T.H. and Department of the Navy, Naval Weapons Station Concord, Mare Island Annex (Board decision, February 18, 2025)

ECAB final decision. The Board reversed OWCP’s $1,585.64 overpayment decision because the record did not establish coverage under the retirement system that triggers the offset. A party may petition the Board for reconsideration within 30 days of issuance unless this order specifies another period, under 20 C.F.R. § 501.7(a). FECA compensation decisions are generally not subject to court review under 5 U.S.C. § 8128(b).

Plain-English summary

A former Navy worker received FECA compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits. OWCP claimed a $1,585.64 overpayment using an offset for Federal Employees Retirement System benefits. The worker’s personnel form identified Civil Service Retirement System coverage, and the Board found no evidence of FERS enrollment. It reversed the overpayment and recovery decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: FECA; 5 U.S.C. § 8116(d)(2).
• Outcome: Overpayment and recovery decision reversed.
• Key point: The FERS-based offset could not apply without evidence that the worker was in FERS.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
T.H., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 25-0151
)
Issued: February 18, 2025
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, NAVAL
)
WEAPONS STATION CONCORD, MARE
)
ISLAND ANNEX, Vallejo, CA, Employer )
__________ )

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record
Appellant, pro se
Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REVERSING CASE

Before:
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge
PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

On November 27, 2024 appellant filed a timely appeal from a November 15, 2024 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned the appeal Docket No. 25-0151.

On January 24, 1986 appellant, then a 30-year-old operations equipment worker, filed an occupational disease claim (Form CA-2) alleging that he suffered mental stress due to factors of his federal employment. OWCP accepted the claim for depression. It paid appellant wage-loss compensation on the periodic rolls effective February 15, 1997.

A July 11, 1984 notification of personnel action (Standard Form (SF) 50) specified appellant’s retirement coverage as the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).

On May 22, 2018, the employing establishment requested that OWCP determine whether appellant was in receipt of age-related benefits from SSA and whether an offset was required.

On June 19, 2018, July 15, August 12, and September 9, 2021, OWCP provided Social Security Administration (SSA) with a FERS/SSA dual benefits form, requesting information concerning a potential overpayment.
In responses dated August 18 and September 18, 2021, an SSA representative indicated that appellant was not receiving SSA age-related retirement benefits and, therefore, the offset did not apply.

On August 19, 2024, OWCP again provided SSA with a FERS/SSA dual benefits form.
On August 22, 2024, SSA completed a FERS/SSA dual benefits form and reported appellant’s SSA age-related retirement benefit rates with and without FERS as of December 1, 2022. Based on this information, OWCP determined that appellant had received an overpayment of compensation for the period December 1, 2022 through September 7, 2024 in the amount of
$1,585.64.

On September 18, 2024, OWCP issued a preliminary overpayment determination, finding that an overpayment of compensation in the amount of $1,585.64 had been created for the period December 1, 2022 through September 7, 2024, because appellant concurrently received Federal Employees’ Compensation Act1 (FECA) wage-loss compensation and SSA age-related retirement benefits without an appropriate offset. It determined that he was without fault in the creation of the overpayment. OWCP requested that appellant submit a completed overpayment recovery questionnaire (Form OWCP-20) to determine a reasonable repayment method and advised that he could request waiver of the overpayment. Additionally, it provided an overpayment action request form and notified appellant that within 30 days of the date of the letter, he could request a final decision based on the written evidence or a prerecoupment hearing.

On October 3, 2024, appellant requested a review of the written record by a representative of OWCP’s Branch of Hearings and Review and submitted a completed Form OWCP-20 reporting his monthly income and expenses and total assets. On November 14, 2024 appellant submitted supporting financial documentation.

By decision dated November 15, 2024, OWCP’s hearing representative finalized the preliminary overpayment determination, finding that OWCP properly determined that appellant received an overpayment of compensation in the amount of $1,585.64, for the period December 1, 2022 through September 7, 2024 because he concurrently received FECA wage-loss compensation and SSA age-related retirement benefits without an appropriate offset. The hearing representative further determined that appellant was without fault in the creation of the overpayment, but denied waiver of recovery of the overpayment. The hearing representative required recovery of the overpayment by deducting $612.80 from appellant’s continuing compensation payments every 28 days.

The Board, having duly considered this matter, finds that OWCP failed to establish that appellant received an overpayment of compensation as a result of receiving prohibited FERS/SSA dual benefits.

1
5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.

2
As noted above, offset provision of 5 U.S.C. § 8116(d)(2) is specifically limited to the federal service of employees covered by the retirement system in 5 U.S.C. Chapter 84, which concerns FERS. 2

FECA Bulletin No. 97-09 provides that FECA benefits must be adjusted for the FERS portion of SSA age-related retirement benefits, because the portion of the SSA benefit earned as a federal employee is part of the FERS retirement package, and the concurrent receipt of FECA benefits and federal retirement is a prohibited dual benefit. In identifying the fact and amount of an overpayment of compensation following a claimant’s receipt of SSA age-related retirement benefits, the Board has observed that OWCP uses a FERS offset calculation worksheet. This calculation worksheet is sent to SSA, and the completed form is returned to OWCP setting forth purported SSA calculations as to the effective date and rate of SSA benefits without FERS and the effective date and rate of SSA benefits with FERS. Following receipt of the purported SSA calculations, a preliminary determination of overpayment is issued if a prohibited dual benefit was received.

The Board has also observed, however, that not all federal employees are enrolled in FERS.
Some FECA claimants are enrolled in another retirement program, such as CSRS or CSRS Offset. Other federal employees are not entitled to be enrolled in a federal retirement program. Therefore, OWCP’s procedures regarding requesting offset information are not applicable to all recipients of FECA compensation and SSA age-related retirement benefits. Here, the evidence of record does not establish that appellant was covered under FERS. Rather, the case record contains a Form SF- 50 which indicates that his retirement coverage was under CSRS. As such, the Board finds that the November 15, 2024 decision must be reversed. 3 Accordingly,

2
5 U.S.C. § 8401 et seq.
3
See Order Reversing Case, T.H., Docket No. 24-0837 (issued November 1, 2024); Order Reversing Case, A.W., Docket No. 23-1115 (issued January 26, 2024); Order Reversing Case, M.E., Docket No. 21-0624 (issued February 15, 2023) (dual benefit overpayment reversed where appellant’s retirement system was listed as FICA and CSRS, and there was no evidence in the record that appellant was enrolled in FERS).

3
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the November 15, 2024 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs is reversed.

Issued: February 18, 2025
Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Janice B. Askin, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

4