Last updated · By Mustafa Bilgic
How the award is calculated
The award comes from three numbers: the weeks for the member in 5 U.S.C. 8107 and 20 CFR 10.404, your impairment rating, and your pay. Weeks times rating gives the award period. Pay times 66 2/3%, or 75% with a dependent, gives the weekly amount. For weekly payments, the law treats one fifty-second of your average annual earnings as your weekly pay.
Example: a 10% arm impairment is 312 × 10% = 31.2 weeks. With annual pay of $65,000, weekly pay is $1,250 and the weekly amount is $833.33 without dependents, so the award is about $26,000. With a dependent, the weekly amount is $937.50 and the award is $29,250.
FECA schedule award chart
| Member or organ | Weeks |
|---|---|
| Arm | 312 |
| Leg | 288 |
| Hand | 244 |
| Foot | 205 |
| Eye | 160 |
| Thumb | 75 |
| First finger | 46 |
| Great toe | 38 |
| Second finger | 30 |
| Third finger | 25 |
| Toe other than great toe | 16 |
| Fourth finger | 15 |
| Hearing, one ear | 52 |
| Hearing, both ears | 200 |
| Breast (one) | 52 |
| Kidney (one) | 156 |
| Larynx | 160 |
| Lung (one) | 156 |
| Penis | 205 |
| Testicle (one) | 52 |
| Tongue | 160 |
| Ovary (one) | 52 |
| Uterus/cervix and vulva/vagina | 205 |
| Skin | 205 |
Impairment ratings and partial loss
OWCP measures impairment with the edition of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment that it specifies. The Labor Department's FECA questions and answers say the rating can only be completed after maximum medical improvement and must follow the 6th Edition, citing the tables used and the date of maximum medical improvement. You request the award on Form CA-7 with your physician's rating, and a district medical advisor reviews it.
Partial loss of use is paid in proportion to the loss. When more than one member is affected, each one gets its own award and the awards run consecutively. If an award for an earlier injury covered the same member and the new one would duplicate it, OWCP shortens the new award period by the earlier one, so enter any earlier percentage for the same member in the calculator.
Payments, lump sums and limits
FECA disability payroll runs every 28 days, so the calculator shows the amount for each 28-day period. The schedule award is paid in addition to compensation for temporary total or temporary partial disability. Serious disfigurement of the face, head or neck that could handicap you in getting or keeping a job can add up to $3,500.
A lump sum is possible but not automatic. OWCP may pay one when it finds that doing so is in your best interest, which it generally considers only when you do not rely on the payments to replace lost wages, for example because you are working or receiving an annuity. The law values a lump sum as the present value of the future payments at a 4 percent true discount compounded annually, with life tables for the chance of death. The calculator applies the 4 percent discount but not the life tables, so an actual lump sum can be somewhat lower. The law also caps monthly compensation at 75 percent of the top GS-15 basic pay rate. The calculator does not apply that cap, which only matters at high pay. If you are not a federal employee, use the workers' comp settlement calculator for state benefits.
OWCP schedule awards: frequently asked questions
How is an OWCP schedule award calculated?
Multiply the schedule weeks for the body part by your impairment rating, then by your weekly pay and 66 2/3%, or 75% with at least one dependent. A 10% arm rating is 31.2 weeks; at $1,250 weekly pay without dependents, that is about $26,000.
Can I get my schedule award as a lump sum?
Sometimes. OWCP may pay a schedule award as a lump sum when it finds that doing so is in your best interest, which it generally considers only when you are working or receiving an annuity rather than relying on the payments to replace wages. There is no absolute right to a lump sum.
Which edition of the AMA Guides does OWCP use?
The regulation says OWCP uses the edition it specifies. The Labor Department's FECA questions and answers say ratings must follow the 6th Edition of the AMA Guides and can only be done after maximum medical improvement.
How many weeks is a hearing loss schedule award?
The schedule allows 52 weeks for complete loss of hearing in one ear and 200 weeks for both ears. Partial loss is paid in proportion, and a partial loss in both ears is computed as a loss affecting both ears.
Official sources
- 5 U.S.C. 8107: Compensation schedule
- 20 CFR 10.404: When and how is compensation for a schedule impairment paid?
- 20 CFR 10.422: May compensation payments be issued in a lump sum?
- 5 U.S.C. 8135: Lump-sum payment
- 5 U.S.C. 8114: Computation of pay
- U.S. Department of Labor: FECA frequently asked questions