 1620, 159162). Finance Earnings Statement Redesign of Leave Sections We revised PS Form 1223-B, Earnings Statement (known as PayStub), to provide additional information on the leave data. The Postal Service may collect $409.52 from Ms. Marshall by administrative offset. Ms. Amerson also referenced a dispute she had with the Postal Service over certain retirement payments she did not receive until several years after she left her employment. Mr. DePumpo did not produce his leave forms, time records, or any other pay stubs (Tr. When pressed during the hearing to cite specific examples to support this argument, Mr. Rojewski claimed he worked on June 1, 2019, but was not paid for that date. (Tr. 2). PDF Donated Leave Accounting Management Advisory - Office of Inspector (Resp. Docket No. Here, the Postal Service has proved through documentary evidence and witness testimony that Mr. Rojewski took the disputed annual leave, that he overdrew his annual leave, and that he did not earn enough annual leave to overcome the negative 52-hour balance by the time he separated from the Postal Service. Accordingly, the Petition is denied. Respondent, United States Postal Service, seeks to collect a $409.52 debt from Petitioner, Margaret Marshall, a Postal Service retiree. 7. If your earned annual leave balance is negative, you'll receive a bill for "overdrawn leave," which means you've used more annual leave than you've earned. To recredit sick leave to an employees leave account as a result of buy back, enter the recredited hours in this field. If the sick leave balance is negative after any sick leave hours used have been subtracted, advanced sick leave must be approved. The Postal Service then sent Ms. Amerson three letters between November 2003 and January 2004 notifying her that it intended to refer the debt to the Treasury Department for collection. It does not need to be reapproved as lwop even if they tell you it does 2 Reply DorkyMods 21 days ago Excellent, thank you for the info. At the hearing, Mr. Rojewski did not have any documents to support that assertion. Youre only paid for the amount of leave that shows up in the Earned Annual Leave Balance field of your pay statement. The payroll journal for pay period 17-2013 shows that Mr. DePumpo carried a negative balance of 64 hours of annual leave from 2012 into 2013, earned 104 hours of annual leave in 2013, and used 144 hours of annual leave in 2013 before he retired, which leaves a negative balance of 104 hours of annual leave (Respondent Exhs. d) $7.7 million. That letter, citing the December 3, 2013 letter, denied Mr. Flemings request to reconsider the debt without further explanation. He faults the Postal Service for failing to explain why it waited from 2014 until 2021 to seek the remedy of wage garnishment. 1, 2; Tr. There is no need to address this issue further, however, because the Postal Service is seeking to collect less than it otherwise might be entitled to.. Exh. The debt was later referred to the Treasury Department. Postal Service employees pledged $7.7 million during the most recent CFC cycle, exceeding the organizations goal by 20 percent. But even as it says on the 3971, that if your leave balance is exhausted, all already approved leave is changed to LWOP. He is therefore liable for 44 hours of overdrawn annual leave, related taxes, and related Treasury fees. At the beginning of 2001, the Postal Service advanced 160 hours of annual leave to Ms. Marshall, leaving her with a new balance of 152 hours (Exh. In the absence of any evidence or argument challenging either the existence or the amount of the debt, I find that the Postal Service is entitled to collect the debt. Mr. Edwards did not produce any documents or credible testimony to support this claim. By invoice dated September 26, 2012, the Postal Service sought to collect an alleged debt of $1,518 from Mr. Fleming based on a negative annual leave balance of 77.63 hours when Mr. Fleming separated from the Postal Service (Attachment to the, By invoice dated January 16, 2013, the Postal Service sought to collect an alleged debt of $439.45 from Mr. Fleming based on taxes owed on the unpaid portion of the September 26, 2012 invoice (Attachment to the, On October 16, 2013, the Postal Service issued a. The Petition is denied. He claims to have not known the meaning or implication of his supervisors statement telling him not to come to work. Enter the hours recorded in the Sick Bal field from the previous T&A or enter the applicable balance. Because the employee has taken more leave than he or she earned, the earned annual leave balance is negative. See, e.g., Patricia A. Skadsberg v. United States Postal Service, P.S. 66). It's not unusual for companies to issue leave upfront. It also shows that Mr. DePumpo earned 104 hours of annual leave in 2013. I then provided the parties with a chance to submit additional documents, sworn statements, and briefs summarizing their positions. TIA This thread is archived New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast 1 8 USPS US Federal Government Politics 8 comments Top 3 5). 5455). Docket No. 1; Tr. This number reflects the difference between the 96 hours Mr. DePumpo would have earned during the remainder of the year and the negative balance of 104 hours (Tr. A retiring-employee's negative annual leave balance equates to a salary overpayment, which in turn entitles the Postal Service to recover the monetary value of that annual leave under the Debt Collection Act.
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