OWCP Tidbits

By Sandy Schleher

1.      You have a right to seek medical treatment from a physician of your choice.

2.      You have a right to decline medical treatment from the UPSP provider.

3.      Traumatic injury – medical condition occurred within a single work shift – immediately complete Form CA-1.

4.      Occupational disease – medical condition caused or aggravated by work environment over a period longer than one work shift – complete Form CA-2.

5.      Form CA-16 – USPS issues this form to you before you seek medical treatment from a health care provider of your choice.  This form guarantees payment for most medical treatments for up to 60 days as long as the injury was reported within seven days of occurrence.

6.      CA-17 – Form the USPS and physician fill out detailing your physical limitations. 

7.      COP – Continuation of Pay: Make sure you indicate COP when you complete form CA-1.  Form CA-1 must be completed within 30 days of the traumatic injury, and the first day of work stoppage must have occurred within 45 days of the injury.  Time lost on the date of the injury is charged to administrative leave.  Employees are eligible up to 45 calendar days, which includes non-scheduled days and holidays when medical evidence indicates that disability exists during those time periods. COP entitlement does not pertain to an occupational disease, and you must utilize LWOP, Sick Leave or Annual Leave until your claim is accepted by the Department of Labor.

8.      The employer must allow injured workers 10 days to submit medical documentation supporting their absence before they can interrupt COP.

9.      WLC – Wage Loss Compensation:  Form CA-7 must be completed to claim WLC.  Upon receipt, the employer has five working days to complete its portion of the form and submit it to OWCP. 

10. COP & WLC – A three-day (3) waiting period, which begins on the first day of disability, must be satisfied before an employee can receive COP or WLC.  Non-scheduled days, sick leave and LWOP can be used to satisfy the waiting periods.  Waiting periods are waived when there are 14 days of cumulative work stoppage.

OWCP Claim approval is not required for COP to begin, 

but subsequently denied claims will be subject to repayment.

Message From Bill Lewis

The Official Personnel Folder, or OPF, documents the employment history of individuals employed by the federal government.  An OPF is established and maintained for each Postal Service employee regardless of appointment type or duration.  The OPF also includes all discipline issued within the ‘last’ two years.  After two years the discipline should be removed from the file. 

All USPS Official Personnel Folders for active employees have been converted to electronic official personnel folders-eOPFs.  The deadline for converting all files was August 1, 2008.  If you have been unable to access your file, try again.  Files can be accessed on a non-postal computer at http://liteblue.usps.gov.  You will need your eight-digit employee LD number and four-digit password. 

Unknown Author

Early Info on the FSS

Source APWU

The most recent addition to the Automation stable is a workhorse called the Flat Sorter Sequencer (FSS). This new, large piece of equipment will be deployed for the first time later this year. The schedule calls for 100 FSS machines to be in operation by the end of 2010. There may be even more after that.

Anyone who remembers working on an LSM (Letter Sorting Machine) will recognize similarities with the FSS. The mail is inserted into a slot in a cart; at the bottom of the cart, a slot-door opens that drops the piece into the appropriate bin. The preventative-maintenance route is certain to include checking for open cart doors. For many there will be some deja vu.

The 360-bin FSS is divided into four logical units of 90 bins each. The automatic feed will process as many as 17,000 flats per hour through the FSS. The Postal Service intends for the FSS to walk-sequence flat mail, and to have it run the same as a two-pass DBCS (Delivery Bar Code Sorter).

The FSS machines will be deployed in multiples of two, three, four, or even five machines to an office. Most facilities already have made or are in the process of making floor space available. The latest schedule shows Bulk Mail Centers in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New Jersey to be first in line for FSS deployment.

Increased Number of ETs

As far as the Maintenance Division is concerned, the additional FSS capability will increase the number of ETs in each office. While it will vary from office to office, you can expect up to 15 additional ETs for the first FSS. Additional machines will require more ETs, just not as many.

The effect on the number of MPE employees is not known at this time, but both MPEs and ETs will require six weeks of training at the National Center for Employee Development in Norman, OK. ETs will then spend an additional five weeks of training in Norman.

We will keep you posted on our negotiations with the Postal Service over the fine points of training for the FSS deployment.

Injuries that result from work activity occurring over more than one day, occupational injuries, have a three-day waiting period before OWCP wage loss compensation will be paid. The employee must be in a non-pay status for the first three days. No leave may be used, but if the inability to work exceeds fourteen calendar days, compensation will be paid for any wage loss during the three-day waiting period. These rules are unchanged. 

Thanks to President Bush signing the “Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act” into law, as of December 20, 2006, there is now a three day waiting period before continuation of pay (COP) is paid for traumatic injuries. Traumatic injuries occur in a single day or shift. This new rule applies to USPS employees only. 

During the first three-day period of a traumatic injury, you may choose to use annual leave, sick leave or leave without pay. If the disability exceeds fourteen days, or is followed by permanent disability, any leave that was used will be restored, if LWOP was used, the employee will be paid.