OPM Computation of Interest on Back Pay System

On-Line User Documentation

[as of May 1, 1999]

Background

This program computes the amount of interest due on disbursements of back pay issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 5596. The IRS Overpayment Rate is updated quarterly on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 and is the source used to calculate the interest due.

Requirements

• The program was specifically designed to run under the Windows 95 Operating System. The program may run on some other operating systems (e.g., some testing was done on Windows NT version 4); however, we cannot guarantee compatability.
• Your display screen must be set to 800 x 600 pixels before you start the program. The display settings can be verified or changed by taking the following actions in Windows 95:

From the Start menu, select Settings then Control Panel. Double-click on the Display icon. Click on the Settings tab. In the Desktop area box, make sure the setting is 800 x 600 pixels and change the Color palette to the highest color count. This should be at least 256 or True Color (32 bit), if available.

How Do I Start the Computation of Interest on Back Pay System?

Start the application by Start -> Programs -> OPM Back Pay Interest System. The Main Menu for the application will be displayed.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. Once you enter the Social Security Number, Name, Agency, Special Notes, number of days in pay period, number of days between end of pay period and date paychecks are issued, and starting dates of first and last pay period, you cannot change these entries. If any of these entries must be changed, you MUST delete the record and start again.
2. The only items that can be edited are Outside Earnings, Accrual Date (i.e., interest accrual ending date), and the dollar amounts for any pay period.
3. To delete one record in the database, select View or Edit an Existing Record. Select the record you want to delete. The system will display the Pay Period Data screen in "Edit Mode". Click on the Delete Record button. Once you delete the record, it is gone and cannot be retrieved again.
4. To delete the entire database, you must have Microsoft Access installed on your computer. If you do, open the OPM.MDB file in the C:\Program Files\OPM Back Pay Interest System directory. Select all records in the Back Pay and Report tables by highlighting the record number in the far left of the table grid and using the <Shift> and the down arrow. Press <Del> to delete them. WARNING: Do not delete the records in the Interest table.
5. Before running the program, be sure you have the latest interest rate(s) in the Interest Rate Table or the program will STOP at some point and not let you continue. Use the Update Interest Rate button on the Main Menu of the program.

Using the Computation of Interest on Back Pay System

Main Menu

At the Main Menu, your choices are:

• Create a New Back Pay Interest Computation Record for an Employee
• View or Edit an Existing Record
• Preview or Print a Report for a Record
• Help
• Update Interest Rate
• Exit

Help

NOTE: There is a Help button on the top right corner of every screen, except the Main Menu. From the Main Menu, you can access Help by either clicking on the Help button or selecting Help from the Menu Items at the top left corner of the Main Menu screen. If you click on any of the Help options, the following menu will be displayed:

• On-Line User Documentation [this document]
• How to Get Latest IRS Interest Rates
• Back Pay Law [Section 5596 of Title 5, United States Code]
• Back Pay Regulations [5 CFR 550, Subpart H - Back Pay]
• OPM Instructions [Historical FPM Letter 550-7]
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Close Help

Create a New Back Pay Interest Computation Record for an Employee

When you click on this button, you will be taken to the Identifying Information screen.

Identifying Information Screen

• Enter the Social Security Number (if known) or any other numerical identification code. This field is required.

NOTE: If multiple records are created for the same individual using the same SSN or other identification number, a letter will automatically be added to the SSN or code starting with "A".

• Enter the Name of the back pay recipient. The first and last name fields are required. The middle name field is optional.
• Enter the Agency/Office information for the back pay recipient. This field is optional.
• Enter any Special Notes. This field is optional.
• Click on the Forward button to go to the General Input Data screen or click on the Back button to go back to the Main Menu. (Note: If you click on the Back button at this point, all data in the Identifying Information screen will be lost.)

General Input Data Screen

• The SSN/identification number, Code, Last Name, First Name and the Middle Name of the back pay recipient will be displayed at the top of the screen.
• Enter the Number of Days in Employee Pay Period. The default value is 14. If this employee has a pay period other than 14 days, simply click on the box and type in the appropriate number of days.
• Enter the Number of Days Between the End of the Pay Period and Normal Date that Paychecks are Issued. This is a required field. There is no default value.
• Enter the First Day of the First Pay Period in which Back Pay is Payable (MM/DD/YYYY). This is a required field.

NOTE: You can either type the date in the box or you can click on the Calendar button. If you click on the Calendar button, first select the year by clicking on the down arrow to the right of the year displayed. Use the slider to locate the appropriate year. Next select the appropriate month and then click on the date. The date will automatically appear in the box.

• Enter the First Day of the Last Pay Period in which Back Pay is Payable (MM/DD/YYYY). This is a required field.

NOTE: You can either type the date in the box or you can click on the Calendar button. If you click on the Calendar button, first select the year by clicking on the down arrow to the right of the year displayed. Use the slider to locate the appropriate year. Next select the appropriate month and then click on the date. The date will automatically appear in the box.

• Enter the Selected Date on which Back Pay Interest Stops Accruing (MM/DD/YYYY). This is a required field.

NOTE: You can either type the date in the box or you can click on the Calendar button. If you click on the Calendar button, first select the year by clicking on the down arrow to the right of the year displayed. Use the slider to locate the appropriate year. Next select the appropriate month and then click on the date. The date will automatically appear in the box.

When you enter an interest accrual ending date, you will see the following message:

Important Reminder: The interest accrual ending date may not be more than 30 days before the date of the back pay interest payment.

This is not an error message. It is merely reminding you that the interest computation will be valid only if the back pay interest payment is made within 30 days of your selected interest accrual ending date. Additional interest would be owed if the back pay interest payment is made more than 30 days after the interest accrual ending date. (An interest computation can be edited later to use a different interest accrual ending date, as necessary.)

• Click on Yes or No to the "Is the employee owed back pay for a period of time during which the employee was erroneously separated due to an unjustified or unwarranted personnel action AND did the employee have outside earnings during that period?" question.
• If you click on Yes, the Outside Earnings During an Erroneous Separation screen will be displayed. If you click on No, the Pay Period Data screen will be displayed.
• At this point, you may get an error message if you entered invalid pay period dates (e.g., invalid because the first days of the first and last pay periods are not on the same 14-day cycle) or an interest accrual ending date that is beyond the period covered by the last valid interest rate (e.g., a 10/1/1998 interest rate covers the quarter ending 12/31/1998; thus, a 3/15/1999 interest accrual ending date would be invalid). Enter valid dates as appropriate. (See information below about updating the interest rate table.)
• The Back button takes you back to the Identifying Information screen; however, do not attempt to make any changes on that screen. If you must make changes on that screen, you must delete the record and start again.

Outside Earnings During an Erroneous Separation Screen

• Enter the Total gross back pay owed during the period of erroneous separation. This is a required field.
• Enter the Total outside earnings during the period of erroneous separation. This is a required field.
• The outside earnings factor will be computed based on the amounts you entered and will automatically be applied to each pay period.
• Click on the Forward button to get to the Pay Period Data screen or click on the Back button to go back to the General Input Data screen. (If you click on the Back button and then click on No in response to the outside earnings question, any data entered in the Outside Earnings Screen will be deleted.)

Pay Period Data Screen

• The SSN/identification number, Code, Last Name, First Name and the Middle Name of the back pay recipient will be displayed at the top of the screen.
• The Pay Period # is displayed and is automatically incremented each time a pay period is added.
• The Beginning Date, Ending Date, and Pay Date for each pay period is displayed.

NOTE: These dates are calculated based on the dates and number of days entered on the General Input Data screen.

• Enter A - Total Gross Pay actually paid to employee during the pay period:

NOTE: If you have already calculated the difference between the employee's actual pay and corrected pay, you may leave Field A at zero and put the correction amount in Field B.

• Enter B - Corrected Total Gross Pay for the pay period: This is a required field.
• Field C - Total Gross Back Pay for the period (B minus A): is automatically calculated. You may not enter or change this field.
• Field D - Adjusted Gross Back Pay is automatically calculated based on the information (if entered) on the Outside Earnings During an Erroneous Separation screen. You may not enter or change this field.
• Field E - Final period of interest accrual following the last pay date: is automatically calculated after you click on the This is the Final Pay Period button and go to Edit Mode. The dates are based on the information you entered on the General Input Data screen. The Accrual Date is the selected date on which back pay interest stops accruing. The Accrual Date can be changed while in Edit mode.

NOTE: The Accrual Date button is grayed out because it can only be used during while in Edit Mode. See the View or Edit an Existing Record instructions.

• The Add a New Pay Period button at the bottom on the Pay Period Data screen is used to add each successive pay period. The number of pay periods is automatically calculated based on the information entered in the General Input Data screen. When you reach the number of pay periods calculated, a message will appear directing you to click on the This is the Final Pay Period button. This message will be:

Invalid Entry - Based upon the entries in the General Input Data Screen, there are only __ pay periods! You are attempting to exceed this amount. Please check your entry to insure accuracy. If entries are correct you should select the This is the Final Pay period button!

• As you enter pay periods on the Pay Period Data screen, the following information is displayed in a Grid at the bottom of the screen. (The same grid appears in Edit Mode. Use arrows at the bottom of the Grid to scroll left or right and view all columns listed below.)

PP - This is a sequential pay period number.

Beg Date - The beginning date of each pay period calculated from the information entered in the General Input Data screen.

End Date - The ending date of each pay period calculated from the information entered in the General Input Data screen.

Pay Date - The pay date for the pay period calculated from the information entered in the General Input Data screen.

Total Paid - The amount entered in Field A on the Pay Period Data screen.

Corrected Pay - The amount entered in Field B on the Pay Period Data screen.

Gross Back Pay - The amount calculated in Field C (B minus A).

Adj Back Pay - The amount in calculated in Field D. This is either the same amount in Field C (if there are no outside earnings) or the amount calculated after applying the outside earnings factor calculated on the Outside Earnings During Erroneous Separation screen.

Cum Adj Back - The cumulative total of the amounts in Field D for the current and prior pay periods entered.

Cum Interest - The cumulative total of the interest calculated as of the end of the day before the pay date in the next row. (In the case of the last pay period, it is the cumulative interest as of the end of the day on which interest accrual stops.)

Cum Total - The cumulative total of Adjusted Back Pay and Interest due as of the end of the day before the pay date in the next row. (In the case of the last pay period, it is the cumulative total as of the end of the day on which interest accrual stops.)

• The Back button is grayed out and cannot be used until you are in the Edit Mode. (See below.)
• The Delete Record button at the bottom of the Pay Period Data screen will delete the current record that is displayed. You will receive a warning message:

Delete Record - This record will be permanently deleted. Are you sure you want to continue?

If you click on Yes, the record is gone and cannot be recovered. If you click on No, the record will not be deleted.

• The Cancel & Return to Main Menu button will delete the current record that is displayed. You will not be able to recover the record. (This button is not shown in the Edit Mode.)
• The This is the Final Pay Period button will convert the Pay Period Data screen to an Edit screen (i.e., Edit Mode) and cause the system to do the following things:

Display the following message:

Reminder - You have completed data entry for this back pay interest computation record. The next screen is an Edit Screen. You will be able to view data entered for all pay periods. You will also be able to change the dollar amounts entered for any pay period and to change the date on which interest stops accruing. (Remember that the interest payment must be issued within 30 calendar days of the interest accrual ending date; otherwise, interest must be recomputed based on a new ending date that meets the 30-day requirement.) You may also change the outside earnings factor by clicking on the Back button. No other edits, such as adding or deleting pay periods or changing pay period dates, are permitted. Be sure to click on the Recalculate Interest button after making any changes. When finished, click on the Save & Return to Main Menu button. For additional information on how to use the Edit Screen, see Help -- On-Line User Documentation.

Calculate the interest from the final pay period pay date through the date when interest stops accruing. (See grid at bottom of the screen.)

Add a slider bar above the top right hand corner of the grid. This allows you to review each individual pay period on the screen.

Enable the Back button. (See below.)

Gray out the Add New Pay Period button.

Create a Recalculate Interest button in place of the This is the Final Pay Period button. (See below.)

Create a Save & Return to Main Menu button in place of the Cancel & Return to Main Menu button. (See below.)

• The enabled Back button takes you back to the Outside Earnings During an Erroneous Separation screen. Normally, the fields will be blank even if there were previously amounts entered. (If you want to retain the original amounts, you MUST reenter the amounts; otherwise, the program treats the blank fields as if you had entered zeroes when you return to the Edit screen.) Insert the appropriate dollar amounts and the outside earnings factor will automatically be computed. Then click on the Forward button to return to the Edit screen. (NOTE: The Back button is enabled only when you are viewing pay period #1 on the Edit screen. The Back button will be disabled (grayed out) when viewing any other pay period. Click on the |< arrow to move directly to the 1^st pay period.)
• The Recalculate Interest button appears when you are in Edit Mode (i.e., after you have clicked on the This is the Final Pay Period button). You must click on the Recalculate Interest button if you change the Accrual Date, the Outside Earnings Factor, or any dollar amount for any pay period. For additional information on operating in Edit Mode, see the applicable instructions in the "View or Edit an Existing Record" section below (i.e. the instructions about making edits to the Pay Period Data screen in Edit Mode).
• The Save and Return to Main Menu button appears when you are in Edit Mode. Clicking this button will save the current record to the database and take you back to the Main Menu screen.

View or Edit an Existing Record

• When you click on this button, the Search screen will be displayed. You must either search by name or social security number (SSN).
• Select Search by Name or Search by Social Security Number.
• To select a Name or Social Security Number (or other number code), click on the "down-arrow" on the right of the box. A drop-down list will be displayed. You must select a Name or Social Security Number from that list by clicking on the correct item. The selected name or number will then appear in the box. (Since two employees may have the same name, in the Name Search mode you must also select a Social Security number to identify the record.) After selecting the name and/or Social Security Number, then select the alpha code. For most employees, this will be "A". If there is more than one record for the same employee, there will be a "B", "C", etc.
• You must then click on OK to proceed or Back to Main Menu to go back.
• When the record is found, the Pay Period Data screen will be displayed in "Edit Mode". Remember, you can only change the Accrual Date, the dollar amounts in each pay period, and the Outside Earnings Factor. You cannot add or delete pay periods or change any other information on the Identification Information screen or the General Input Data screen.
• To change the Outside Earnings Factor, click the Back button. The Back button takes you back to the Outside Earnings During an Erroneous Separation screen. Normally, the fields will be blank even if there were previously amounts entered. (If you want to retain the original amounts, you MUST reenter the amounts; otherwise, the program treats the blank fields as if you had entered zeroes when you return to the Edit screen.) Insert the appropriate dollar amounts and the outside earnings factor will automatically be computed. Then click on the Forward button to return to the Edit screen. (NOTE: The Back button is enabled only when you are viewing pay period #1 on the Edit screen. The Back button will be disabled (grayed out) when viewing any other pay period. Click on the |< arrow to move directly to the 1^st pay period.)
• To change the dollar amount in a pay period, you must use the arrow bar just above the upper right hand corner of the Grid. Select the appropriate pay period(s) by clicking on the appropriate arrow(s) and then make the changes to the dollar amount(s). (Clicking on the |< arrow takes you to the first pay period. Clicking on the >| arrow takes you to the final pay period. The < and > arrows move one pay period at a time in the desired direction.)
• To change the accrual date (i.e., interest accrual ending date), you must use the arrow bar just above the upper right hand corner of the Grid. Go to the final pay period screen by clicking on the >| arrow. The Accrual Date button will no longer be grayed out and you can select a new date.
• When you are finished making changes, click on the Recalculate Interest button and then the Save and Return to Main Menu button. (NOTE: Changes will not appear in the Grid until you click on the Recalculate Interest button.)

Preview or Print a Report for a Record

• When you click on this button, the Search screen will be displayed. You must either search by name or social security number (SSN).
• Select Search by Name or Search by Social Security Number (SSN).
• To select a Name or Social Security Number (or other number code), click on the "down-arrow" on the right of the box. A drop-down list will be displayed. You must select a Name or Social Security Number from that list by clicking on the correct item. The selected name or number will then appear in the box. (Since two employees may have the same name, in the Name Search mode you must also select a Social Security number to identify the record.) After selecting the name and/or Social Security Number, then select the alpha code from the drop-down list for that box. For most employees, this will be "A". If there is more than one record for the same employee, there will be a "B", "C", etc.
• You must then click on OK to proceed or Back to Main Menu to go back.
• There will be 3 reports displayed. However, they are layered one on top of the other. So, you only see one at a time. The first report is the Summary Report, the second report is the Detailed Report, and the third report is the Back Pay Data report. These reports can be viewed or printed anytime after the record has been entered and saved.
• To view the report(s) on the screen, you must click on the square in the upper right hand corner of the report screen to enlarge the screen. Then at the bottom of the report screen, there is an icon with 3 boxes. Click on the icon to change the view. You can either minimize or close the 1^st report box to view or print the next report.
• To print the report(s), click on the printer icon at the bottom of the screen. You can either minimize or close the 1^st report box to view or print the next report.

Update Interest Rate

The OPM maintains a web page that contains the latest IRS quarterly interest rate used in computing back pay interest. If you are connected to the Internet, you can obtain the rates at this link.

Once you have the new interest rates, follow the steps below to update the interest rate table in the OPM Back Pay Interest System:

• From the Start menu, select Programs, then OPM Back Pay Interest System
• From the Main Menu, click on the Update Interest Rate button.
• The Interest Rate screen will display the earliest quarterly effective date (i.e., January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1) for which an interest rate has not been entered (i.e., the earliest quarterly date showing a zero rate). If you have not used the program for more than 3 months, you may have to update more than one quarterly interest rate.
• To Add a new interest rate, move the cursor to the interest rate field and enter the appropriate annual interest rate (in place of the zero). Enter the annual interest rate expressed as a whole number. For example, type "7" if the annual interest rate is 7%. The rate is added to the interest rate table immediately when typed, without the need to click on any other button.
• You can move to another record (i.e., quarterly effective date) by clicking on the arrows on the arrow bar below the interest rate field. Clicking on the |< arrow takes you to the first record (10/1/87). Clicking on the >| arrow takes you to the last record (10/1/2025 by default). Clicking on the < and > arrows moves you one record at a time in the desired direction.
• The program knows which years are leap years and will display a check-mark to denote a leap year. It is not necessary for you to enter that information.
• The Grid button will display the entire interest table. You may move up or down by using the Page Up or Page Down keys, by using the arrow keys on your keyboard, or by using the vertical slide bar with your mouse. (This Grid is for viewing purposes only. You cannot make changes in the Grid mode.)
• Close the Interest Rate screen by clicking on the 'X' in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
• You will be returned to the Main Menu where you can continue using the program or click on Exit to close the program.