Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no executive branch employee or General Schedule employee in the legislative branch (or General Schedule employee in the judicial branch, excluding those paid under 28 U.S.C. 332(f), 603, and 604), may receive any allowance, differential, bonus, award, or other similar cash payment under title 5, United States Code, in any calendar year which, in combination with the employee's basic pay (whether received under title 5, United States Code, or otherwise), would cause the employee's aggregate compensation to exceed the rate for level I of the Executive Schedule on the last day of that calendar year (i.e., the aggregate limitation).

Subject to paragraph (b)(2) of this section, an employee in a Senior Executive Service position paid under 5 U.S.C. 5383 and an employee in a senior-level or scientific or professional position paid under 5 U.S.C. 5376 may not receive any allowance, differential, bonus, award, or other similar cash payment under title 5, United States Code, in any calendar year which, in combination with the employee's basic pay, would cause the employee's aggregate compensation to exceed the rate of pay for level I of the Executive Schedule.

An employee covered by a performance appraisal system that has been certified under 5 CFR part 430, subpart D, may not receive any allowance, differential, bonus, award, or other similar cash payment under title 5, United States Code, in any calendar year which, in combination with the employee's basic pay, would cause the employee's aggregate compensation to exceed the total annual compensation payable to the Vice President under 3 U.S.C. 104 on the last day of that calendar year (i.e., the aggregate limitation).

An agency must make corrective actions as provided in paragraphs (g) and (h) of this section if the agency underestimated or overestimated an employee's aggregate compensation in a calendar year as a result of receiving or losing certification of its applicable performance appraisal system under 5 CFR part 430, subpart D.

The aggregate limitations described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section apply to the aggregate compensation an employee actually received during the calendar year without regard to when the compensation was earned.

When an agency authorizes a discretionary payment for an employee, the agency must defer any portion of such payment that, when added to the estimated aggregate compensation the employee is projected to receive, would cause the employee's aggregate compensation during the calendar year to exceed the applicable aggregate limitation. Any portion of a discretionary payment deferred under this paragraph must be available for payment as provided in § 530.204. When a discretionary payment is authorized but not required to be paid in the current calendar year, an agency official's decision to set the payment date in the next calendar year is not considered a deferral under this paragraph.

An agency may not defer or discontinue nondiscretionary payments for any period of time to make a discretionary payment that would otherwise cause an employee's pay to exceed the applicable aggregate limitation. An agency may not defer or discontinue basic pay under any circumstance.

If, after an agency defers discretionary payments as required by paragraph (d) of this section, the estimated aggregate compensation to which an employee is entitled exceeds the applicable aggregate limitation, the agency must defer all nondiscretionary payments (other than basic pay) as necessary to avoid payments in excess of that limitation. An agency must defer all nondiscretionary payments at the time when otherwise continuing to pay such payments would cause an employee's estimated aggregate compensation for that calendar year to exceed the applicable aggregate limitation. An agency must pay any portion of a nondiscretionary payment deferred under this paragraph at a later date, as provided in § 530.204.

If an agency determines that it underestimated an employee's aggregate compensation at an earlier date in the calendar year, or the aggregate limitation applicable to the employee is reduced during the calendar year, the sum of the employee's remaining payments of basic pay may exceed the difference between the aggregate compensation the employee has actually received to date in that calendar year and the applicable aggregate limitation. In such cases, the employee will become indebted to the Federal Government for any amount paid in excess of the applicable aggregate limitation. The head of the agency may waive the debt under 5 U.S.C. 5584, if warranted.

To the extent that any excess amount is attributable to amounts that should have been deferred and would have been payable at the beginning of the next calendar year, an agency must extinguish the excess amount on January 1 of the next calendar year. As part of the correction of the error, the agency must deem the excess amount to have been paid on January 1 of the next calendar year (when the debt was extinguished) as if it were a deferred excess payment, as described in § 530.204, and must consider this deemed deferred excess payment to be part of the employee's aggregate compensation for the new calendar year.

If an agency determines that it overestimated an employee's aggregate compensation at an earlier date in the calendar year, which caused the agency to defer payments unnecessarily under this section, or the aggregate limitation applicable to the employee is increased during the calendar year, the agency may make appropriate corrective payments to the employee during the calendar year, notwithstanding § 530.204.