FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT

(5 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.)

Summary and Description

The Federal Employees' Compensation Act provides workmen's compensation coverage to civilian employees of the United States for disability or death due to personal injury sustained while in the performance of duty or to employment related disease.

PERSONS AND EMPLOYMENTS COVERED

The law covers three million individuals, including civilian employees of the United States Government; the District of Columbia Government; and such diverse groups as Peace Corps volunteers, enrollees in the Job Corps and the Neighborhood Youth Corps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTÄ); and State and local law enforcement officers killed or injured under circumstances involving a crime against the United States. The Act also provides for the payment of benefits to dependents if the injury or disease causes the employee's death.

INJURIES AND DISEASES COVERED

Workers' compensation benefits are provided for accidental injuries sustained by employees while in the performance of duty and occupational disease proximately caused by the employment. Benefits cannot be paid if the injury or disease is caused by the willful misconduct of the employee or by the employee's intention to bring about the injury or death of himself or another, or if intoxication is the proximate cause of the injury or death.

AMOUNT OF BENEFITS

Compensation for total disability and death generally is payable at the rate of two-thirds of the employee's salary if he has no dependent; or three-fourths of his salary if he has one or more dependents. The minimum rate of compensation for total disability is three-fourths of the monthly pay of the lowest rate of basic pay for grade GS-2 of the General Schedule of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, or the employee's full wages, whichever is less. The maximum compensation payable is three-fourths of the monthly pay of the highest rate of basic pay provided for grade GS-15 of the General Schedule.

TEMPORARY TOTAL DISABILITY

Compensation for loss of wages is payable at the rate of two-thirds or three-fourths of the employee's salary after a 3-day waiting period,

unless there is permanent injury or where the disability causing wage loss exceeds 21 days. If the disability lasts more than 21 days, compensation is paid for the waiting period.

PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY

The law provides both scheduled benefits, and payments for nonscheduled disabilities based upon loss in wage-earning capacity for permanent effects of an injury. Scheduled benefits are awards for permanent impairment of certain members or functions of the body (such as loss or loss of use, either total or partial, of an eye, arm, hearing, etc.); or for serious disfigurement of the face, head or neck if of a character likely to handicap a person in securing or maintaining employment. Benefits for loss in wage-earning capacity due to an injury also may be paid after the scheduled award period has terminated. Compensation for loss in wage-earning capacity may be payable if the employee is unable to resume his regular work because of injury-related disability, and is paid on the basis of the difference between the employee's capacity to earn wages and the wages of the job he held when injured.

PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY

Loss, or loss of use, of both hands, or both arms, or both feet, or both legs, or both eyes or the sight thereof, constitutes, prima facie, permanent total disability. Compensation for permanent total disability is payable for life on the basis of two-thirds or three-fourths of the employee's salary.

DEATH

Persons eligible for death compensation include a widow or wholly dependent widower, children under 18 years of age (or if over 18 the child is a student or incapable of self-support), and dependent parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and grandchildren. If there is no child eligible for benefits, the widow or wholly dependent widower's monthly compensation is 45 percent of the monthly pay of the deceased employee. If there is a child or children eligible for benefits, the widow or widower is entitled to 40 percent of the pay and each child is entitled to 15 percent. If children are the sole survivors, 35 percent is paid for one child and 15 percent additional for each additional child, shared equally. In no case, however, may the total monthly compensation paid be more than 75 percent of the employee's monthly pay, or 75 percent of the highest rate of monthly pay provided for grade GS-15 of the General Schedule.

Compensation to an employee's survivors terminates upon their death or marriage. Upon remarriage a widow will receive a lump sum equal to 24 times her monthly compensation.

Burial expenses not to exceed $800 are payable in an individual case. Transportation of the body to its former residence in the United States is provided where an employee dies away from his home station.

MEDICAL CARE

All necessary medical care is provided for the effects of an injury, including medical, surgical and hospital services, appliances, and supplies prescribed or recommended by a qualified physician. Transportation expense is authorized if travel is necessary to secure treatment. Treatment must be obtained from United States medical officers and hospitals, if practicable. If these are not available, physicians designated by the Office of Workers' Cooperation Programs are to be used. Other qualified physicians may be used only if United States medical officers and hospitals or designated physicians are not available or if an emergency exists. The term "physician" includes surgeons and osteopathic practitioners, but not chiropractors, chiropodists, etc. Authorization for medical care must first be obtained from an employee's employing establishment or the Office before treatment can be obtained at Office expense.

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION

The Office may direct a permanently disabled individual whose disability is compensable under this Act to undergo vocational rehabilitation, where necessary, and may provide for a maintenance allowance not to exceed $100 per month. Insofar as practicable, the Office uses the services or facilities of State agencies and corresponding agencies which cooperate in carrying out the purposes of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, as amended.

COST OF LIVING INCREASES

In general, if benefits have been paid for more than a year, the law provides an automatic increase in benefit payments on the first day of the third month after any increase in the Consumer Price Index of at least 3 percent for three consecutive months over the price index for the most recent base month. The term "price index" means the Consumer Price Index (all items-United States city average) published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each new "base month" is determined by subsequent adjustments.

THIRD PARTY SETTLEMENTS

In instances where an employee's injury or death in the performance of duty is caused under circumstances creating a legal liability on some person other than the United States to pay damages, the cost of compensation and other benefits paid by the Office must be refunded from any settlement obtained. The Office will assist in obtaining a settlement, and the law guarantees that a certain proportion of the settlement (after any attorney fees and costs are first deducted) may be retained even when the cost of compensation and other benefits exceeds the amount of the settlement.

ADMINISTRATION

Responsibility for administration of this law is delegated to the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs of the U.S. Department of Labor, with headquarters at Washington, D.C. 20211. The Office's district offices adjudicate the claims arising within the areas of their respective jurisdictions. The Director of the Office is responsible for final decisions in respect to claims filed under the Act.

HEARING, REVIEW, AND APPEAL RIGHTS

If an employee or his survivors disagree with a final determination of the Office, a hearing may be requested where an opportunity will be afforded to present evidence in further support of the claim. After the hearing the Office will issue a new decision. There is also a provision for additional review by the Branch of Hearings and Review in the Office headquarters office. A claimant has the further right to appeal a Office decision to the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board, located in Washington, D.C.