Sec. 5. Civil service retention rights
456 words·~2 min read·
/bill/115/s/950/is/section-5A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Section 8151 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking subsection
(b)and inserting the following: In this subsection— the term covered employee means an employee who— served in a position in the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior as a wildland firefighter; and sustained an injury while in the performance of duty, as determined by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, that prevents the employee from performing the physical duties of a firefighter; the term equivalent position includes a position for a covered employee that— allows the covered employee to receive the same retirement benefits under subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 that the covered employee would have received in the former position had the covered employee not been injured or disabled; and does not require the covered employee to complete any more years of service than the covered employee would have been required to complete to receive the benefits described in clause
(i)had the covered employee not been injured or disabled; and the term firefighter has the meaning given the term in section 8331. Under regulations issued by the Office of Personnel Management— the department or agency that was the last employer shall immediately and unconditionally accord the employee, if the injury or disability has been overcome within 1 year after the date of commencement of compensation or from the time compensable disability recurs if the recurrence begins after the injured employee resumes regular full-time employment with the United States, the right to resume the former position of the employee or an equivalent position, as well as all other attendant rights that the employee would have had, or acquired, in the former position of the employee had the employee not been injured or disabled, including the rights to tenure, promotion, and safeguards in reductions-in-force procedures; the department or agency that was the last employer shall, if the injury or disability is overcome within a period of more than 1 year after the date of commencement of compensation, make all reasonable efforts to place, and accord priority to placing, the employee in the former position of the employee or an equivalent position within the department or agency, or within any other department or agency; and a covered employee who was injured during the 20-year period ending on the date of enactment of the Wildland Firefighter Fairness Act may not receive the same retirement benefits described in paragraph (1)(B)(ii) unless the covered employee first makes a payment to the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior, as applicable, equal to the amount that would have been deducted from pay under section 8334 or 8442, as applicable, had the covered employee not been injured or disabled. .