Printing - FECA-PT2 - National Association of Letter Carriers

(2) For seasonal and temporary employment, the annual salary of the job selected must
be divided by 52 to obtain a weekly pay rate. The figure obtained should then be
compared, using the Shadrick formula, to the weekly pay for the grade and step of the job
held when injured, and the result should be applied to the pay rate for compensation
purposes.
However, when a career seasonal employee is rated in a career seasonal job, the salary of
the current job should be annualized before the Shadrick formula is applied, so that a true
LWEC will be obtained.
(3) Earnings of a sporadic or intermittent nature which do not fairly and reasonably
represent the claimant's WEC should be deducted from continuing compensation payments
using the Shadrick formula (past earnings must be declared an overpayment). Sporadic or
intermittent earnings should not be used as the basis for an LWEC determination (see
Barbara Hines, Docket No. 91-1803, issued February 17, 1993), but they should be used to
help establish the kind of work the claimant can perform. See William D. Emory, 47 ECAB
365 (1996) (Employee worked intermittently as a babysitter for his grandson. ECAB held
that OWCP improperly determined his wage-earning capacity effective 1990 based on his
actual earnings as a babysitter).
For example, a claimant who is being paid compensation for total wage loss reports sporadic
earnings as a baby-sitter, but the CE determines that these earnings do not fairly and
reasonably represent the claimant's WEC. The CE should use the Shadrick formula to
deduct earnings only for the period in question, then refer the claimant to the RS for
vocational rehabilitation services. Any worksheet used to calculate deduction of sporadic
earnings should be marked clearly at the bottom with the words "ACTUAL EARNINGS
CALCULATION--NOT AN LWEC DETERMINATION."
(4) Where the Office learns of actual earnings that span a lengthy period of time (e.g.,
several months or more), the compensation entitlement should be determined by averaging
the earnings for the entire period, determining the average pay rate, and applying the
Shadrick formula (comparing the average pay rate for the entire period to the pay rate of
the date of injury job in effect at the end of the period of actual earnings).
For example, the Office learns on October 1, 2002 that the claimant, injured on June 5,
1997, returned to work on September 1, 1998 and worked intermittently through
September 1, 2002 when he ceased work. On September 1, 2002 the pay rate for the
claimant's date of injury job was $500 per week. The claimant grossed $40,000 during the
four years (208 weeks) he worked from September 1, 1998 through September 1, 2002, or
an average of $192.30 per week. When using the Shadrick formula, the pay rate of
$192.30 would be compared to the pay rate of $500.
e. Retroactive Determinations. Where the Office learns that the claimant has returned to
alternative work more than 60 days after the fact, the CE may consider a retroactive LWEC
determination. Such a determination is generally to be considered appropriate where an
investigation reveals that a claimant held private employment and had substantial earnings which
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