Protecting Your Rights When You Suffer a Permanent Injury as a Federal Employee

If you are a qualified federal employee who has suffered a permanent injury on the job, you may be able to seek a “schedule award,” a payment based on the permanent nature of your injury. A schedule award is a payment for a number of weeks based on the permanent partial or total loss of use of certain body parts. Typically, the payment is based on your average weekly wage (AWW), as well as the severity of the injury.

The Federal Employee Compensation Act includes a schedule that identifies those types of body parts for which payments may be made for permanent injury. The list includes all appendages, such as toes, fingers, feet, hands, legs and arms. It also includes the partial or total loss of use of some sensory organs, such as eyes or ears. While the loss of kidney function qualifies you for a schedule award, the heart and brain are not included, nor is the back.

You may receive payments under a schedule award while you are working, on sick leave or annual leave, or even if you are retired and no longer a federal employee. The only restriction is that you cannot receive payments under a schedule award if you are collecting workers’ compensation benefits or any other wage loss benefits.
In order to qualify for a schedule award, you must be evaluated by an authorized doctor. The doctor must identify the degree to which you have permanently lost use of a qualified body part. Furthermore, you cannot seek a schedule award until you have been determined by a qualified physician to have achieved “maximum medical improvement.”

Contact Uliase & Uliase

For an appointment with an experienced New Jersey federal workers’ compensation lawyer, contact us online or call our office at (856) 310-9002. We meet with clients weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. We offer a free consultation for injured workers.