(b) However, an agency would not be precluded from taking disciplinary action against an employee who consistently or purposely failed to provide correct information requested by interrogatories. § 582.305 Honoring legal process. (a) The agency shall comply with legal process, except where the process cannot be complied with because: (1) It is not regular on its face. (2) The legal process would require the withholding of funds not deemed pay as described in § 582.102(a)(5). (3) It does not comply with section 5520a of title 5 of the United States Code or with the mandatory provisions of this part; or (4) An order of a court of competent jurisdiction enjoining or suspending the operation of the legal process has been served on the agency. (b) While an agency will not comply with legal process which, on its face, indicates that it has expired or is otherwise no longer valid, legal process will be deemed valid notwithstanding the fact that the underlying debt and/ or the underlying judgment arose prior to the effective date of section 5520a of title 5 of the United States Code. (c)(1) The filing of an appeal by an employee-obligor will not generally delay the processing of a garnishment action. If the employee-obligor establishes to the satisfaction of the employee-obligor's agency that the law of the jurisdiction which issued the legal process provides that the processing of the garnishment action shall be suspended during an appeal, and if the employee-obligor establishes that he or she has filed an appeal, the employing agency shall comply with the applicable law of the jurisdiction and delay or suspend the processing of the garnishment action. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the employing agency shall not be required to establish an escrow account to comply with the legal process even if the applicable law of the jurisdiction requires private employers to do so. (d) Under the circumstances set forth in § 582.305 (a) or (b), or where the agency is directed by the Justice Department not to comply with the legal process, the agency shall respond directly to the court, or other authority, setting forth its reasons for non-compliance with the legal process. In addition, the agency shall inform the person who caused the legal process to be served, or the person's representative, that the legal process will not be honored. Thereafter, if litigation is initiated or appears imminent, the agency shall immediately refer the matter to the United States Attorney for the district from which the legal process issued. To ensure uniformity in the executive branch, agencies which have statutory authority to represent themselves in court shall coordinate their representation with the United States Attorney. (e) In the event that an agency is served with more than one legal process or garnishment order with respect to the same payments due or payable to the same employee, the agency shall satisfy such processes in priority based on the time of service: Provided, That in no event will the total amount garnished for any pay or disbursement cycle exceed the applicable limitation set forth in §582.402. Provided further, That processes which are not limited in time shall preserve their priority based on time of service until fully satisfied. Generally, a modified order will retain its original priority while a time limited order will lose its priority after it has expired. (f) Legal process to which an agency is subject under sections 459, 461, and 462 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 659, 661, and 662) for the enforcement of an employee's legal obligation to provide child support or to make alimony payments, including child support or alimony arrearages, shall have priority over any legal process to which an agency is subject under this part. In addition to having priority, compliance with legal process to which an agency is subject under sections 459, 461, and 462 of the Social Security Act may exhaust the moneys available for compliance with legal process under this part. See § 582.402(a). (g)(1) Neither the United States, and executive agency, nor any disbursing officer shall be liable for any payment made from moneys due from, or payable by, the United States to any individual pursuant to legal process regular on its face, if such payment is made in accordance with this part. (2) Neither the United States, an executive agency, nor any disbursing officer shall be liable under this part to pay money damages for failure to comply with the legal process. (h) Agencies affected by legal process served under this part shall not be required to vary their normal pay or disbursement cycles to comply with the legal process. However, legal process, valid at the time of service, which is received too late to be honored during the disbursement cycle in which it is received, shall be honored, to the extent that the legal process may be satisfied, during the next disbursement cycle within the limits set forth in § 582.402. The fact that the legal process may have expired during this period would not relieve the agency of its obligation to honor legal process which was valid at the time of service. If, in the next disbursement cycle, no further payment will be due from the agency to the employee-obligor, the agency shall follow the procedures set forth in § 582.306. (i) Agencies need not establish escrow accounts in order to comply with legal process. Therefore, even if the amount garnished by an agency in one disbursement cycle is not sufficient to satisfy the entire indebtedness, the agency need not retain those funds until the amount retained would satisfy the entire indebtedness. On the contrary, agencies will, in most instances, remit the garnished amount after each disbursement cycle. Agencies need not pro-rate payments for less than a full disbursement cycle. (j) If an agency receives legal process which is regular on its face, the agency shall not be required to ascertain whether the authority which issued the legal process had obtained personal jurisdiction over the employee-obligor. (k) At the discretion of the executive agency, the agency's administrative costs in executing a garnishment may be added to the garnishment amount and the agency may retain costs recovered as offsetting collections. To facilitate recovery of these administrative costs, an administrative fee may be assessed for each legal process that is received and processed by an agency, provided that the fee constitutes the agency's administrative costs in executing the garnishment action. (1) Where an employee-obligor has filed a bankruptcy petition under section 301 or 302 of title 11 of the United States Code, or is the debtor named in an involuntary petition filed under section 303 of title 11, the agency must cease garnishment proceedings affected by the automatic stay provision, section 362(a) of title 11. Upon filing a petition in bankruptcy or upon learning that he or she is the debtor named in an involuntary petition, the employeeobligor should immediately notify the agency. To enable the agency to determine if the automatic stay applies, the employee-obligor should provide the agency with a copy of the filing or a letter from counsel stating that the petition was filed and indicating the court and the case number, the chapter under which the petition was filed, whether State or federal exemptions were elected, and the nature of the claim underlying the garnishment order. (m) Within 30 days following the collection of the amount required in the garnishment order, the creditor may submit a final statement of interest that accrued during the garnishment process, and the employing agency shall process the statement for payment, provided the garnishment order authorizes the collection of such interest. This final statement of interest should be accompanied by a statement of account showing how the interest was computed. [60 FR 13030, Mar. 10, 1995, as amended at 63 FR 14787, Mar. 26, 1998] § 582.306 Lack of entitlement by the employee-obligor to pay from the agency served with legal process. (a) When legal process is served on an agency and the individual identified in the legal process as the employee-obligor is found not to be entitled to pay from the agency, the agency shall follow the procedures set forth in the legal process for that contingency or, if no procedures are set forth therein, the agency shall return the legal process to the court, or other authority from which it was issued, and advise the court, or other authority, that the identified employee-obligor is not entitled to any pay from the agency. (b) Where it appears that the employee-obligor is only temporarily not entitled to pay from the agency, the court, or other authority, shall be fully advised as to why, and for how long, the employee-obligor's pay will not be garnished, if that information is known by the agency and if disclosure of that information would not be prohibited. (c) In instances where an employeeobligor separates from employment with an agency that had been honoring a continuing legal process, the agency shall inform the person who caused the legal process to be served, or the person's representative, and the issuing court, or other authority, that the garnishment action is being discontinued. In cases where the employee-obligor has been employed by either another agency or by a private employer, and where this information is known by the agency, the agency shall provide the person with the designated agent for the new employing agency or with the name and address of the private employer. Subpart D-Consumer Credit $582.401 Aggregate disposable earnings. In accordance with the Consumer Credit Protection Act, the aggregate disposable earnings under this part are the employee-obligor's pay less those amounts excluded in accordance with § 582.103. $582.402 Maximum garnishment limitations. Pursuant to section 1673(a)(1) of title 15 of the United States Code (the Consumer Credit Protection Act, as amended) and the Department of Labor regulations to title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, part 870, the following limitations are applicable: (a) Unless a lower maximum limitation is provided by applicable State or local law, the maximum part of an employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings subject to garnishment to en force any legal debt other than an order for child support or alimony, including any amounts withheld to offset administrative costs as provided for in § 582.305(k), shall not exceed 25 percent of the employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings for any workweek. As appropriate, State or local law should be construed as providing a lower maximum limitation where legal process may only be processed on a one at a time basis. Where an agency is garnishing 25 percent or more of an employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings for any workweek in compliance with legal process to which an agency is subject under sections 459, 461, and 462 of the Social Security Act, no additional amount may be garnished in compliance with legal process under this part. Furthermore, the following dollar limitations, which are contained in title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 870, must be applied in determining the garnishable amount of the employee's aggregate disposable earnings: (1) If the employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings for the workweek are in excess of 40 times the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum hourly wage, 25 percent of the employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings may be garnished. For example, effective September 1, 1997, when the FLSA minimum wage rate is $5.15 per hour, this rate multiplied by 40 equals $206.00 and thus, if an employeeobligor's disposable earnings are in excess of $206.00 for a workweek, 25 percent of the employee-obligor's disposable earnings are subject to garnishment. (2) If the employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings for a workweek are less than 40 times the FLSA minimum hourly wage, garnishment may not exceed the amount by which the employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings exceed 30 times the current minimum wage rate. For example, at an FLSA minimum wage rate of $5.15 per hour, the amount of aggregate disposable earnings which may not be garnished is $154.50 [$5.15 x 30]. Only the amount above $154.50 is garnishable. (3) If the employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings in a workweek are equal to or less than 30 times the FLSA minimum hourly wage, the employee-obligator's earnings may not be garnished in any amount. (b) There is no limit on the percentage of an employee-obligor's aggregate disposable earnings that may be garnished for a Federal, State or local tax obligation or in compliance with an order of any court of the United States having jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases under Chapter 13 of title 11 of the United States Code. Orders from courts having jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases under Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 of the United States Code are subject to the maximum garnishment restrictions in § 582.402(a). [60 FR 13030, Mar. 10, 1995, as amended at 63 FR 14788, Mar. 26, 1998] Subpart E-Implementation by Agencies § 582.501 Rules, regulations, and directives by agencies. Appropriate officials of all agencies shall, to the extent necessary, issue implementing rules, regulations, or directives that are consistent with this part or as are otherwise in accordance with statutory law. [63 FR 14788, Mar. 26, 1998] APPENDIX A TO PART 582-LIST OF AGENTS DESIGNATED ΤΟ ACCEPT LEGAL PROCESS NOTE: The agents designated to accept legal process are listed in appendix A to part 581 of this chapter. This appendix A to part 582 provides listings only for those executive agencies where the designations differ from those found in appendix A to part 581 of this chapter. I. Departments Department of Defense. Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Cleveland Center, Office of General Counsel, Attention: Code L, P.O. Box 998002, Cleveland, OH 44199-8002, (216) 522-5301. Agents for receipt of all legal process for all Department of Defense civilian employees except where another agent has been designated as set forth below. For requests that apply to employees of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service or to civilian employees of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) who are employed outside the United States: See appendix A to part 581 of this chapter. For requests that apply to civilian employees of the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and non-appropriated fund civilian employees of the Air Force, serve the following offices: Army Corps of Engineers. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Central Payroll Office, Attn: Garnishments, P.O. Box 1439 DTS, Omaha, NE 68101-1439, (402) 221-4060. Army Nonappropriated Fund Employees in Europe. Commander, 266th Theater Finance Command, NAF Payroll, Unit #29001-07, APO AE 09007-0137, 011-49-6221-57-7752, DSN 379-7752. National Security Agency. General Counsel, National Security Agency/Central Security Service, 9800 Savage Rd., Ft. George G. Meade, MD 207556000, (301) 688-6705. Defense Intelligence Agency. Office of General Counsel, Defense Intelligence Agency, Pentagon, 2E238, Washington, DC 20340-1029, (202) 697 3945. Air Force Nonappropriated Fund Employees. Office of General Counsel, Air Force Services Agency, 10100 Reunion Place, Suite 503, San Antonio, TX 78216-4138, (210) 652–7051. For civilian employees of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps who are employed outside the United States, serve the following offices: Army Civilian Employees in Europe. Commander, 266th Theater Finance Command, ATTN: AEUCF-CPF, APO AE 09007-0137, 011-49-6221-57-6303/2136, DSN 370-6303/2136. Army Civilian Employees in Japan. Commander, U.S. Army Finance and Accounting Office, Japan, ATTN: APAJ-RM-FA-E-CP, Unit 45005, APO AP 96343-0087, DSN 233-3362. Army Civilian Employees in Korea. Commander, 175th Finance and Accounting Office, Korea, ATTN: EAFC-FO (Civilian Pay), Unit 15300, APO AP 96205-0073, 011-822-791-4599, DSN 7234599. Army Civilian Employees in Panama. DCSRM Finance & Accounting Office, ATTN: SORM-FAP-C, Unit 7153, APO AA 34004-5000, 011-507-287-6766, DSN 287-5312. Navy and Marine Corps Civilian Employees Overseas. Director of the Office of Civilian Personnel Management, Office of Counsel, Office of Civilian Personnel Management (OCPM-OL), Department of the Navy, 800 N. Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22203–1990, (703) 696 4717. Navy and Marine Corps Nonappropriated Fund Employees. The agents are the same as those designated to receive garnishment orders of Navy and Marine Corps nonappropriated fund personnel for the collection of child support and alimony, published at 32 CFR part 734 (1994 ed.), except as follows: For non-civil service civilian personnel of the Navy Exchanges or related nonappropriated fund instrumentalities administered by the Navy Exchange Service Command: Commander, Navy Exchange Service Command, ATTN: Human Resources Beverly Building, 3280 Virginia Beach Boulevard, Virginia Beach, VA 23453-5274, (804) 631-3675. For non-civil service civilian personnel of Marine Corps nonappropriated fund instrumentalities, process may be served on the Commanding Officer of the employing activity ATTN: Morale, Welfare and Recreation Director. Department of the Interior. Chief, Payroll Operations Division Attn: Code: D-2605, Bureau of Reclamation. Administrative Service Center, Department of the Interior, P.O. Box 272030, 7201 West Mansfield Avenue, Denver, CO 80227-9030, (303) 969-7739. 591.310 Effect of regulations in this subpart on allowances established under previous statutes. APPENDIX A OF SUBPART C-DAILY TRANSPOR- Subpart D-Separate Maintenance 591.401 591.402 Purpose and applicability. 591.403 Amount of payment. 591.405 Responsibilities of agencies. 591.406 Records and reports. Subpart A-Uniform Allowances AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 5903; E.O. 12748, 3 CFR 1991 Comp., p. 316. |