(a) Format of the request for recovery.

(1) Where the DOT operating element is the creditor agency and another agency is the paying agency, the chief of the accounting of finance office of the appropriate DOT operating element (see §92.5(g)) shall complete and certify the “Debt Claim Form” (see Attachment 1), and attach a copy of the demand letter sent to the employee pursuant to §92.11 with a statement of the employee's response thereto, or, if a hearing was held pursuant to §92.13, attach a copy of the decision of the administrative law judge or other hearing official. The DOT creditor operating element shall certify that the employee owes the debt, the amount and basis of the debt, the date on which payment is due, the date the Government's right to collect the debt accrued, and that the Departmental regulations implementing 5 U.S.C. 5514 have been approved by the Office of Personnel Management.

(2) If the collection is to be made in voluntary or involuntary installments (see Attachment 1), the DOT creditor operating element shall also advise the paying agency of the amount of the installments and, if a date for the beginning of payments other than the next officially established pay period is required, the date of the first installment.

(3) Unless the employee has voluntarily agreed to the salary offset in writing or, in the absence of such agreement, has signed a statement acknowledging receipt of the procedures required by 5 U.S.C. 5514(a)(2) and the writing or statement is attached to the debt claim form, the DOT creditor operating element shall also indicate the action(s) taken under 5 U.S.C. 5514 and give the date(s) the action(s) were taken.

(b) Submitting the request for recovery—

(1) Current employees. The DOT creditor operating element shall submit the “Debt Claim Form” (Attachment 1) to the employee's paying agency.

(2) Employees who are separating or have separated—

(i) Employees who are in the process of separating. If the employee is in the process of separating, the DOT creditor operating element shall submit its debt claim (Attachment 1) to the employee's paying agency for collection as provided in §92.31 of this part. The paying agency is required to certify the total amount of its collection made or to be made prior to separation and notify the DOT creditor operating element and the employee as provided in §92.41 (b)(2)(iii). If the paying agency is aware that the employee is entitled to payments from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, or other similar payments, it shall advise the DOT operating element and send a copy of the debt claim and certification to the agency responsible for making such payments as notice that a debt is outstanding.

(ii) Employees who have already separated. If the employee has already separated and all payments due from his or her former paying agency have been paid, the DOT operating element may request, unless otherwise prohibited for example by court order, that monies which are due and payable to the employee from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (5 CFR 831.1801 et seq.) or other similar funds, be administratively offset in order to collect the debt (see 31 U.S.C. 3716 and the FCCS).

(iii) Employees who transfer from one paying agency to another. If, after the DOT creditor operating element has submitted the debt claim to the employee's paying agency, the employee transfers to a position served by a different paying agency before the debt is collected in full, the paying agency from which the employee separates shall certify the total amount of the collection made on the debt. One copy of the certification shall be furnished to the employee and another to the DOT operating element along with notice of the employee's transfer. The original of the debt claim form shall be inserted in the employee's official personnel folder along with a copy of the certification of the amount which has been collected. Upon receiving the official personnel folder, the new paying agency shall, in accordnce with the DOT operating element's properly certified claim, resume the collection from the employee's current pay account and notify the employee and the DOT creditor operating element of the resumption. The DOT operating element is not required to repeat the required collection procedures from the beginning in order to resume the collection. However, it shall be the responsibility of the DOT creditor operating element to review the debt upon receiving the former paying agency's notice of the employee's transfer to make sure the collection is resumed by the new paying agency.