OWCP Schedule Award
The Lump-Sum Payment for Permanent Impairment
When a federal work injury leaves you with permanent damage to a covered body part, FECA pays a lump-sum schedule award on top of medical care and wage-loss compensation. The amount depends on the body part, your impairment rating under the AMA Guides 6th Edition, and your pay rate at injury.
What Is a Schedule Award?
A Schedule Award is a one-time, tax-free payment for permanent impairment of a covered body part — arm, leg, hand, foot, eye, hearing, and others. It's paid in addition to medical care and any wage-loss compensation you've received. The award becomes available after you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI): the point where your physician determines that further treatment will not meaningfully change your level of impairment.
How OWCP Calculates Your Award
- Your treating or evaluating physician determines you've reached MMI and assigns a percentage impairment using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 6th Edition.
- The percentage applies to a fixed number of weeks for your specific body part (see the table below).
- You're paid 66 ⅔% of your weekly pay rate (or 75% with eligible dependents) for that number of weeks.
Example calculation
You're a USPS letter carrier who suffered a shoulder injury and received a 15% impairment rating to your right arm. Arm = 312 weeks. 15% of 312 = 46.8 weeks. At a $1,200 weekly pay rate, your compensation rate is $800 per week (66 ⅔%). Schedule Award ≈ 46.8 × $800 = $37,440 lump sum, tax-free.
Schedule Award Body-Part Weeks
These are the maximum weeks of compensation per body part — multiplied by your impairment percentage and your weekly compensation rate to calculate the award.
| Body Part | Maximum Weeks |
|---|---|
| Arm (per arm) | 312 |
| Leg (per leg) | 288 |
| Hand (per hand) | 244 |
| Foot (per foot) | 205 |
| Eye (per eye) | 160 |
| Thumb (per thumb) | 75 |
| First finger (index) | 46 |
| Great toe | 38 |
| Second finger (middle) | 30 |
| Third finger (ring) | 25 |
| Fourth finger (small) | 15 |
| Other toes (each) | 16 |
| Hearing (one ear) | 52 |
| Hearing (both ears) | 200 |
Source: 5 U.S.C. § 8107. Back, neck, and certain internal-organ impairments are not on the schedule and are addressed differently by FECA.
What the Schedule Does NOT Cover
Some impairments aren't on the FECA schedule. The most common omissions:
- ▸Spine / back:permanent back impairments are not on the schedule. They're addressed through ongoing medical care + wage-loss compensation.
- ▸Internal organs (heart, lungs, kidneys) are addressed outside the schedule.
- ▸Mental health conditions (PTSD, depression from work injury) are typically compensated as continuing wage-loss, not via schedule award.
Common Schedule Award Mistakes
- ✕Filing for a Schedule Award before reaching MMI — OWCP will deny or defer.
- ✕Accepting a low impairment rating without an independent second opinion.
- ✕Letting the rating physician use an outdated edition of the AMA Guides. OWCP requires the 6th Edition.
- ✕Forgetting to file CA-7 along with the impairment evaluation report.
How We Help
We coordinate the impairment evaluation, refer to specialists when a condition-specific rating is needed, and write reports in the AMA Guides 6th Edition framework OWCP requires. Schedule a free consultation to find out whether you're at MMI and what a fair Schedule Award rating looks like for your case.