Title 5

SECTION 353.102

353.102 Definitions.

§ 353.102 Definitions.

In this part:

Agency means.

(1) With respect to restoration following a compensable injury, any department, independent establishment, agency, or corporation in the executive branch, including the U.S. Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission, and any agency in the legislative or judicial branch; and

(2) With respect to uniformed service, an executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105 (other than an intelligence agency referred to in 5 U.S.C. 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii), including the U.S. Postal Service and Postal Rate Commission, a nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the United States, or a military department as defined in 5 U.S.C. 102. In the case of a National Guard technician employed under 32 U.S.C. 709, the employing agency is the adjutant general of the State in which the technician is employed.

Fully recovered means compensation payments have been terminated on the basis that the employee is able to perform all the duties of the position he or she left or an equivalent one.

Injury means a compensable injury sustained under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. chapter 81, subchapter 1, and includes, in addition to accidental injury, a disease proximately caused by the employment.

Leave of absence means military leave, annual leave, without pay (LWOP), furlough, continuation of pay, or any combination of these.

Military leave means paid leave provided to Reservists and members of the National Guard under 5 U.S.C. 6323.

Notice means any written or verbal notification of an obligation or intention to perform service in the uniformed services provided to an agency by the employee performing the service or by the uniformed service in which the service is to be performed.

Partially recovered means an injured employee, though not ready to resume the full range of his or her regular duties, has recovered sufficiently to return to part-time or light duty or to another position with less demanding physical requirements. Ordinarily, it is expected that a partially recovered employee will fully recover eventually.

Physically disqualified means that:

(1)(i) For medical reasons the employee is unable to perform the duties of the position formerly held or an equivalent one, or

(ii) There is a medical reason to restrict the individual from some or all essential duties because of possible incapacitation (for example, a seizure) or because of risk of health impairment (such as further exposure to a toxic substance for an individual who has already shown the effects of such exposure).

(2) The condition is considered permanent with little likelihood for improvement or recovery.

Reasonable efforts in the case of actions required by an agency for a person returning from uniformed service means actions, including training, that do not place an undue hardship on the agency.

Service in the uniformed services means the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard duty, and a period for which a person is absent from employment for the purpose of examination to determine fitness to perform such duty.

Status means the particular attributes of a specific position. This includes the rank or responsibility of the position, its duties, working conditions, pay, tenure, and seniority.

Undue hardship means actions taken by an agency requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in light of -

(1) The nature and cost of actions needed under this part;

(2) The overall financial resources of the facility involved in taking the action; the number of persons employed at the facility; the effect on expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of the action on the operation of the facility; and

(3) The overall size of the agency with respect to the number of employees, the number, type, and location of its facilities and type of operations, including composition, structure, and functions of the work force.

Uniformed services means the Armed Forces, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard when engaged in active duty for training, inactive duty training, or full-time National Guard duty, the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service, and any other category of persons designated by the President in time of war or emergency.