§ 4903.13 How will PBGC offset a Federal employee's salary to collect a debt owed to PBGC?
(a) Federal salary offset. (1) Salary offset is used to collect debts owed to the United States or PBGC by Federal employees. If a Federal employee owes PBGC a debt, PBGC may offset the employee's Federal salary to collect the debt in the manner described in this section. For information on how a Federal agency other than PBGC may collect debt from the salary of a PBGC employee, see §§ 4903.21 and 4903.22, subpart C, of this part.
(2) Nothing in this part requires PBGC to collect a debt in accordance with the provisions of this section if Federal law allows other means to collect. See, for example, 5 U.S.C. 5705 (travel advances not used for allowable travel expenses are recoverable from the employee or his estate by setoff against accrued pay and other means) and 5 U.S.C. 4108 (recovery of training expenses).
(3) PBGC may use the administrative wage garnishment procedure described in § 4903.14 of this part to collect from an individual's non-Federal wages a debt owed to PBGC.
(b) Centralized salary offset through the Treasury Offset Program. As described in § 4903.10(a) of this part, PBGC will refer debts owed to PBGC to the Financial Management Service for collection by administrative offset, including salary offset, through the Treasury Offset Program. When possible, PBGC will attempt salary offset through the Treasury Offset Program before applying the procedures in paragraph (c) of this section. See 5 CFR 550.1108 and 550.1109.
(c) Non-centralized salary offset for debts owed to PBGC. When centralized salary offset through the Treasury Offset Program is not available or appropriate, PBGC may collect delinquent debts owed to PBGC through non-centralized salary offset. See 5 CFR 550.1109. In these cases, PBGC may offset a payment internally or make a request directly to a Federal payment agency to offset a salary payment to collect a delinquent debt owed to PBGC by a Federal employee. Thirty (30) days prior to offsetting internally or requesting a Federal agency to offset a salary payment, PBGC will send notice to the debtor in accordance with the requirements of § 4903.5 of this part. When referring a debt owed to PBGC for offset, PBGC will certify to the payment agency that the debt is valid, delinquent and legally enforceable in the amount stated, and there are no legal bars to collection by salary offset. In addition, PBGC will certify that all due process and other prerequisites to salary offset have been met. See 5 U.S.C. 5514, 31 U.S.C. 3716(a), and this section for a description of the due process and other prerequisites for salary offset.
(d) When prior notice not required. PBGC is not required to provide prior notice to an employee when the following adjustments are made by PBGC to a PBGC employee's pay: