Printing - FECA-PT2 - National Association of Letter Carriers

(b) Cooperation with the training would probably have substantially increased the
claimant's earnings (training and placement phases).
The case status should remain PR, even if compensation is reduced, since no formal LWEC decision
has been issued.
c. Multiple Instances of Failure to Cooperate. A claimant who fails to cooperate with the OWCP
more than once during the course of vocational rehabilitation should not be rated for LWEC.
Rather, he or she should be given progressively more serious sanctions for the second and
subsequent instances of non-cooperation if he or she does not resume cooperation after issuance
of a warning letter, and good reasons for failure to cooperate are not provided.
For example: early in January 1994 a claimant repeatedly and without explanation fails to appear
for vocational testing, and after appropriate warning and assessment of the response,
compensation is suspended at the end of February. In mid-March, the claimant states willingness
to cooperate, and actually does undergo the testing as directed in April. Compensation is then
reinstated retroactive to mid-March.
A plan is developed, and the claimant is placed in a one-year training program beginning in
September. The claimant misses the deadline for registration, and again, after appropriate
warning and assessment of the response, compensation is reduced (to the rate for partial
disability, reflecting the job for which the training program is to prepare the claimant) in October.
In mid-November, the claimant states willingness to resume cooperation, and compensation (at
the rate for total disability) is reinstated retroactive to that date when the claimant registers for the
next trimester in January 1995.
In February, the RC reports to the OWCP that the claimant has been absent from school for two
weeks without explanation. A warning letter is issued, but the claimant does not reply to it, and
compensation is once again reduced (to the partial disability rate) in March. The claimant
immediately contacts the OWCP, promises to resume attendance at school, and promptly does so.
Instead of accepting the return to school as a demonstration of cooperation, however, the OWCP
determines that in light of previous instances of non-cooperation, the claimant must complete the
trimester (which ends in April) before compensation payments are resumed (again at the rate for
total disability).
2-0813-13 Occupational Rehabilitation Programs
13. Occupational Rehabilitation Programs. Services which help the injured worker return to work
through the use of abbreviated workdays or altered job duties are known as Occupational Rehabilitation
Programs (ORPs).
a. Kinds of ORPs. The two kinds of ORPs are as follows:
(1) Return to Work (RTW) ORPs are intended for claimants who were injured more than
60 days ago, have not worked for at least 30 days, and are returning to a particular job and
employer with defined duties, including transitional duties. RTW ORPs are highly structured,
job oriented, goal-directed, individualized, and interdisciplinary. They are intended to
maximize the claimant's ability to return to work. Real or simulated work activities are used
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