Administrative Wage Garnishment

<RULE> POSTAL SERVICE <CFR>39 CFR Part 956</CFR> <SUBJECT>Administrative Wage Garnishment</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Postal Service. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This document contains the final rule for proceedings in which the Judicial Officer Department conducts fact-finding relative to administrative wage garnishment initiated by the Department of the Treasury. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Effective September 29, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Postal Service Judicial Officer Department, 2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22201-3078. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Staff Counsel Sheena Allen at (240) 636-4158. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> 39 CFR 492 authorizes the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service or its successor entity to collect debts by administrative wage garnishment, and conduct administrative wage garnishment hearings, on behalf of the Postal Service in accordance with the requirements of 31 U.S.C. 3720D and the procedures contained in 31 CFR 285.11. In conformity with the current interagency agreement (IAA FY 22) between the Postal Service and the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the Judicial Officer Department is responsible for conducting non-hardship hearings regarding the existence or amount of delinquent non-tax debts collected by administrative wage garnishment. Under 31 CFR 285.11(f), “agencies shall prescribe regulations for the conduct of administrative wage garnishment hearings consistent with this section or shall adopt this section without change by reference.” Thus, the Judicial Officer Department created these rules to reflect the current practice for cases involving non-hardship administrative wage garnishment hearing requests. <LSTSUB> <HD SOURCE="HED">List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 956</HD> Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Postal Service. </LSTSUB> <REGTEXT TITLE="39" PART="956"> Accordingly, for the reasons stated, the Postal Service adds 39 CFR part 956 to read as follows: <HD SOURCE="HED">PART 956—ADMINISTRATIVE WAGE GARNISHMENT</HD> <CONTENTS> <SECHD>Sec.</SECHD> <SECTNO>956.1</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 1) Authority for this part.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.2</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 2) Scope of this part.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.3</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 3) Definitions.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.4</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 4) Petition for a hearing.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.5</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 5) Scope of hearing; evidentiary standard.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.6</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 6) Notice of Docketing.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.7</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 7) Filing and serving documents; computation of time; representation of parties.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.8</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 8) Answer to petition.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.9</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 9) Hearing Official authority and responsibilities.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.10</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 10) Opportunity for oral hearing.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.11</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 11) Effect of Hearing Official's decision.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.12</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 12) Consequences for failure to comply with this part.</SUBJECT> <SECTNO>956.13</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 13) Ex parte communications.</SUBJECT> </CONTENTS> <HD SOURCE="HED">Authority: </HD> 31 U.S.C. 3720D; 39 U.S.C. 204, 401, 2601; 31 CFR 285.11. <SECTION> <SECTNO>§ 956.1 (Rule 1)</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>Authority for this part.</SUBJECT> This part is issued by the Judicial Officer under authority delegated by the Postmaster General. </SECTION> <SECTION> <SECTNO>§ 956.2 (Rule 2)</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>Scope of this part.</SUBJECT> (a) This part applies to a debtor's petition for hearing provided by 31 U.S.C. 3720D, 31 CFR 285.11, and in accordance with the regulations contained in the Employee and Labor Relations Manual, sections 470 and 480. (b) Under this part, a debtor may challenge: (1) The existence of a delinquent nontax debt owed to the Postal Service; or (2) The amount of a delinquent nontax debt owed to the Postal Service. (c) This part also applies to a hearing under 31 U.S.C. 3720D and 31 CFR 285.11 when a Hearing Official in the Judicial Officer Department is designated as the Hearing Official for a creditor Federal agency other than the Postal Service under an agreement between the Postal Service and that agency. In those cases, all references to Postal Service in this part will be construed to refer to the relevant creditor Federal agency. </SECTION> <SECTION> <SECTNO>§ 956.3 (Rule 3)</SECTNO> <SUBJECT> Definitions.</SUBJECT> As used in this part: (a) <E T="03">Agency</E> refers to the agency that administers the program that gave rise to the debt or the agency that pursues recovery of the debt. (b) <E T="03">Debt</E> or <E T="03">claim</E> refers to any money, funds, or property that has been determined by an appropriate official of an agency to be owed to the United States by an individual, including a debt administered by a third party as an agent for the Federal Government. (c) <E T="03">Debtor</E> refers to an individual who owes a delinquent nontax debt to the Postal Service. (d) <E T="03">Delinquent nontax debt</E> means any nontax debt that has not been paid by the date specified in the agency's initial written demand for payment, or applicable agreement, unless other satisfactory payment arrangements have been made. (e) <E T="03">Garnishment</E> refers to the process of withholding amounts from an employee's disposable pay and the payment of those amounts to a creditor in satisfaction of a withholding order. (f) <E T="03">General Counsel</E> refers to the General Counsel of the United States Postal Service and includes a designated representative. (g) <E T="03">Hearing Official</E> refers to any individual qualified to hear cases, as determined by the Judicial Officer, including an administrative law judge appointed under the Administrative Procedure Act, an administrative judge appointed under the Contract Disputes Act, or other qualified person who is designated by the Judicial Officer to conduct the hearing under 31 CFR 285.11. (h) <E T="03">Judicial Officer</E> refers to the Judicial Officer, Associate Judicial Officer, or Acting Judicial Officer of the United States Postal Service. (i) <E T="03">Notice of Intent to Initiate Administrative Wage Garnishment Proceedings</E> refers to the formal written notice required by 31 U.S.C. 3720D and 31 CFR 285.11 before administrative wage garnishment deductions can be taken from a debtor's salary. (j) <E T="03">Recorder</E> refers to the Recorder, Judicial Officer Department, U.S. Postal Service, located at 2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22201-3078. The Recorder's telephone number is (703) 812-1900, the fax number is (703) 812-1901, and the Judicial Officer Department's website is <E T="03">https://about.usps.com/who/judicial/.</E> (k) <E T="03">Withholding order</E> means any order for withholding or garnishment of pay issued by an agency, or judicial or administrative body. </SECTION> <SECTION> <SECTNO>§ 956.4</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 4) Petition for a hearing.</SUBJECT> A debtor may petition for a non-hardship hearing to challenge the existence or the amount of a delinquent nontax debt owed to the Postal Service, in accordance with 31 U.S.C. 3720D and 31 CFR 285.11(b). After receiving the debtor's petition for hearing, the agency will promptly transmit the written request and any documents received from the debtor to the Postal Service for further processing and decision by the Judicial Officer Department. </SECTION> <SECTION> <SECTNO>§ 956.5</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 5) Scope of hearing; evidentiary standard.</SUBJECT> (a) A hearing under this part will be conducted by the Hearing Official to determine: (1) The existence of the debt; and (2) The amount of the debt. (b) The Postal Service must prove its case against a debtor by a preponderance of the evidence. </SECTION> <SECTION> <SECTNO>§ 956.6</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 6) Notice of Docketing.</SUBJECT> (a) Within a reasonable time after receiving the debtor's petition for hearing from the agency, the Recorder will issue a Notice of Docketing to the debtor and the General Counsel. The Recorder will maintain a record of Administrative Wage Garnishment proceedings and will assign a docket number to each case. (b) The debtor and the Postal Service's representative should refer to the docket number on any further filings. </SECTION> <SECTION> <SECTNO>§ 956.7</SECTNO> <SUBJECT>(Rule 7) Filing and serving documents; computation of time; representation of parties.</SUBJECT> (a) <E T="03">Filing.</E> All pleadings and documents required under this part must be filed using the Judicial Officer Department's electronic filing system, unless the Hearing Official permits otherwise. The Judicial Officer Department's electronic filing system website is accessible 24 hours a day at <E T="03">https://usps-judicialoffice.journaltech.com.</E> (1) Documents submitted using the electronic filing system are considered filed as of the date and time (Eastern Time) reflected in the system. (2) Documents mailed to the Recorder are considered filed on the date mailed as evidenced by a United States Postal Service postmark. (3) Filings by any other means are considered filed upon receipt by the Recorder of a complete copy of the filing during normal business hours. Normal business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Time), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. (b) <E T="03">Service.</E> If both parties us ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 17k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━