USPS Implements New COP 3-Day Waiting Period for Employees Injured On Duty
The following appears to be from a USPS field memo submitted to Donnie Dotzler, APWU President Virginia Beach Area Local #1518:
Dotzler: These are changes people need to know about them before they are ever injured, what their options are during recovery and if they become permanently disabled.
Continuation of Pay (COP) - 3 Day Waiting Period
As you are aware, on December 7th Congress passed postal reform legislation H.R. 6407. Section 901 of this bill, Temporary Disability; Continuation of Pay, addresses an amendment to continuation of pay entitlement for Postal Service employees’.
Headquarters Finance, Legal, Health and Resource Management, and the Department of Labor are involved in ongoing discussions regarding the amendment for the first 3 days of continuation of pay. Implementation instructions outlining internal steps to be followed will be issued by Health and Resource Management. Please disseminate this message to all Injury Compensation offices
Summary
When an employee requests COP as a result of a traumatic injury, the employee is not entitled to COP for the first 3 days of temporary disability. During this first 3 day period, an employee may choose to use annual leave, sick leave, or leave without pay. If the disability exceeds 14 days or is followed by permanent disability, the employee may request to have their leave used during the first 3 day period reinstated and receive COP or receive COP for leave without pay used.
Necessary Action
Inform all supervisors of their responsibility to inform the employee of their option to choose annual, sick, or leave without pay for the first 3 days of the continuation of pay period. PS Form 3971 completion: Type of Absence should be annual, sick, or LWOP; Documentation (For Official Use Only) check: For COP Leave (CA1 on File).
The EA ICSSC is responsible for authorizing and tracking COP usage, including the first 3 day waiting period. When the disability exceeds 14 days, the ICSSC will notify the employees’ supervisor to process a pay adjustment to change the leave used to COP and reinstate annual or sick leave used for the first 3 days provided we have medical to support disability.
Headquarters Health and Resource Management will initiate action to update all manuals and handbooks to formalize this change in continuation of pay procedures
Donnie Dotzler, Host
Going Postal Talk Show
http://auctionalertz.com
http://myspace.com/goingpostaltalkshow
Text of Postal Reform Bill H.R. 6407
SEC. 901. TEMPORARY DISABILITY; CONTINUATION OF PAY.
(a) TIME OF ACCRUAL OF RIGHT- Section 8117 of title 5, United States Code, is amended–
(1) by striking `An employee’ and inserting `(a) An employee other than a Postal Service employee’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
`(b) A Postal Service employee is not entitled to compensation or continuation of pay for the first 3 days of temporary disability, except as provided under paragraph (3) of subsection (a). A Postal Service employee may use annual leave, sick leave, or leave without pay during that 3-day period, except that if the disability exceeds 14 days or is followed by permanent disability, the employee may have their sick leave or annual leave reinstated or receive pay for the time spent on leave without pay under this section.’.
December 26th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
what is the point?, blah, blah, blah is all i understand, okay, what is the point?
January 1st, 2007 at 5:11 am
blah,blah,blah, the point is that if you dont qualify for that date dont make the union to grie against management because it’s a waste of time, and have people that on Reagan they try but they come back with empty hands.
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:16 pm
WOW, We, The U.S. Postal Service is the only part of the Government workforce that is required to use our own time for the first 3 days of OWCP. Even in the private workforce, if an employee is injured on the job, they get paid for their out of work and their medical as well.
It seems as though the Postal Service is only opening the door for employees to be out of work for at least 14 days in order to get paid for the first 3 days out of work under OWCP. Now that really took a lot of insight for some one sitting in the “think tank” to figure that one out. Some times trying to cut down on expenses really ends up costing you even more. And they say that Government spending is working just fine.
January 4th, 2007 at 4:46 am
you don’t like it??? go get a job and work somewhere else—I think wal-mart is hiring
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:37 pm
No, postalDoctor, I will take the 14(or more) days off to get that 3 days back to me. Seems the 25+ yrs. here that I did NOT turn in the injuries have finally caught up to this 48 yr. old body that feels as if it were 78 yrs old now- due to the years of tugging, pulling, twisting, lifting,and pushing that mail around. And don’t think for one minute that I wouldn’t be able to get it over on YOU and/or ANY other doctor-postal or not! My mother raised no fool!
April 14th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I have several postal employee friends and after listening to their comments,I understand why the service needs to raise the cost of postage stamps.It seems that there is about 25% of the employees in this area that are” walking wounded”.Seems to me that a lot of these folks must be malingerers.Try checking them out and getting them back to work,or fired. Then the the folks who pay their wages ,and yours, won’t have to suffer through ANOTHER rise in postage rates.