Continuation of Pay (COP)
ATTENTION ALL CARRIERS THAT HAVE FILED A CLAIM TO OWCP. Once you receive a Development Letter, YOU MUST CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY. Call 631-789-1616 so we can review your claim to determine what you need to do in order to help get your case approved. Failure to contact me could result in your claim being denied.
The Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) states an employee's regular pay may continue for up to 45 calendar days of lost wages due to a disability and/or medical treatment after a traumatic injury. The intent of this provision is to avoid interruption of the employee's income while the case is being decided.
Continuation Of Pay (COP) is not considered compensation, therefore it is subject to the usual deductions such as, income tax and retirement allotments. After the COP ends, the employee may apply for compensation or use leave. To be eligible for COP, a person must: 1. Have a traumatic injury as defined by FECA that is job-related and the cause of the disability, and/ or the cause of lost time due to the need for medical treatment; 2. File Form CA-1 within 30 days of the date of injury; and 3. Begin losing time from work due to the traumatic injury within 45 days of the injury. Remember when filling out the CA-1 form, the injured employee or a person acting on the employee's behalf must elect Continuation Of Pay if they so desire. This is accomplished by checking off box (A) on page 1 of the CA-1 i-on line item number 15. If the injured employee does not desire to elect to use COP they may check off box (b) on the CA-1 on line item number 15 and choose to use either Sick and/ or Annual Leave.
Due to the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act employees of the U.S. Postal Service who request COP as a result of a traumatic injury, are not entitled to COP for the first 3 days of temporary disability. During this 3 day waiting period, an employee may choose to use annual leave, sick leave, or leave without pay. However, if the disability exceeds 14 days or is followed by permanent disability, COP will be paid for the initial 3 day waiting period and the USPS will reinstate any leave (sick or annual ) used by the employee during that time period. An employee may use annual or sick leave to cover all or part of an absence due to injury. If an employee elects to use leave, each full or partial day for which leave is taken will be counted against the 45 days of entitlement to COP. Therefore, while an employee may use COP intermittently along with sick or annual leave, the entitlement will not be extended beyond 45 days of the combined absences.
An election of sick or annual leave during the 45- day period is not irrevocable. If an employee who has elected leave at a later date wishes to elect COP, the supervisor must make such a change on a prospective basis from the date of the employee's request. If the employee wishes to have their leave restored retroactively, the supervisor must honor the request, provided the supervisor receives prima facie (In common law jurisdictions, prima facie represents evidence that, unless rebutted, would be sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact.) medical evidence of the injury-related disability for the period in question.
A request to elect COP retroactively in lieu of leave must be made within one year of the date the leave was used or the date of written approval of the claim by OWCP, whichever is later. Full Time Regular letter carriers receive the number of hours regularly worked each week times the hourly pay rate on the date of injury, excluding overtime. For a Part-Time Flexible Letter Carrier, who does not work the same number of hours per week, the weekly pay rate equals the average weekly earnings for the year prior to the date of injury, excluding overtime. For a City Carrier Assistant t (CCA) the determination is different and outlined below.
A City Carrier Assistant t (CCA) employee who has not worked 11 months or more in the CCA position: the Wage Loss Compensation (WLC) is calculated in accordance with 5 USC 8114(d)(2) as follows: Total pay (excluding overtime) for the year prior to date of injury for an employee in the same (or neighboring) facility who did work 11 months or more in a CCA position. If there is more than one such employee, the one who worked the most hours in the year must be used. Divide that total by 52 weeks to calculate weekly wage-loss compensation. • If the employee has worked 11 months or more in the CCA position: The WLC is calculated in accordance with 5 USC 8114(d)(1) as follows: total pay earned by the employee during the one-year period prior to the date of injury (excluding overtime) divided by 52 weeks.
Once COP has begun the USPS may stop paying if: (a) the employee does not provide the employer with medical evidence of a disabling traumatic injury within 10 calendar days of claiming COP. (However, the employer may continue to pay COP if the supervisor is satisfied that the employee had a disabling traumatic injury.) As well as, COP is reinstated where evidence received at a later date supports the disability. (b) The employee's physician has found the employee to be partially disabled and the employee refuses suitable work, or fails to respond to the job offer. (c) The employee's scheduled period of employment ends, or employment otherwise ends, provided the period of employment or date of termination is set before the injury occurs.
Remember, if Form CA-17 or a medical report from the employee's physician shows that the employee can return to limited duty, the employee must do so. If the employee refuses to accept the work offered or fails to respond to the job offered, the employer may end COP effective the date that such limited duty became available. OWCP will resolve any disputes regarding entitlement to COP.
