TIME KEEPING AND ACCOUNTING
COP Entitlement
Regular Rural Routes
Regular Rural Carriers
Effect of Route Adjustments on Compensation Payments
COP Entitlement
Employees may receive COP for up to 45 calendar days for time lost from work because of disability resulting from a job-related injury provided that absence from work time is medically indicated. Medical documentation to support this absence must be furnished within 10 days from the beginning of disability.
The maximum number of COP hours most employees are entitled to receive per injury is 264. Rural carriers with an H route cannot exceed 312 COP hours; rural carriers with a J route cannot exceed 288 COP hours.
Holidays and scheduled leave are counted as workdays.
An employee’s entitlement to COP must begin within 90 days of the DOI, or if there is no immediate time loss, within 90 days of the first time loss following the DOI. When continuing days of COP bridge the 90th day pay may be continued until entitlement is exhausted or the employee returns to work.
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Types of Routes
H Route (Evaluated Hour Route)
The regular carrier’s salary is based upon 12 days per pay period, 312 days per year, or 2,496 hours per year. Evaluated pay hours on an H type route may vary from 12 to 46 hours per week.
J Route (Evaluated Hour Route)
The regular carrier’s salary is based upon 5 days during 1 week and 6 days the other week, for a total of 11 days per pay period, 286 days per year, or 2,288 hours per year. One relief day per pay period is authorized. Evaluated pay hours vary from 41 to 46 hours per week.
K Route (Evaluated Hour Route)
The regular carrier’s salary is based upon 5 days each week, 260 days per year, or 2,080 hours per year. One relieve day is authorized each week. The relief day must be the same day each week, except for routes on rotating relief. Evaluated pay hours vary from 40 to 48 hours per week.
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Pay procedures for rural carriers do not allow for two employees to be certified on the same route on the same day. According to FECA Procedures, the route evaluation of a regular rural carrier is not to be considered as overtime, when the route is evaluated at over 40 hours per week. (Reference: FECA Procedure Manual, 2-900 and 2-901)
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Compensation payments are based on the amount of monthly pay the injured employee had at the date of injury, the date disability began, or the date of recurrence; whichever is greater. Compensation is paid at the rate of 66 2/3% for carriers with no dependents and 75% for those that are married or have dependent children. This amount is tax free.
The U.S. Department of Labor, OWCP has recently updated their Procedure Manual to include sections that relate directly to rural letter carriers and some of their specific situations. The areas covered are leave usage and compensation rates. The purpose of these additions is to familiarize claims examiners with procedures that are particular to rural carriers.
Section 2-901(b) has now been updated to include a statement that reads: "For rural letter carriers, medical appointments of any length result in charges to leave of eight hours each." Therefore, in leave buy back requests, OWCP claims examiners will not question the use of 8 hours leave for a doctor’s appointment. If the carrier is using LWOP and working limited duty, the eight hour provision for a doctor’s appointment does not apply.
The changes to Section 2-900 (12.f) are more detailed and specific. They have also been reinforced to each claims examiner with a policy bulletin that provides specific procedures for them to follow in determining pay rate information.
The section reads:
"Rural Carriers/Rural Carrier Leave Replacements. The salaries for these employees are based on the evaluation of their routes. The Postal Service uses a formula to determine the evaluated salary which may be based on an evaluation between 36 and 48 hours per week. Salaries derived from routes which are evaluated at more than 40 hours per week are not considered to be in an overtime status unless they actually work more than the number of hours stipulated in their contract for their route evaluation. The evaluated pay, therefore, is the pay rate for compensation purposes.
The salary for these employees may vary over the life of the claim due to reevaluations of the employee’s route. These changes will only affect the pay rate for compensation purposes on the date disability begins, or if the employee is performing full duty at the time of a recurrence that qualifies for a recurrent pay rate. If the pay rate on the date disability begins or at the time of a qualifying recurrence is lower than the date of injury pay rate, then the date of injury pay rate is used to compute compensation.
If a change occurs during a period of disability, compensation continues to be based on the original pay rate. For rural carrier leave replacements, who are hired on a part-time basis to substitute for rural carriers and may work from 1-6 days in a given week, the pay rate should be established in accordance with section 8114 (d)(3)."
Many rural carriers, in the past, have had their compensation rates reduced, or their limited duty pay cut in response to route evaluation changes. As a result of the above changes to the Procedure Manual and conversations between the Union, the Postal Service and OWCP, the Postal Service has been working to make pay adjustments. Any carrier, who received a pay increase in these situations, will not be required to repay the Postal Service for the overpayment, but will have their pay adjusted back to the date of injury salary. Pay adjustments are tentatively scheduled to begin during Pay Period 25 (11/23-12/6). When we are made aware that the adjustments are actually beginning, we will notify you and all rural carriers, through the magazine, of the specific procedures for notifying Personnel of instant cases.
The U.S. Postal Service is in the process of correcting the pay of injured-on-duty rural carriers who have had their compensation and/or limited duty pay reduced as a result of a route evaluation changes. If he or she has received such a reduction, he or she should contact the Personnel office or Injury Compensation Specialist to notify them of the situation.
Personnel will be processing new PS Form 50s for all affected carriers after Pay Period 25 (November 23 through December 6, 1996), listing the salary at the date of injury, date disability began or date of recurrence, whichever is greater, as a saved rate on the Form 50. Once the PS Form 50 is processed, pay adjustments will be made for all carriers’ who’s routes have been reduced.
If the route evaluation has increased while the injured worker was on limited duty, or on the rolls of OWCP, he or she will also be locked into the above salary. The USPS will not be collecting any overpayments, however, all future limited duty pay or OWCP compensation will be based on the lower salary rate.
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