K.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (Board decision, February 18, 2025)

ECAB final decision. The Board affirmed denial of continuation of pay for an unpaid volunteer while leaving the accepted injury claim intact. 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 VA volunteer fractured her left arm after tripping while watering plants. OWCP accepted the injury as work-related service but denied continuation of pay. The Board held that the regulation excludes unpaid volunteers from continuation of pay even when their injury is covered by FECA. It affirmed the pay decision without disturbing acceptance of the fracture claim.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: FECA; 20 C.F.R. § 10.200(d).
• Outcome: Continuation of pay denied; accepted fracture claim remains.
• Key point: FECA coverage for an unpaid volunteer did not confer eligibility for continuation of pay.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
K.H., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 25-0247
)
Issued: February 18, 2025
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,
)
VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION,
)
Ann Arbor, MI, Employer
)
__________ )

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

DECISION AND ORDER

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

JURISDICTION

On January 27, 2025 appellant filed a timely appeal from a November 22, 2024 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). Pursuant to the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act1 (FECA) and 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3, the Board has jurisdiction over the merits of this case.

ISSUE

The issue is whether OWCP properly denied appellant’s claim for continuation of pay (COP), pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 10.200(d).

FACTUAL HISTORY

On October 21, 2024 appellant, then a 74-year-old unpaid volunteer, filed a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on April 1, 2024 she sustained a left arm displaced

1
5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq. comminuted closed fracture of the radius shaft when she tripped on a rug while watering plants while in the performance of duty.

By decision dated November 22, 2024, OWCP found that appellant’s injury occurred during her service in its Volunteer Service Program, under 5 U.S.C. § 8101(1)(B). It accepted the claim for displaced comminuted fracture of left arm radius shaft, closed fracture.

By separate decision dated November 22, 2024, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for COP, finding that her employment as a volunteer, as determined under 5 U.S.C. § 8101(1)(B), is of a category that does not qualify for COP under FECA pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 10.200(d). It advised that she may claim compensation for wage loss resulting from this decision by filing a Form CA- 7 through her employer.

LEGAL PRECEDENT

Section 8118(a) of FECA authorizes COP, not to exceed 45 days, to an employee who has filed a claim for a period of wage loss due to a traumatic injury with his or her immediate superior on a form approved by the Secretary of Labor within the time specified in section 8122(a)(2) of this title.2 This latter section provides that written notice of injury shall be given within 30 days. 3 The context of section 8122 makes clear that this means within 30 days of the injury. 4

However, pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 10.200(d), FECA excludes certain persons from eligibility for COP. The excluded groups include, but are not limited to: persons rendering personal service to the United States similar to the service of a civil officer or employee of the United States, without pay or for nominal pay; volunteers (for instance, in the Civil Air Patrol and Peace Corps); Job Corps and Youth Conservation Corps enrollees; individuals in work-study programs, and grand or petit jurors (unless otherwise Federal employees).5

ANALYSIS

The Board finds that OWCP properly denied appellant’s claim for COP, pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 10.200(d).

The record reflects that appellant’s injury occurred during her service in the employing establishment’s Volunteer Service Program, under 5 U.S.C. § 8101(1)(B). She was therefore rendering personal service to the United States similar to the service of a civil officer or employee

2
5 U.S.C. § 8118(a).
3
Id. at § 8122(a)(2).
4
E.M., Docket No. 20-0837 (issued January 27, 2021); J.S., Docket No. 18-1086 (issued January 17, 2019); Robert M. Kimzey, 40 ECAB 762-64 (1989); Myra Lenburg, 36 ECAB 487, 489 (1985). 5 20 C.F.R. § 10.200(d).

2 of the United States, without pay or for nominal pay. As noted above, COP cannot be authorized for this excluded group. 6

The Board thus finds that OWCP properly denied appellant’s claim for COP, pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 10.200(d).

CONCLUSION

The Board finds that OWCP properly denied appellant’s claim for COP, pursuant to 20 C.F.R.§ 10.200(d).

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the November 22, 2024 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

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

6
Id.

3