FLEOA Advocates for OWCP Reform - 2/1/10

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

Background

Every year 300 Federal law enforcement officers sustain line of duty injuries during

violent physical encounters. Many more are injured in performance of their duties from

vehicle accident, training, hazardous materials, and during enforcement operations both

at home and abroad. Federal law enforcement officers injured in the line of duty

typically suffer more serious injury than their civilian Federal employee counterparts.

Unfortunately, they are all treated the same:

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Department of Labor’s Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP).

Annually the OWCP handles over 100,000 claims from all Federal employees.

When injured the officer is required to report the injury and file forms with the

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full pay and benefits. If the injury takes longer than 45 days to resolve itself,

the officer has a choice. He or she can either use additional accrued sick and

annual leave or be referred to OWCP.

The officer can remain with their agency for up to 45 days to recuperate with

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responsible for paying for both the officer’s medical bills and salary. If the

officer has no dependants, they will receive 2/3 of their salary tax free and ¾ of

pay if they have dependents. During that time the officer looses the ability to

accrue time towards retirement cannot contribute to the Thrift Savings Program

and looses access to earned benefits.

Once referred to OWCP’s Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation is

Problems with OWCP

The problems with OWCP’s performance in handling Federal employee claims are legion

and have been subject of numerous Congressional Oversight hearings and General

Accounting Office Reports and Investigations. Common complaints of OWCP’s

performance include delays and inconsistent delivery of pay, delays in processing

paperwork, difficulty in reaching OWCP staff, receiving inconsistent advice from OWCP

staff, difficulty in obtaining legal representation, and difficulty in getting procedures

approved and physicians paid in a timely manner.

FLEOA Proposal

In the areas of pay, retirement benefits, relocation and transfer, and physical standards

Federal Law Enforcement Officers are treated differently than their civilian counterparts.

This is due to the unique operational requirements of law enforcement agencies.

FLEOA believes that Federal Law Enforcement Officers should also be treated

differently when they are injured in the line of duty. Specifically, FLEOA recommends:

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Employees Compensation, and the creation of a fifth division under OWCP that

will handle Federal Law Enforcement Officer Claims exclusively.

Federal Law Enforcement Officers suffer severe financial hardship while their

cases are being evaluated, often placing them in jeopardy of losing their homes

and forcing them to turn to family and friends for their economic survival.

The current system simply does not take into account the fact that most Federal

Law Enforcement Officer’s injuries are more severe than those sustained by their

civilian counterparts. In many cases, officers are so badly injured that they

themselves are incapable of making the application and loved ones, many of

whom have no experience with federal employee issues, fill out the paperwork.

Aggregating all law enforcement claims in one area will allow OWCP to not only

focus its resources but allows for greater accountability and transparency on how

these cases are handled.

The removal of Federal Law Enforcement Officers from the Division of FederalCurrently,

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continuation of pay status for up to one year.

continuation of pay status for 45 days. For those officer’s assaulted by a suspect,

exposed to a toxic substance or injured by a firearm or explosive this time frame

would allow a proper period of evaluation time necessary to determine if a return

to work will be possible.

One of the most common complaints from injured officers is that OWCP does a

poor job processing pay. Anecdotally, we know that in many cases the pay is

incorrectly calculated and repeatedly delivered late. Allowing law enforcement

officers to remain on their agency’s payroll will remove them from this morass

and will also have two other key benefits:

1. It will get officers back to work quicker. Injured officers enrolled in OWCP

are detached from their agency and often feel isolated. Law enforcement is

not just a job it is a way of life. This change will allow many officers to come

back to work earlier in a light duty/restricted duty status and allow the agency

to derive a benefit from their experience and training during their continued

employment.

Allowing Federal Law Enforcement Officers to stay with their agency in aCurrently, officers can remain in

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Unlike most federal employees, officers face mandatory retirement at age 57.

The TSP is a large component of their retirement and working longer and

contributing more is not an option for officers.

Our Federal Law Enforcement officers are a highly motivated and highly trained group of

professionals who are held to a higher standard than any other Federal employee. They

routinely place themselves in harm’s way for the protection of society and for the defense

of their country. If Federal law Enforcement officers are to continue facing the daily

dangers that their occupation brings, they need to do so with the knowledge that they will

be taken care of in the event of a catastrophe.

It allows officers to continue to contribute to their Thrift Savings Program.