death of an employee and any event occurs which may require a reapportionment of the amount of compensation payable to one or more of them, such beneficiaries, or someone on their behalf, shall promptly notify the Bureau, giving the date of the event and all essential facts. Such reapportionment may become necessary when any such beneficiary dies or marries, when a child, grandchild, brother or sister of the decedent becomes 18 years old, or, if over 18, becomes capable of self support, or when a parent or grandparent of the decedent ceases to be dependent, or when a posthumous child of the decedent is born.

[Regulations under the United States Employees' Compensation Act, June 1, 1938] § 1.17

Burial expenses.

(a) When the death of an employee results from an injury occurring within the time limitations prescribed in said act, the Bureau may in its discretion pay reasonable burial expenses in an amount not to exceed $400: Provided, That if any part of the burial expenses has been paid by another department of the Government, the amount paid by the Bureau shall not exceed the difference between the amount so paid by the other department and $400. Payment will be made to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate on the submission of competent evidence of his appointment as such.

If there is no legal representative of the estate, the Bureau may upon application pay to the undertaker the amount of any burial expenses remaining unpaid, not exceeding the amount payable by the Bureau, or may upon application reimburse the person who has paid such burial expenses and is entitled to such reimbursement.

(b) When the death of an employee results from causes other than the injury and there is an unpaid balance of a schedule award due pursuant to section 5 (a) or 5 (b) of the act, and there is no survivor entitled to the same and no burial allowance is payable under section 11 of the act, then such amount, subject to the limitations of such section 11 and section 5 (d) (1) (E) of the act, shall be paid to reimburse any person or persons equitably entitled thereto to the extent and in proportion that they shall

have paid the expenses of burial of such individual.

114 F.R. 7375, Dec. 9, 1949]

§ 1.18 Embalming and transportation of bodies of deceased employees.

(a) In the case of an employee whose home is within the United States, if his death resulting from an injury caused by employment occurs away from his home office or outside the United States, and if the relatives desire that the body be embalmed and transported in a hermetically sealed casket to the home of the employee, the Bureau may upon application pay the reasonable and necessary expenses of such embalming and transportation, in addition to the allowance for burial expense.

(b) When the death of an employee results from causes other than the injury and the employee is away from his home or official station for the purpose of receiving medical or other services, appliances, or supplies under section 9 of the act, or examination under section 21 of the act, if so desired by his relatives the body shall, in the discretion or the Bureau, be embalmed and transported in a hermetically sealed casket to the home or last place of residence of the employee at the expense of the Employees' Compensation Fund. If no request is made for the return of the body by decedent's relatives, the Bureau should be notified immediately by telegram, reporting all pertinent details, with request for instructions concerning arrangements for disposition of the remains. [14 F.R. 7376, Dec. 9, 1949]

§ 1.19 Overpayments by mistake.

(a) Whenever by reason of an error of fact or law an overpayment has been made to an individual who is entitled to further payments, proper adjustment shall be made by decreasing subsequent payments of compensation, having due regard to the probable extent of future payments, the rate of compensation, the financial circumstances of the individual, and any other relevant factors, so as to minimize any resulting hardship upon such individual. In the event such individual dies before such adjustment has been completed a similar adjustment shall be made by decreasing subsequent payments. if any, payable under this act with respect to such individual's death.

(b) Where there are no further payments due and an overpayment has been made to an individual by reason of an error of fact or law such individual, as soon as the mistake is discovered or his attention is called to the same, shall refund to the Bureau any amount so paid, or upon failure to make such refund the Bureau may proceed to recover the same. (c) There shall be no adjustment or recovery, under paragraphs (a) or (b), of this section, by the United States in any case where incorrect payment has been made to an individual who is without fault and where adjustment or recovery would defeat the purpose of this act or would be against equity and good conscience.

[14 F.R. 7376, Dec. 9, 1949]

§ 1.20 Injuries to members of the Officers' Reserve Corps, Enlisted Reserve Corps, and Naval Reserve.

(a) If in time of peace any member of the Officers' Reserve Corps or of the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Army, or any member of the Naval Reserve, as included in the Naval Reserve Act of 1938, approved June 25, 1938 (52 Stat. 1175, 1181; 34 U. S. C. 885c), is physically injured in the line of duty or dies as the result of such physical injury, he or his beneficiaries shall be entitled to all of the benefits prescribed by law for civil employees of the United States who are physically injured in the line of duty or who die as the result thereof. The Bureau has jurisdiction in such cases and performs the same duties with reference thereto as in the cases of civil employees of the United States so injured or disabled. For the purpose of this section all members of the Officers' Reserve Corps or of the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Army shall be considered as entitled to compensation benefits if injured in the line of duty (1) while on active duty, or (2) when engaged in authorized travel to and from such duty, or (3) when engaged in authorized training without pay: Provided, That authorized training without pay is defined as inactive-status training under written authorization by competent military authority covering a specific training assignment and prescribing a time limit. Also, for the purpose of this section all members of the Naval Reserve shall be considered to be entitled to compensation benefits for injury in the line of duty while performing active military or naval service, if in

jured (1) while having performed active duty, with or without pay, or (2) while having performed training duty, with or without pay, or (3) while having performed drills, equivalent instruction or duty, appropriate duty, or other prescribed duty, or (4) while having performed authorized travel to or from such duties.

(b) In the cases of members of the Officers' Reserve Corps or of the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Army, the benefits shall accrue to any such member, or to his beneficiaries, whether the disability or death is the result of sickness or disease contracted in line of duty while on active duty, when such sickness or disease is proximately caused by the service on active duty. In no case, however, of a member of the Naval Reserve coming within the purview of this section shall sickness or disease be regarded as an injury.

(c) For the purpose of determining the benefits to which a claimant may be entitled under the provisions of this section, members of the Officers' Reserve Corps or of the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Army physically injured when engaged in authorized training without pay, and Naval Reservists physically injured while performing duties stated in paragraph (a) of this section and in a non-pay status, will be held and considered as receiving the pay and allowances which they would have received had they been in a pay status.

(d) A member of the Officers' Reserve Corps or of the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Army may not receive the benefits under the United States Employees' Compensation Act concurrently with active duty pay or pension based upon military service, and in the event a person becomes eligible to reIceive the benefits under the United States Employees' Compensation Act of September 7, 1916 (39 Stat. 742; 50 U. S. C. 751-793), as amended, and is also eligible for, or in receipt of, a pension based upon military service, he shall elect which benefit to receive. Reserve Officers entitled to the benefits of the last proviso of section 5 of the act of April 3, 1939 (53 Stat. 557; 10 U. S. C. 369a), are not entitled to the benefits coming within the purview of this section. Any member of the Naval Reserve eligible to receive the benefits coming within the purview of this section who may also be eligible to receive a pension under the provisions of the Act of June

23, 1937 (50 Stat. 305), entitled “An Act to amend the provisions of the pension laws for peace-time service to include Reserve officers and members of the Enlisted Reserves," shall elect which benefit he shall receive.

(e) All provisions of this subchapter and of the United States Employees' Compensation Act of September 7, 1916, as amended, except such as may be in conflict with the provisions of this section or with section 304 of the Naval Reserve Act of 1938, approved June 25, 1938 (52 Stat. 1181; 34 U. S. C. 855c), shall be applicable with respect to cases of members of the Naval Reserve. [4 F.R. 3605, Aug. 15, 1939]

CROSS REFERENCE: For Naval Reserve personnel regulations, see 32 CFR Part 713.

§ 1.21

Confidential nature of records and papers relating to injury or death of employees.

(a) All records, medical and other reports, statements of witnesses and other papers relating to the disability or death of a civil employee of the United States or other person entitled to compensation benefits from the United States under said act and all amendments or extensions thereof, are the official records of the Bureau and are not records of the agency, establishment or department making or having the care or use of such records. Such records and papers pertaining to any such injury or death are confidential and no official or employee of a Government establishment who has investigated or secured statements from witnesses and others pertaining to a claim for compensation, or any person having the care or use of such reports, shall disclose information from or pertaining to such records to any person, except upon the written approval of the Bureau.

(b) Any person having any such record shall assume no control over same, nor shall such person be vested with any discretion relative to the production of same in court, as such discretion shall remain in the Bureau to whose business such records appertain. Any such person is prohibited from presenting such records or information in court, whether in answer to a subpoena duces tecum or otherwise. When a subpoena shall have been served upon such person, he shall appear in court and respectfully decline to present such records or to divulge the information called for, basing his re

fusal upon this regulation and upon the fact that such person is not the custodian of such records.

(c) Information with respect to an injury or death which may be necessary for the official purpose of any department, agency or other establishment of the United States may be disclosed upon the responsibility of the official superior to see that such information will be used exclusively for such official purpose. [Regulations under the United States Employees' Compensation Act, June 1, 1938]

§ 1.22

Inspection of records of Bureau. An employee or his beneficiary in case of death, or the agent of such employee or beneficiary, may, at the discretion of the Bureau, be permitted to examine the records of the case in which he is an interested party. In any request for such permission the Bureau shall be the judge of the reasonableness thereof, and may, in its discretion permit inspection of such record or part thereof which, in its opinion, will not result in damage or harm to the beneficiary or to any person, or which will not be inimical to the interests of the Bureau or of the United States. [4 F.R. 1613, Apr. 14, 1939]

§ 1.23 Waiver not authorized.

No official superior is authorized to require an employee to enter into any agreement, either before or after an injury, to waive his right to claim compensation.

[Regulations under the United States Employees' Compensation Act, June 1, 1938. Redesignated at 14 F.R. 7375, Dec. 9, 1949] § 1.24 Representation of claimants and approval of claims for legal and other services.

(a) A claimant may be represented before the Bureau in any proceeding under the act by any duly authorized person. (A former member of the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board or a former Director of the Bureau shall not be considered a duly authorized person within the meaning of this section for a period of two years following termination of his services as a Board member or as Directors. The Bureau shall require satisfactory proof of the representative's authorization.

(b) No claim for legal services or for other services rendered in respect of a case, claim, or award for compensation, to or on account of any person shall be valid unless approved by the Bureau.

Any person who receives any fee, other consideration, or gratuity on account of services so rendered, unless such fee, consideration or gratuity is approved by the Bureau, or who solicits employment for himself or another in respect of any case, claim, or award for compensation under (or to be brought under) this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, for each offense, be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The Bureau cannot pay any claim so approved by it nor can it assist in the collection of any sum so approved.

(c) No fee for services shall be approved except upon an application to the Bureau supported by an itemized statement of the necessary work done on behalf of a claimant. Should such statement be deemed insufficient by the Bureau, further details may be required and the Bureau may require the person for whom such services were rendered to certify to the correctness thereof. Except where it has been established that representation was to be rendered gratuitously, the fee approved by the Bureau shall be reasonably commensurate with the actual necessary work performed by such representative. The Bureau will consider for approval only the necessary services performed by applicant on behalf of the claimant, taking into account the capacity in which the representative has served and the circumstances of the claimant.

(d) The Bureau will not recognize any contract for the payment of an agreed sum, or any contingent contract, with respect to legal or other services rendered in respect of a claim or award for compensation.

[14 F.R. 7376, Dec. 9, 1949, as amended at 24 F.R. 1157, Feb. 14, 1959]

§ 1.25 Retroactive effective dates and procedures under Federal Employees' Compensation Act Amendments of 1949.

(a) The amendments classifying the loss or loss of use of both hands, or both arms, or both feet or both legs or both eyes, or the sight thereof, as prima facie constituting permanent total disability, is applicable to injuries sustained before October 14, 1949, but only with respect to any period of disability beginning on or after the first of November 1949.

(b) The amendments apply retroactively for injuries which occurred on or after January 1, 1940, involving the total loss or loss of use of an arm, leg, hand, foot or eye or total and permanent loss of hearing of both ears or serious disfigurement of the face, head or neck, on or after January 1, 1940.

(c) If an employee has sustained the permanent partial loss or loss of use of an arm, leg, foot, hand, eye or hearing or the total or partial loss or loss of use of any other member of the body on or after October 14, 1948, he is required to make an election as provided in section 5 of the act.

(d) Whenever a disabled person is entitled to augmented compensation because he has a dependent as set forth in section 105 of the act such person may receive augmented benefits irrespective of the date of his injury. However, such payments shall not commence prior to November 1, 1949; see § 1.5.

(e) The amendments with respect to increasing the rate of compensation are applicable to cases of injury or death which occurred before enactment of these amendments but only with respect to any period beginning the first of November 1949.

(f) Whenever a person is entitled to compensation by virtue of the amendment broadening the scope of the term "employee", such entitlement shall apply to injuries or deaths which occurred on or after December 7, 1941: Provided, however, That no payments for medical expenses or compensation shall be payable for any period prior to November 1, 1949, and shall be limited to cases involving permanent partial or permanent total disability or death; see §§ 1.4, 1.5 and 1.12. [14 F.R. 7376, Dec. 9, 1949]

Sec. 2.11

Submission of bills for medical services, appliances and supplies. 2.12 Reimbursement for medical expense, transportation costs, loss of wages, and incidental expenses.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 2 issued under sec. 32, 39 Stat. 749, as amended; 5 U.S.C. 783; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 2, § 3, 3 CFR, 1943-1948 Comp., p. 1064; 60 Stat. 1095; 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 19, § 1, 3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp., p. 1010; 64 Stat. 1271.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 2 contained in Regulations under the United States Employees' Compensation Act, June 1, 1938, unless otherwise noted.

§ 2.1

Medical treatment, hospital service, transportation, etc.

(a) All medical services, appliances, drugs and supplies which in the opinion of the Bureau are necessary for the treatment of an injury as provided by section 9 of said act (39 Stat. 743; 5 U.S.C. 759), shall be furnished to employees of the United States and to others by law entitled to medical and other benefits, by or upon the order of United States medical officers and hospitals, when available and practicable, for injuries sustained while in the performance of duty, including, where not excluded by law, diseases proximately caused by the conditions of employment, whether resulting in loss of time or not, as well as necessary transportation incident to the securing of such services, appliances, drugs and supplies. An injured employee will be furnished with the means of obtaining transportation, and shall be entitled to reimbursement for expenses incident to to the securing of services, appliances, and supplies necessary in the treatment of a condition the result of injury, when authorized by the Bureau or by his official superior. If there should be no United States medical officer or hospital available, medical services shall be furnished by designated private physicians listed in the Bureau's Form C. A. 76. If there should be no United States medical officer or hospital or designated physician available, such services shall be furnished by a duly qualified physician.

Authori

zation for prolonged treatment from such a physician should be obtained from the Bureau. The attending physician may arrange for necessary hospital care at general ward rates, unless the nature of the case requires care in a private room, special nursing services (if indicated by the nature of the case), X-ray

examinations, and consultations by specialists. In cases of an emergency nature or cases involving unusual circumstances the Bureau may in the exercise of its discretion authorize treatment otherwise than as provided for in this part, or it may approve payment for medical expenses incurred otherwise than as authorized in this part.

(b) The term "physician" as used in the regulations in this subchapter includes surgeons and osteopathic practitioners within the scope of their practice as defined by State law. The term "medical, surgical, and hospital services and supplies" as used in the regulations in this subchapter includes services and supplies by osteopathic practitioners and hospitals within the scope of their practice as defined by State law.

§ 2.2 Emergency medical treatment.

In all cases of injury where emergency treatment is necessary, any duly qualified physician may render first aid treatment. Further treatment, if necessary, should be obtained as soon as practicable from a medical officer of the United States or from a designated physician, where available. It shall be the duty of the official superior to authorize initial adequate medical treatment and thereafter to follow up the matter of such treatment to see that the employee is placed under the care of a medical officer of the United States or a designated physician, if practicable, for any treatment subsequently needed. If unable to comply promptly with this requirement, the official superior shall communicate immediately with the Bureau for instructions, giving full information not only as to the nature and cause of the injury, but as to any treatment that has been rendered with respect thereto.

§ 2.3 Official authorization for treat

ment.

(a) When an employee is injured under circumstances entitling him to compensation or medical treatment, his official superior shall issue promptly to him a request for treatment which shall be authorization for treatment by a United States medical officer or hospital or by a designated physician. Form C. A. 16 has been provided by the Bureau for use in cases in which there is no doubt concerning the right of the employee to receive medical care. Form C. A. 17 has been provided by the Bureau for use in cases in which there may be