Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Leave Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
Knoxville, Tennessee
Robert D. Hendler
Classification and Pay Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
07/14/2014
Date
The claimant was initially charged annual leave for a work absence of several days in February 2011, but the leave was later changed to leave without pay (LWOP) by her former employer, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Upon her subsequent retirement, she received debt collection notices for 28 hours of annual leave which had been paid for the work absence and for an additional 100 hours of advanced annual leave which she had used in prior years. The claimant appears to request that the LWOP be charged to annual leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). We received the claim request on June 12, 2014. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied for lack of jurisdiction.
OPM does not have any authority to investigate or settle claims made against an agency which has independent settlement authority under the law. The applicable law in this case, section 2008(c) of title 39, United States Code (U.S.C.), states:
Subject only to the provisions of this chapter, the Postal Service is authorized to make such expenditures and to enter into such contracts, agreements, and arrangements, upon such terms and conditions and in such manner as it deems necessary, including the final settlement of all claims and litigation by or against the Postal Service.
This statutory provision authorizes the USPS to consider and settle all claims made against it. Therefore, we do not have jurisdiction to consider or settle this claim.[1]
This settlement is final. No further administrative review is available within OPM. Nothing in this settlement limits the employee’s right to bring an action in an appropriate United States Court.