February 2001
February 2001
Steve Burt, Director of Education
We continue to see a frightful number of accidents, going up substantially from previous years. Faced with staff shortages and other pressures, many postal supervisors are all too frequently disregarding the rights of injured employees. Disciplining injured employees is almost routine, when management can find any excuse. We as an organization need to respond to this challenge.
We see numerous new employees who are not very aware of their rights and who are subject to separation during probation periods. These employees are having a disproportionate share of the injuries. Also, with its renewed adversarial management culture, the Postal Service has resumed its aggressive "management by the numbers" philosophy. An injured employee is a bad number, especially if the physician determines that the injury will require lost workdays for the employer.
Under the provisions of the Postal Reorganization Act, all employees of the United States Postal Service (USPS) are covered by the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA), 5 USC Chapter 81.(1) The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) is the branch of the U.S. Department of Labor charged with administrating workers’ compensation for federal and postal workers under the FECA
The following discussion on the rights of traumatically injured postal workers was not developed from NALC or Department of Labor documents with one exception noted in the footnotes. It is but a review of the clear instructions published by the Postal Service in its own ELM. Supervisors should read this book more often.
Right to Claim for Traumatic Injury
A traumatic injury is normally a wound or other condition of the body caused by external force, including stress or strain, identifiable as to time and place of occurrence and member or function of body affected, and must be caused by a specific event or series of events within a single tour or work shift.(2) The Postal Service is obligated to furnish the injured worker an appropriate form for filing a claim of illness or injury. The proper form, authorized by the Secretary of Labor for all federal workers, is Form CA-1.
Rights and CA-1 Time Limits
The FECA requires notice to be given within 30 calendar days, or entitlement to continuation of pay will be lost. Failure to file within 30 days may also result in loss of compensation rights, even though a 3 year limit exists for perfecting a claim for compensation. It is recommended that notice be given within 2 days to prevent any interruption of pay. The current ELM cite has changed 2 days to "immediately" in order to insure uninterrupted income.(3)
The key point is that the Postal Service cannot refuse to issue a CA-1 because the accident was not reported on the date of injury or within two days or for any such arbitrary reason!
Right to Physician of Choice
Even in non-urgent situations the injured postal worker has the right to prompt examination and/or treatment with a physician of choice!(4) In non-emergency situations, the Postal Service may require the employee to be examined by a postal medical officer or contract equivalent prior to the employee obtaining medical treatment, but this must not impose harmful delay, and must not interfere with the prompt issuance of Form CA-16, authorizing treatment.(5)
One of the most frequent abuses of employee rights occurs when management arbitrarily selects its physician or contract equivalent, assigning and directing the employee without offering that employee any real choice.
Right to Emergency Treatment
An employee needing emergency treatment in addition to first aid must be sent to the nearest available physician or hospital, or to a physician or hospital chosen by the employee or the employee's representative. The physician who provides emergency treatment is not considered the employee's initial choice of physician for follow up medical treatment. (6)
Animal bites or eye injuries are always considered medical emergencies. In the event there is doubt as to the emergent nature of the injury, it should be handled as an emergency.(7) To minimize risk and suffering, management must respond to emergencies with appropriate promptness!
Right to Non-Interference
Postal management is limited to contacting the treating physician or physician's staff with regard to the medical condition or prospects of the employee returning to full or limited duty. Management is not permitted to interfere with the exclusive medical care prescribed by the attending physician.(8) Under current OWCP regulations, telephonic contact or a personal visit from management to pressure physicians to change restrictions is forbidden.(9)
Right to Continued Regular Pay
An employee who suffers a disabling traumatic injury in the performance of duties may elect either continuation of regular pay (COP) or paid leave, either sick or annual. The immediate supervisor must advise the employee of this right. Previously selected sick or annual leave may subsequently be converted to COP, provided the employee so requests within one year of the leave usage or approval of the claim.(10)
