What Should Federal Employers Know about Schedule Awards?

Form Focus

When a federal worker experiences an injury on the job and seeks compensation for a schedule award, a Form CA-7 is required, which can be found on Simply Research.

Following are a few need-to-know rules surround schedule awards for federal employees.

Definition

Schedule awards are paid for permanent impairment to a member or function of the body.

Rules About Employment

An employee who either claims or is receiving compensation for partial or total disability must advise OWCP immediately of any return to work. An employee must report all outside employment, including any concurrent dissimilar employment held at the time of injury. The employee must report even those earnings that do not seem likely to affect benefits; failure to report earnings may result in forfeiture of all benefits paid during the period for which compensation is claimed. For example, include sales, farming, and operating (or keeping books for) a business including a family business. Report providing services (such as carpentry, mechanical work, childcare, odd jobs) provided in exchange for money, goods, or other services. Report part-time or intermittent activities and any volunteer work for which any form of monetary or in-kind compensation was received. Passive investment in any public traded business is not a required reporting item

Listing Dependents

A spouse is a dependent if he or she is living with you. A child is a dependent if he, or she either lives with you or receives support payments from you, and he or she: 1) is under 18; or 2) is between 18 and 23 and is a full-time student; or 3) is incapable of self-support due to physical or mental disability.

Third Party Claims

A third party is an individual or organization (other than the injured employee or the federal government) who is liable for the injury. For instance, the driver of a vehicle causing an accident in which an employee is injured, the owner of a building where unsafe conditions cause an employee to fall, and a manufacturer who gave improper instructions for the use of a chemical to which an employee is exposed, could all be considered third parties to the injury.

Additional Pay

''Additional Pay'' includes night differential, Sunday premium, holiday premium, and any other type (such as hazardous duty or ''dirty work'' pay) regularly received by the employee but does not include pay for overtime. If the amount of such pay varies from pay period to pay period (as in the case of holiday premium or a rotating shift), then the total amount of such pay earned during the year immediately prior to the date of injury or the date the employee stopped work (whichever is greater) should be reported.

Looking for information related to all things federal employment? Check out our friends at the Federal Employment Law Training Group

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