[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: 45CFR33.3]

[Page 112]
 
                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE
 
                           AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 33_SALARY OFFSET--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 33.3  General rule.

    (a) Whenever a delinquent debt is owed to the Department by an 
employee, the Secretary may, subject to paragraphs (b) through (d) of 
this section, involuntarily offset the amount of the debt from the 
employee's disposable pay.
    (b) Unless provided by another statute pertaining to a particular 
type of debt (e.g., 42 U.S.C. 292r, Health professionals education, 42 
U.S.C. 297b, Nurse education), the Department may not initiate salary 
offset to collect a debt more than 10 years after the Government's right 
to collect the debt first accrued, unless facts material to the 
Government's right to collect the debt were not known and could not 
reasonably have been known by the official or officials of the 
Government who were charged with the responsibility to discover and 
collect such debts.
    (c) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, prior to 
initiating collection through salary offset under this part, the 
Secretary must first provide the employee with the following:
    (1) Written notice of intent to offset as described in Sec. 33.4; 
and
    (2) An opportunity to petition for a hearing, and, if a hearing is 
provided, to receive a written decision from the hearing official within 
60 days on the following issues:
    (i) The determination of the Department concerning the existence or 
amount of the debt; and
    (ii) The repayment schedule, unless it was established by written 
agreement between the employee and Department.
    (d) The provisions of paragraph (c) of this section do not apply to:
    (1) Any adjustment to pay arising out of an employee's election of 
coverage or a change in coverage under a federal benefits program 
requiring periodic deduction from pay, if the amount to be recovered was 
accumulated over four pay periods or less;
    (2) A routine intra-agency adjustment of pay that is made to correct 
an overpayment of pay attributable to clerical or administrative errors 
or delays in processing pay documents, if the overpayment occurred 
within the four pay periods preceding the adjustment and, at the time of 
such adjustment, or as soon thereafter as practical, the individual is 
provided written notice of the nature and the amount of the adjustment 
and point of contact for contesting such adjustment; or
    (3) Any adjustment to collect a debt amounting to $50 or less, if, 
at the time of such adjustment, or as soon thereafter as practical, the 
individual is provided written notice of the nature and the amount of 
the adjustment and a point of contact for contesting such adjustment.