[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 45, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 45CFR33.11]

[Page 117-118]
 
                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE
 
                           AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 33_SALARY OFFSET--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 33.11  Salary offset when the Department is the creditor agency 
but not the paying agency.

    (a) Centralized administrative offset. (1) Under 31 U.S.C. 3716, the 
Department shall notify the Secretary of the Treasury of all past-due, 
legally enforceable debts which are 180 days delinquent for purposes of 
collection by centralized administrative offset. This includes debts 
which the Department seeks to recover from the pay account of an 
employee of another agency via salary offset. The Secretary of the 
Treasury and other Federal disbursing officials will match payments, 
including Federal salary payments, against these debts. Where a match 
occurs, and all the requirements for offset have been met, the payments 
will be offset to collect the debt.
    (2) Prior to offset of the pay account of an employee, the 
Department must comply with the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 5514; 5 CFR 
part 550, subpart K, and this part. Specific procedures for notifying 
the Secretary of the Treasury of a debt for purposes of collection by 
administrative offset, including salary offset, are contained in 31 CFR 
parts 285 and 901 and part 30 of this title.
    (b) Non-centralized administrative offset. When salary offset 
through centralized administrative offset under paragraph (a) of this 
section is not possible, the Department may attempt to collect a debt 
through non-centralized administrative offset in accordance with part 30 
of this title.
    (1) Format of the request. Upon completion of the procedures 
established in this part and pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5514, the Department 
shall:
    (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 Departmental regulations implementing 5 U.S.C. 
5514 have been approved by the Office of Personnel Management.
    (ii) If the collection is to be made in installments, advise the 
paying agency

[[Page 118]]

of the number of installments to be collected, the amount or percentage 
of disposable pay to be collected in each installment, and the 
commencement date of the installments, if a date other than the next 
officially established pay period is required.
    (iii) Unless the employee has consented in writing to the salary 
deductions or signed a statement acknowledging receipt of the required 
procedures and this written consent or statement is forwarded to the 
paying agency, advise the paying agency of the action(s) taken under 5 
U.S.C. 5514 and this part, and give the date(s) the action(s) was taken.
    (2) Requesting recovery from current paying agency. (i) Except as 
otherwise provided in this paragraph, the Department shall submit a 
certified debt claim containing the information specified in paragraph 
(a) of this section, and an installment agreement, or other instruction 
on the payment schedule, if applicable, to the employee's paying agency.
    (ii) If the employee is in the process of separating from the 
Federal Government, the Department shall submit the certified debt claim 
to the employee's paying agency for collection as provided in Sec. 
33.10(e). 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 Department. If the paying agency's 
collection does not fully satisfy the debt, and the paying agency is 
aware that the employee is entitled to payments from the Civil Service 
Retirement and Disability Fund, or other similar payments that may be 
due the employee from other Federal Government sources, the paying 
agency will provide written notification of the outstanding debt to the 
agency responsible for making such payments to the employee, stating the 
employee owes a debt, the amount of the debt, and that the provisions of 
this section have been fully complied with. The Department must submit a 
properly certified claim to the agency responsible for making such 
payments before the collection can be made.
    (iii) If the employee is already separated and all payments due from 
the employee's former paying agency have been paid, the Department 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 or 5 CFR 845.401) or other similar funds, be administratively 
offset to collect the debt. See 31 U.S.C. 3716 and 31 CFR 901.3.
    (iv) If the employee transfers to another paying agency, the 
Department must submit a properly certified debt claim to the new paying 
agency before collection can be resumed; however, the Department need 
not repeat the due process procedures described in 5 U.S.C. 5514 and 
this part. The Department shall review the debt to ensure that 
collection is resumed by the new paying agency.