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Printing - FECA-PT2 - National Association of Letter Carriers

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eflect those earnings. Compensation for the period during which the employee had actual<br />

earnings should be computed using the formula described in paragraph 15c above. The reduction<br />

in compensation is not permanent but covers only the period <strong>of</strong> earnings.<br />

f. Special Determinations.<br />

(1) Locality Pay or "COLA" Pay. When the claimant is reemployed in a new locale with a<br />

lower percentage <strong>of</strong> locality pay than the job held on date <strong>of</strong> injury, or without the "COLA"<br />

(cost-<strong>of</strong>-living allowance provided by 5 U.S.C. 8146 and described in <strong>FECA</strong> PM<br />

2-0900.7b(16), the claimant may be paid less than previously even if reemployed at the<br />

same grade and step. However, the "current pay rate for the job and step when injured"<br />

should reflect the pay in the new locale, not the original one. The claimant is not losing net<br />

pay if reemployed at a lower locality pay rate, or without COLA pay, since the cost <strong>of</strong> living<br />

is less in the new location as represented by the difference in locality pay or COLA pay.<br />

(2) Rural <strong>Letter</strong> <strong>Carriers</strong>. While the salaries for these employees may vary over the life<br />

<strong>of</strong> the claim due to reevaluations <strong>of</strong> the employee's route, the only salaries that affect the<br />

pay rate for compensation purposes is the pay rate on the date <strong>of</strong> injury, when disability<br />

began, or at the time <strong>of</strong> a qualifying recurrence. The highest <strong>of</strong> the three is used to<br />

compute compensation.<br />

(a) Changes in route evaluations which occur after a final LWEC decision is issued<br />

do not alter that decision.<br />

(b) A rural carrier who returns to work but whose hours are restricted due to the<br />

effects <strong>of</strong> the job-related injury is entitled to compensation for any LWEC.<br />

(c) A rural carrier who returns to full duty but whose route was reduced during<br />

the period compensation was received is not entitled to continuing compensation,<br />

since the reduction is not due to injury-related disability.<br />

(d) The "current pay <strong>of</strong> job held when injured" is defined according to whether<br />

the boundaries <strong>of</strong> the carrier’s route have changed:<br />

If not, the hourly rate for the employee's grade and step when injured is multiplied<br />

by the number <strong>of</strong> hours representing the route's current evaluation.<br />

If so, the date-<strong>of</strong>-injury job when injured no longer exists. Therefore, the current<br />

pay for the grade and step when injured should be multiplied by the number <strong>of</strong> hours<br />

representing the route's evaluation at the time <strong>of</strong> injury.<br />

(3) Performance-Based Alternative Pay Systems (Pay Banding).<br />

Some agencies have adopted performance-based pay systems (also known as pay<br />

banding), which link individual base pay and bonuses to performance. Instead <strong>of</strong> a set <strong>of</strong><br />

distinct grades and steps, broad pay bands are used, and managers have more flexibility in<br />

setting the pay for new and current employees. Most options do not provide for any<br />

<strong>FECA</strong>-<strong>PT2</strong> Printed: 06/08/2010 502

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