[Evaluation Report on Selected Aspects of the Administration of the Workers' Compensation Program, Department of the Interior]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]

Report No. 99-I-892

Title: Evaluation Report on Selected Aspects of the Administration
       of the Workers' Compensation Program, Department of the
       Interior

Report No:     99-I-892

 Title:         Evaluation Report on Selected Aspects of the Administration of the Workers'
                              Compensation Program, Department of the Interior 
                               (No. 99-I-892)

Date:          September 1999


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  I-IN-MOA-004-98

  EVALUATION REPORT
  
  Memorandum
  
  To:          Director, National Business Center
  
  From:    Robert J. Williams
                Assistant Inspector General for Audits
  
  Subject:     Evaluation Report on Selected Aspects of the Administration of the Workers'
                  Compensation Program, Department of the Interior (No. 99-I-892)
  
  INTRODUCTION
  
  This report presents the results of our evaluation of  selected aspects of the Department of
  the Interior's administration of the Workers' Compensation Program.  The objective of the
  evaluation was to determine whether the bureaus removed employees timely from
  Departmental employment lists, as allowed by the Federal Employees Compensation Act
  (5 U.S.C.  8101 et seq.), and whether the wages of injured employees were discontinued
  when they began receiving workers' compensation payments, as required by the Act
  (5 U.S.C. 8118(a)). 
  
  BACKGROUND
  
  The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (5 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.) provides for workers'
  compensation benefits to be paid to employees of Federal Government agencies when
  employees sustain work-related injuries or occupational diseases.  The Act states that injured
  employees are entitled to continuation of pay (regular salary or wages) from the employing
  agency for a period not to exceed 45 days from the date of filing for workers' compensation
  benefits.  The Act also states that after the 45-day period ends, continuation of pay should
  end by the employing agency.  Thereafter, the Department of Labor's Office of Workers'
  Compensation pays employees for lost wages attributable to injuries sustained on the job and
  for permanent physical disabilities resulting from the injuries.  Furthermore, the Act provides
  that employees who (1) recover within a year from the date of their injury have a right to
  their former position or an equivalent position and (2) are injured or disabled continuously
  for more than a year are entitled to priority placement in their respective agency or another
  agency.  Specifically, Section 8151, "Civil service retention rights," of the Act states: 
  
            (b) Under regulations issued by the Office of Personnel Management  
            (1) the department or agency which was the last employer shall immediately
       and unconditionally accord the employee, if the injury or disability has been
       overcome within one year after the date of commencement of compensation
       or from the time compensable disability recurs if the recurrence begins after
       the injured employee resumes regular full-time employment with the United
       States, the right to resume his former or an equivalent position, as well as all
       other attendant rights which the employee would have had, or acquired, in his
       former position had he not been injured or disabled, including the rights to
       tenure, promotion, and safeguards in reductions-in-force procedures, and 
  
            (2) the department or agency which was the last employer shall, if the injury
       or disability is overcome within a period of more than one year after the date
       of commencement of compensation, make all reasonable efforts to place, and
       accord priority to placing, the employee in his former or equivalent position
       within such department or agency, or within any other department or agency. 
  
  Agencies are required by the Act to request the amount of money spent on workers'
  compensation benefits by the Department of Labor for the 12-month period ended June 30.
  The Department of Labor sends an Annual Chargeback Report to the Department's National
  Business Center's Division of Employee and Public Services, which forwards the report to
  the Department's Office of Personnel for distribution to each agency that has listed
  employees who received workers' compensation payments.  Agencies are required by the Act
  to deposit amounts that were appropriated for workers' compensation benefits into the
  U.S. Treasury to the credit of the Employees' Compensation Fund within 30 days after the
  appropriation becomes available. 
  
  SCOPE OF EVALUATION
  
  The evaluation was conducted at the Department of the Interior's National Business Center's
  Division of Employee and Public Services, located in Washington, D.C.  We contacted
  officials responsible for administering the Workers' Compensation Programs in the Bureau
  of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National
  Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Office of Surface Mining
  Reclamation and Enforcement to obtain information concerning the status of employees who
  were injured or disabled on the job.  We also reviewed laws and regulations relating to the
  administration of the Workers' Compensation Program.  In addition, we judgmentally
  selected, from the six bureaus, 36 employees who were included in the Department of
  Labor's summary chargeback report relating to the Department of the Interior as of March
  1997.  The selected employees were from the bureaus as follows: 12 from the National Park
  Service, 7 from the Bureau of Land Management, 7 from the Bureau of Reclamation, 6 from
  the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 3 from the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 1 from the Office of
  Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.  We reviewed documents pertaining to the
  bureaus' responsibilities and activities concerning the Workers' Compensation Program. 
  Furthermore, we reviewed the Department of Labor's chargeback reports to identify the
  financial data related to the injured employees in our sample selection.
  
  The evaluation was conducted in accordance with the "Quality Standards for Inspections,"
  issued by the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency, and accordingly included such
  tests and evaluation procedures that were considered necessary to accomplish the objective.
  We also reviewed the Departmental Report on Accountability for fiscal year 1997, which
  includes information required by the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act of 1982, and
  the Department's annual assurance statement on management controls for fiscal year 1997
  and determined that no material weaknesses were included in these documents which directly
  related to the objective and scope of our evaluation.
  
  PRIOR AUDIT COVERAGE
  
  During the past 5 years, neither the Office of Inspector General nor the General Accounting
  Office has issued any reports on the aspects of the Workers' Compensation Program
  discussed in this report. 
  
  RESULTS OF EVALUATION
  
  We found that the Department of the Interior administered the Workers' Compensation
  Program in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act.
  We found that all of the 36 employees in our sample were removed from Departmental
  employment lists, were returned to work, or found other employment.  Specifically,
  7 employees were unable to return to work, and the bureaus had timely removed the injured
  employees from their respective employment lists after 1 year; 19 employees returned to their
  full-time positions before the end of the 1-year period; 7 employees were able to work part
  time, were reassigned, or were provided with light duty assignments; 2 employees found
  employment with other agencies; and the remaining employee returned to work several times
  during the 1-year period and therefore had not received workers' compensation payments
  continuously beyond 1 year. 
  
  
  In addition, we compared the bureaus' continuation of pay data with the Department of
  Labor's listings of claimants (chargeback reports) who were receiving workers'
  compensation benefits and found that the continuation of pay was properly terminated for
  the 36 employees when the workers' compensation payments began or when the employees
  returned to work. 
  
  Since this report does not contain any recommendations, a response is not required.
  
  Section 5(a) of the Inspector General Act (Public Law 95-452, as amended) requires the
  Office of Inspector General to list this report in its semiannual report to the Congress.
  
  We appreciate the assistance of National Business Center and bureau personnel in the
  conduct of our review.