Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Compensation Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
Robert D. Hendler
Classification and Pay Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
04/04/2016
Date
The claimant is a Federal civilian employee of the Department of the Navy at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. He requests the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reconsider the decision of the Department of the Army’s (DA) Civilian Human Resource Agency-Far East, that he was ineligible for living quarters allowance (LQA) for a DA position he had applied and been tentatively selected for at Camp Zama, Japan. We received the claim request on February 2, 2016. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied.
The claimant states in his claim that he had applied for the position at Camp Zama in July 2015, received a tentative job offer on December 18, 2015, and a determination of LQA ineligibility on January 14, 2016, and that he was “currently undergoing the Camp Zama onboarding process and evaluation.” However, in a February 8, 2016, email, the claimant communicated that the job offer had been withdrawn and the position subsequently cancelled, but that he was requesting a decision from OPM on his LQA eligibility for the position.
OPM adjudicates compensation claims for certain Federal employees under the authority of section 3702(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code (U.S.C.). The authority in 31 U.S.C. § 3702(a)(2) is narrow and limited to determining if monies are owed the claimant under the controlling statutes or regulations. This does not extend to speculative or prospective claims since in such instances money is not actually owed. In the claimant’s case, he neither received a final job offer nor ever occupied the position with which the requested LQA is associated. Therefore, no monies are owed the claimant and the claim is denied based on failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted.>
This settlement is final. No further administrative review is available within OPM. Nothing in this settlement limits the claimant’s right to bring an action in an appropriate United States court.