Schedule awards are given only to employees with accepted federal workers compensation claims. They are dispersed for regional permanent partial impairment to a body part that is listed on the schedule. If the injured part of your body is not a scheduled member, than you are not entitled to an award.
If your body part is on the schedule, look at the corresponding number of weeks of compensation that the body part is eligible in its entirety. At this point, a special medical report is required called Permanent Partial Impairment Rating (PPI). All federal impairment ratings should be done using the AMA Guides 6th Edition. Any rating using a different edition of the AMA Guides will not be considered.
Once a rating is given by the physician, the report is reviewed by the OWCP’s District Medical Advisor. The DMA will judge whether or not the PPI report is accurate. Once the impairment percentage is reviewed and determined, the Schedule Award is paid using the formula:
(OWCP Compensation Rate) x (Number of weeks allowed on the Schedule for the injured body part) x (% of Impairment) = $Schedule Award
Example:
Employee Salary = $52,000 Injured Body Part = Leg # of Weeks Allowed by Schedule = 288
Employee Comp Rate = 75% DMA Approved PPI Rating = 42% Weekly Comp Rate = $750.00
($750) x (288) = $216,000 x (42%) = $90,720 Schedule Award
