Injured employees who undergo the National Reassessment Process (NRP) and are told by the Postal Service either that there is only partial-day work available or that there is no work available, should consider applying for unemployment compensation. This temporary financial assistance can serve as an important monetary bridge during the time that an employee is waiting for his or her OWCP compensation to be processed.
This program is formally known as the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employee’s Program, and is administered by the states under separate agreements with the U.S. Secretary of Labor. A Postal Service employee’s entitlement to this benefit is determined by each state’s employment security laws and varies according to the individual state rules and the employee’s wage and separation history.
An injured employee whose work hours have been reduced or eliminated by the NRP should ask the Postal Service to provide them with a Form SF 8, Notice to Former Employee About Unemployment Insurance. Don’t be misled by the phrase “former employee.” The SF 8 is also used for current employees who have had their work hours reduced or eliminated. The complete instructions can be found in Chapter 550, “Unemployment Compensation,” of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual.
Health and Resource Management personnel at Postal Service headquarters have assured us that the SF 8 will be made available to injured employees who receive “Partial Day Work” or “Complete Day No Work” letters. However, the employee must ask for the form. It will not be provided automatically.
Injured employees who are provided work on an intermittent basis are issued an SF 8 only for the first time in each calendar year when they are placed in a non-pay status. However, an SF 8 is issued each time to any employee who is, or will be, placed in a non-pay status for seven or more consecutive calendar days.
To facilitate the processing of a claim for unemployment compensation, an employee should take with them the SF 8; the most recent SF 50, Notification of Personnel Action; their Social Security card; W-2 form, and a recent pay stub showing earnings and leave balance.
OWCP will pay injured employees wage loss compensation even if they are receiving unemployment compensation. OWCP does not consider this situation to be a prohibited dual payment. However, virtually every state’s unemployment compensation regulations do consider this to be a dual payment, and would expect to be reimbursed for the unemployment compensation that was paid during the same period that a person received OWCP wage loss compensation.
note: Any Postal Employee can apply for unemployment if: “An individual whose work or tours of duty are on an intermittent basis is issued an SF 8 only the first time in each calendar year that he or she is placed in a nonpay status. [e.g. suspension of more than 7 days, PTF hours reduced..]
source: American Postal Workers Union
links provided by PostalReporter.com
The sad fact about light / limited duty folks is NO DIFFERENT than Worker’s Comp fraud in the civilian world. One fraudulent claimant spoils it for the truly injured and deserving. As far as the NRP is concerned, people were warned over 3 years ago that it was going to be enacted region by region and I saw and or heard numerous light / limited duty people tell me that they were going to do nothing because the USPS cannot do that to me. It’s being done and now thousands are out the door fighting for OWCP. Add the red tape of combining unemployment insurance with OWCP ( if you get it ) and the possibility of having to pay back money to either or agency and we’ve got one heck of a mess. A mess the USPS created in the first place.
Hey! I have another question: How many Union Stewards have light/limited Duty Status? How many have been effected by NRP? Are they exempt?
How many employees have changed their restrictions and have gone back to full work status? Have the employees who have been sent home because of NRP been collecting Unemployment? Workers Comp? Placed in other outside jobs? What has been the outcome in different districts across the US?
When I ask my Union Stewards these questions I get the deer in the head light look.
Yes, there are a few who take advantage of the system. But there is also those who have worked diligently for numbers of years who were hurt on the job or through NO fault of their own an illness has affected their health. WE should all have solidarity and stand together. The postal service is going under because of the executive/managers, postmaster who did NOT do their jobs correctly and now WE (all of us – carriers, clerks, mailhandlers and maintenance) are paying the price. Lets help each other or WE wont have a jobs
Let me share something with a**hole denise.believe me if the ones whos hrs r being reduced r being sent home were faking they wouldn’t continue to b on limited duty,Sweetheart don’t think u r out of hot waters because after light & limited duty guess what? ABLE BODIES R NEXT u don’t mean anything to them in this downsizing u better hope u don’t get EXCESS and b sent at least 150 and 200 mi. away because its happening and u might b next so watch what u say
TO Denise: If you’ve always posessed first hand knowledge of injured workers scamming OWCP, why didn’t you ever report it to the P.I.’s? There is a $10,000 reward for providing evidence that leads to their arrest and conviction. My guess is you never had any first hand knowledge, or evidence in the first place. Your accusations are purely based on BS, or else you would have gone after the $10,000. I’ve met a lot of people like yourself who make unfounded accusations, and/or believe they have enough medical knowlege/skill to access if someone is faking a medical condition. If your not a doctor, keep your medical opinions to yourself. If you don’t have first hand knowledge/evidence of a faker, dont cast aspersions. Otherwise, don’t complain when others do it to you! Lastly, if you ever did have first hand knowledge/evidence and didn’t report it, then you are also breaking the law!
you don’t know anything either, don’t you get that the USPS is using the NRP as INTIMATION, against all of us so nobody will file an on the job injury, due to being afraid of loosing their job! It only takes a second to get hurt, we don’t have the ADVANTAGE like management to have a cu-sh job, so you and I would be out the door, and out of a JOB!! How is it that the people, who were NOT INJURED @ WORK still have a JOB??? This isn’t fair, they (USPS) have this all backwards..Something to think about..
Well I don’t have a on the jury, but I’m truely sick. I suffer from seziures, I can not be on my route because of it. I would give up my life to be back on my route again. NOW I’M SCARED THEY HAVE SHOT ME DOWN TO TWO HOURS A DAY. I’M THE BEST CASER AT MY STATION. I JUST WANT THEM TO LEAVE ME ALONE UNTIL MY RETIREMENT DISABILITY KICKS IN. This is not just for me but for anyone who truely has a chronic illness.
The last comment shows what type of website this really is. It doesn’t contain any real factual information. It is just a forum for people like the person who made these comments. Denise, please keep letting people know that not all comments are ridiculous like the one below you. .
you don’t know sh#t, it’s co-workers like you that make me sick always opening your BIG MOUTH!!! It’s called survival BIT@H!!! You are only one move away from getting hurt, so watch what you say,” I HOPE YOU DO GET HURT, ” and YOUR A$$ IS OUT ON THE STREET WITHOUT A JOB!! Then we shall see what YOUR STUPID A$$ does in the name of FEEDING YOUR FAMILY!!! and keeping a ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD!! I would be willing to bet you just might work through the PAIN!!! SO SHUT THE HELL UP!! until YOU WALK IN OUR SHOES!!! BITC#
some of these people whom where put out deserve 2 be put out, they have
scamed the po for many years, when people can ride motorcycles, play golf
go 2 gym, etc etc but can not lift a tray of mail, they deserve what they get, dont
get me wrong there r some people whom have real injurys, lets see how many
of these people whom they put out will come back with no restrictions and they
r healed over night,