Continuation of Pay (COP)

As of recently, I have been receiving quite a bit of phone calls pertaining to COP and the lack of being paid COP by Management. Most of this is due to the lack of knowledge that Supervisor’s have about COP and this can lead to pay interruptions for those carriers who have suffered a traumatic injury.

Continuation of Pay (COP) is the continuance of the employee's regular pay for a period not to exceed 45 calendar days of disability. It applies to traumatic cases only and the intent is to avoid interruption of pay while the claim is adjudicated. COP can be paid for:

·         Disability – Total or Partial

·         Lost elements of pay – (e.g., night differential, holiday pay)

·         Lost time for medical appointments

 After entitlement to COP ends, the employee may apply for compensation or use leave.

On January 4, 1999, the Code of Federal Regulations Section 10.205(a)(3) was revised. The period in which a person must begin losing time from work in order to receive COP was changed from 90 days to 45 days, because the submission and adjudication of claims had improved. The 90-day grace period was no longer necessary to ensure the employee’s pay was continued.

On December 20, 2006, FECA was amended by Title IX of the Postal Service Accountability and Enhancement Act to establish a three-day waiting period before COP may be granted to employees of the United States Postal Service (see Dates of eligibility below).

The ELM 543.41 states the following in part, “For most employees who sustain a traumatic injury, FECA provides that the employer must continue the employee’s regular pay during any periods of resulting disability up to a maximum of 45 calendar days.”

Shop stewards should familiarize themselves with the ELM Sections 545.7, 545.73 and 545.74. Additionally, federal regulations of the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) are enforceable through the grievance procedure via Article 21.4 of the National Agreement.

Federal regulations related to COP can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 20 CFR 10.200- 224 and in United States Code (USC) at 5 USC 8118.

The Employee Agency’s (EA) responsibilities are:

·         Help the employee file Form CA-1 via ECOMP or provide the form to the employee

·         Notify of right to elect COP or AL/SL

·         Employee must begin losing time from work due to traumatic injury within 45 days of the injury to be eligible for COP

·         Injured employee must provide a written report on Form CA- 1 within 30 days of the injury.

·         Notify employee to submit medical evidence to the employing agency within 10 days.

·         Termination of COP – when disability ends, 45 days expires, or employee returns to work (RTW)

·         If Limited Duty (LD) job offer made verbally, must be confirmed in writing.

The Employees responsibilities are:

·         File an approved OWCP Form CA-1 within 30 days of the injury. (CA-2, CA-2a, or CA-7 will be considered an approved form to fulfill the timely filing requirement.)

·         Present medical documentation supporting disability to EA within 10 days.

·         Advise physician of the availability of LD if applicable.

·         Employee must RTW upon notification by attending physician of release to full or LD.

Dates of eligibility:

·         Unless the injury occurs before the beginning of the workday, time lost on date of injury is charged to administrative leave.

·         EA keeps the claimant in a pay status on the date of injury (DOI) with no charge against COP.

·         If the claimant stops work on the DOI, the first day of COP is the day after the DOI.

·         U.S. Postal Service employees, COP entitlement begins following the three-day waiting period, unless the period of disability exceeds 14 days.

COP and Leave:

·         An employee may use annual or sick leave to cover all or part of an absence due to injury.

·         If an employee elects to use leave, each full or partial day for which leave is taken will be counted against the 45 days of entitlement to COP.

·         While an employee may use COP intermittently along with sick or annual leave, entitlement is not extended beyond 45 days of combined absences.

·         Decision to use leave versus COP is not irrevocable. Employee who uses leave can later elect COP within one year of the leave usage or date the case is accepted by OWCP, whichever is later.

·         Compensation from OWCP does not begin to run until COP terminates and any use of leave ends.

·         If OWCP denies a claim for COP, the amount paid will be charged to sick leave or annual leave at the option of the employee or shall be deemed an overpayment.

Recurrences during COP:

·         If an employee returns to work following a work stoppage without using all 45 days of COP and then suffers a recurrence of disability within 45 days from the first RTW date, the employee is entitled to use the remaining 45 days.

·         A period which begins before the 45-day deadline and continues beyond it, may be charged to COP as long as the period of time is uninterrupted.

·         If the recurrence begins later than 45 days after the first RTW, EA should not pay COP even though some days of entitlement remain unused.

·         To clarify, if the 45-day entitlement has been exhausted, or the recurrence begins more than 45 days after the employee first RTW, EA may NOT pay COP.

·         The employee should claim compensation for wage loss on Form CA-7.

Controverting COP:

·         To controvert COP, the agency must complete the indicated portion of Form CA-1 and submit detailed information in support of the controversion to the OWCP.

·         Although COP is controverted, the Employing Agency (EA) must continue the employee's regular pay unless one of the conditions set forth in a later slide is met, in which case the EA shall not pay COP.

·         EA must advise employee of controversion.

·         OWCP reviews COP controversion and can overturn it and require that COP be paid.

·         EA is provided with an explanation of basis for CE’s decision.

·         If additional info is needed, OWCP will request it and allow 30 days.

·         If COP is denied, OWCP issues a formal denial with appeal rights.

·         The amount of COP paid will be charged to sick or annual leave at the option of the employee or will be considered an overpayment.

·         If COP is approved, the claimant and EA will be notified - usually in the acceptance letter.

·         If a controverted claim is subsequently accepted, OWCP will make a finding on ALL the issues raised by EA and include an explanation of why COP was authorized.

USPS COP Cases:

·         A December 2006 amendment to the FECA, which applies only to USPS employees, establishes a three-day waiting period before COP will be granted.

·         The employee must elect COP on the front of Form CA-1 or request previously elected annual leave (AL) or sick leave (SL) be changed to COP for the three-day waiting period to apply.

·         If an injured employee is not entitled to COP or the three-day waiting period was not met during the COP eligibility period, a three-day waiting period will be applied by OWCP for receipt of temporary total disability (TTD) compensation.

·         If the disability from work exceeds a total of 14 days, the AL, SL, or LWOP elected by the employee for the three-day waiting period must be changed to COP. USPS should process a pay adjustment to change any leave used to COP and reinstate any leave used for the three-day waiting period.

·         If an employee has been cleared by his/her treating physician to return to LD work but suitable work is not provided by the USPS, the first three days of work loss count as work disability and count toward the three-day waiting period for COP.

·         The effective date for this revised COP policy was 12/20/06 - the day the postal reform law was signed.

Terminating COP:

·         When EA has paid COP, it may be stopped only when at least one of the following occurs:

o   Medical evidence is not received within 10 calendar days after the claim is submitted.

o   The 10-day period begins the day after the employee claims COP or the disability begins or recurs.

o   Medical evidence shows that the employee is not disabled from his/her regular position.

o   Medical evidence shows that the employee is capable of performing LD, and the employee has refused a suitable written job offer.

o   Employee returns to work with no loss of pay.

o   Employee’s period of employment expires and the employee sustained an injury after receiving written notice of the date of termination - is entitled to COP up to the date of separation and to compensation thereafter.

o   If a preliminary notice of disciplinary action is issued before the injury and becomes final during the period of COP.

o   OWCP directs the employer to stop.

o   COP has been paid for 45 days Employee returns to work with no loss of pay.

o   Employee’s period of employment expires and the employee sustained an injury after receiving written notice of the date of termination - is entitled to COP up to the date of separation and to compensation thereafter.

o   If a preliminary notice of disciplinary action is issued before the injury and becomes final during the period of COP.

o   OWCP directs the employer to stop.

o   COP has been paid for 45 days.

As a recommendation, you should always select COP so that you can continue to receive pay from the USPS. As a precaution, you should check your pay stubs continually to ensure that Management has inputted you for COP. If not, you would need to speak to your Shop Steward and file a grievance via Articles 19 and 21of the National Agreement. Any questions please do not hesitate to call me at the branch, (631) 789-1616.