Title 5Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73

§5581 Definitions

Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart D— - Pay and Allowances › Chapter CHAPTER 55— - PAY ADMINISTRATION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER VIII— - SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTS › § 5581

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines two key words used in this part: "employee" and "money due." Employee means someone counted as an employee under federal law (see section 2105) and also people who work for the District of Columbia, a Federal land bank, a Federal intermediate credit bank, a regional bank for cooperatives, or the Senate under section 36a of title 2. Money due means the pay and allowances owed because a government worker died. It covers nine kinds of payment, such as travel reimbursements and per diem, moving and housing allowances, overtime and cost‑of‑living pay, suggestion awards, refunds for savings‑bond deductions, pay for unused annual or vacation leave, paychecks not delivered or returned after death, and retroactive pay under section 5344(a)(2).

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §5581

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

For the purpose of this subchapter—
(1)“employee” means—
(A)an employee as defined by section 2105 of this title; and
(B)an individual employed by the government of the District of Columbia;
(i)a Federal land bank;
(ii)a Federal intermediate credit bank;
(iii)a regional bank for cooperatives; or
(iv)the Senate within the purview of section 36a of title 2; 11 See References in Text note below. and
(2)“money due” means the pay and allowances due on account of the services of a deceased employee for the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia. It includes, but is not limited to—
(A)per diem instead of subsistence, mileage, and amounts due in reimbursement of travel expenses, including incidental and miscellaneous expenses in connection therewith for which reimbursement is due;
(B)allowances on change of official station;
(C)quarters and cost-of-living allowances and overtime or premium pay;
(D)amounts due for payment of cash awards for employees’ suggestions;
(E)amounts due as refund of pay deductions for United States savings bonds;
(F)payment for accumulated and current accrued annual or vacation leave equal to the pay the deceased employee would have received had he lived and remained in the service until the end of the period of annual or vacation leave;
(G)amounts of checks drawn for pay and allowances which were not delivered by the Government to the employee during his lifetime;
(H)amounts of unnegotiated checks returned to the Government because of the death of the employee; and
(I)retroactive pay under section 5344(a) (2) of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large (1)5 U.S.C. 61k.Aug. 3, 1950, ch. 518, § 7, 64 Stat. 396.Apr. 30, 1954, ch. 177, § 2, 68 Stat. 65. (2)5 U.S.C. 61g.Aug. 3, 1950, ch. 518, § 2, 64 Stat. 396. July 2, 1953, ch. 178, § 5, 67 Stat. 138. Sept. 1, 1954, ch. 1208, § 501, 68 Stat. 1115. Sept. 2, 1958, Pub. L. 85–914, § 1, 72 Stat. 1761. 5 U.S.C. 61i.Aug. 3, 1950, ch. 518, § 4, 64 Stat. 396. Paragraph (1) is supplied for convenience and is based on the first 35 words of former section 61f, which is carried into section 5582, and former section 61k. The exception for production credit corporations in section 7 of the Act of Aug. 3, 1950, is omitted as they were merged in the Federal intermediate credit banks by the Farm Credit Act of 1956, 70 Stat. 659. The exception in paragraph (1)(iv) for employees of the Senate is added on authority of the Act of Jan. 6, 1951, ch. 1213, 64 Stat. 1124; 2 U.S.C. 36a. In paragraph (2), the definition of “money due” is substituted for “unpaid compensation”. Paragraph (2)(I) is added on authority of former section 1182(a)(2), which is carried into section 5344. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Section 36a of title 2, referred to in par. (1)(iv), was editorially reclassified as section 4592 of Title 2, The Congress. section 5344 of this title, referred to in par. (2)(I), was amended generally by Pub. L. 92–392 and provisions relating to retroactive pay formerly contained in section 5344(a)(2) are contained in section 5344(b)(2).

Amendments

1979—Par. (1). Pub. L. 96–54 inserted “and” after cl. (iv).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1979 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–54 effective July 12, 1979, see section 2(b) of Pub. L. 96–54, set out as a note under section 305 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 5581

Title 5Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73