[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR353.301]

[Page 287]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
 
PART 353_RESTORATION TO DUTY FROM UNIFORMED SERVICE 
OR COMPENSABLE INJURY--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart C_Compensable Injury
 
Sec. 353.301  Restoration rights.


    (a) Fully recovered within 1 year. An employee who fully recovers 
from a compensable injury within 1 year from the date eligibility for 
compensation began (or from the time compensable disability recurs if 
the recurrence begins after the employee resumes regular full-time 
employment with the United States), is entitled to be restored 
immediately and unconditionally to his or her former position or an 
equivalent one. Although these restoration rights are agencywide, the 
employee's basic entitlement is to the former position or equivalent in 
the local commuting area the employee left. If a suitable vacancy does 
not exist, the employee is entitled to displace an employee occupying a 
continuing position under temporary appointment or tenure group III. If 
there is no such position in the local commuting area, the agency must 
offer the employee a position (as described above) in another location. 
This paragraph also applies when an injured employee accepts a lower-
grade position in lieu of separation and subsequently fully recovers. A 
fully recovered employee is expected to return to work immediately upon 
the cessation of compensation.
    (b) Fully recovered after 1 year. An employee who separated because 
of a compensable injury and whose full recovery takes longer than 1 year 
from the date eligibility for compensation began (or from the time 
compensable disability recurs if the recurrence begins after the injured 
employee resumes regular full-time employment with the United States), 
is entitled to priority consideration, agencywide, for restoration to 
the position he or she left or an equivalent one provided he or she 
applies for reappointment within 30 days of the cessation of 
compensation. Priority consideration is accorded by entering the 
individual on the agency's reemployment priority list for the 
competitive service or reemployment list for the excepted service. If 
the individual cannot be placed in the former commuting area, he or she 
is entitled to priority consideration for an equivalent position 
elsewhere in the agency. (See parts 302 and 330 of this chapter for more 
information on how this may be accomplished for the excepted and 
competitive services, respectively.) This subpart also applies when an 
injured employee accepts a lower-graded position in lieu of separation 
and subsequently fully recovers.
    (c) Physically disqualified. An individual who is physically 
disqualified for the former position or equivalent because of a 
compensable injury, is entitled to be placed in another position for 
which qualified that will provide the employee with the same status, and 
pay, or the nearest approximation thereof, consistent with the 
circumstances in each case. This right is agencywide and applies for a 
period of 1 year from the date eligibility for compensation begins. 
After 1 year, the individual is entitled to the rights accorded 
individuals who fully or partially recover, as applicable.
    (d) Partially recovered. Agencies must make every effort to restore 
in the local commuting area, according to the circumstances in each 
case, an individual who has partially recovered from a compensable 
injury and who is able to return to limited duty. At a minimum, this 
would mean treating these employees substantially the same as other 
handicapped individuals under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as 
amended. (See 29 U.S.C. 791(b) and 794.) If the individual fully 
recovers, he or she is entitled to be considered for the position held 
at the time of injury, or an equivalent one. A partially recovered 
employee is expected to seek reemployment as soon as he or she is able.