Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Compensation Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
U.S. Department of Transportation
Robert D. Hendler
Classification and Pay Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
08/10/2016
Date
The claimant asserts his last position as “Supervisor Air Traffic Control Specialist” with FAA at the Albuquerque Enroute Air Traffic Control Center should have been upgraded in June 2004, with his “pay and retirement pay…adjusted back to that date” because actions of the FAA “kept [him] locked into a lower grade and pay until [his] retirement in December 2006.” The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) received his initial claim request on November 20, 2014. In our December 15, 2014, letter, we advised the claimant OPM would not accept and docket his claim until he had filed a signed, written claim with his agency and received a final agency denial. In his subsequent October 4, 2015, letter which we received on October 15, 2015, the claimant stated he had “filed a complaint” with FAA’s “Chief Operation Officer” on January 12, 2015, but he “has never received a reply from the FAA.”
OPM settles Federal civilian employee compensation and leave claims under section 3702(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code (U.S.C.), and its implementing regulations in part 178 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Section 178.102(a) of title 5, CFR, indicates that the claimant’s employing agency already has reviewed and issued a written decision on a claim before it is submitted to OPM for adjudication as discussed above. However, the claimant has not received a final agency denial and, thus, his claim is not ripe for adjudication on its merits. Nevertheless, we may render a decision on this matter based on jurisdictional grounds.
OPM’s authority to adjudicate Federal civilian employee compensation and leave claims under 31 U.S.C. § 3702(a)(2) is subject to the statute of limitations in 31 U.S.C. § 3702(b)(1) (Barring Act), which states every claim against the United States is barred unless such claim is received within six years after the date such claim first accrued. Consequently, the six-year limitation period included within 31 U.S.C. § 3702(b)(1) applies to the pay at issue in this claim. See B-203242 (1982); B-201183 (1981); B-203344 (1981). To satisfy the statutory limitation, a claim must be received by the Office of Personnel Management, or by the department or agency out of whose activities the claim arose, within 6 years from the date the claim accrued. See 5 CFR 178.104(a). The Barring Act does not merely establish administrative guidelines, it specifically prescribes the time within which a claim must be received in order for it to be considered on its merits. OPM does not have any authority to disregard the provisions of the Barring Act, make exceptions to its provisions, or waive the time limitation that it imposes. See Matter of Nguyen Thi Hao, B-253096.3 (August, 11, 1995); Matter of Jackie A. Murphy, B-251301 (April 23, 1993); Matter of Alfred L. Lillie, B-203344 (August 3, 1981); B-209955 (May 31, 1983); OPM File Number S9700855, (May 28, 1998); OPM File Number 003505, (September 9, 1999).
The claimant’s request concerns pay from June 2004 to December 2006, at which time the claim accrued. The record does not show the claimant ever filed a signed, written claim on this matter with FAA until on or around January 12, 2015. Thus, the claimant preserved his claim when it was received by OPM on November 20, 2014, for purposes of applying under 31 U.S.C. § 3702(b)(1), more than six years after the claim accrued. Therefore, we must conclude that the claim for back pay based on a “retroactive adjustment in pay” is time barred and may not be allowed.
The authority in § 3702(a)(2) is narrow and limited to adjudication of individually filed compensation and leave claims. OPM’s jurisdiction to adjudicate Federal civilian employee retirement claims is derived from other statutes. See 5 U.S.C. § 8347 for Civil Service Retirement System claims adjudication and 5 U.S.C. § 8461 for Federal Employees’ Retirement System claims adjudication. Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to respond to the claimant’s request that his “high three” used to calculate his annuity be adjusted with regard to his “retirement pay” under the compensation and leave administrative claims process.
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.