Section 6-B827. RESTORATION TO DUTY

 

827.1The provisions of this section shall apply to the following:

 

(a)An employee holding an appointment in the Career Service, other than a term, temporary, or TAPER appointment, who enters on military duty with restoration rights under §§ 2021 or 2024 of Title 38, U.S. Code;

 

(b)An employee holding any type of appointment in the Career Service who is receiving disability compensation under Title 1, Chapter 6, Subchapter XXIV, D.C. Code (1981); and

 

(c)A uniformed member of the Police or Fire Departments who has been retired for disability under Title 4, Chapter 6, D.C. Code (1981).

 

827.2Each employee covered by § 827.1(a) may resign, or may be either separated or furloughed at the option of his or her agency, except that a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces, or a member of the National Guard, who is performing duty covered by § 1-613.3(m), D.C. Code (1981), shall be placed on military leave. Regardless of the nature of the action, all such employees shall be entitled to restoration to duty as provided in this section.

 

827.3An agency shall carry an employee covered by § 827.1(b) on leave without pay for two (2) years from the date of commencement of compensation, or from the time compensable disability recurs if the recurrence begins after the employee resumes full-time employment with the District government, or, in the case of an employee holding a term, temporary, or TAPER appointment, until the expiration of the appointment, whichever shall occur first.

 

827.4An employee covered by § 827.1(b) holding a term, temporary, or TAPER appointment which expires during the two-year (2-year) period specified in § 827.3, shall be terminated upon the expiration date of his or her appointment.

 

827.5At the end of the two-year (2-year) period specified in § 827.3, an agency shall initiate appropriate action under chapter 16 of these regulations.

 

827.6An agency shall notify an employee covered by § 827.1(a) or (b) of his or her rights, obligations, and benefits relating to his or her District government employment, including the restoration rights provided in this section.

 

827.7An agency shall identify the position vacated by an employee covered by § 827.1(a) or (b), and shall maintain the necessary records to ensure the employee the rights and benefits granted by law and this section.

 

827.8An agency shall consider every employee covered by § 827.1(a) or (b) for all promotions for which the employee would have been considered had the employee not been absent. When it can be determined that the employee would have received a promotion if not absent, the promotion shall be mandatory, and shall be effective on the date it would have been made had the employee not been absent. In all other cases it shall be discretionary.

 

827.9If the position of an employee covered by § 827.1(a) or (b) is reclassified to a higher grade, an agency shall place the employee in the regraded position upon restoration to duty.

 

827.10An agency shall not demote or separate an employee covered by § 827.1(a) while the employee is on furlough or military leave. If the employee’s position is abolished during such absence, the agency shall reassign the employee to another position of like status and pay upon restoration to duty.

 

827.11An employee covered by § 827.1(b) shall be subject to the same terms and conditions of employment as though the disability had not occurred.

 

827.12If an employee covered by § 827.1(a) or(b) is absent at the time that the function with which the employee was associated at the time of his or her departure is transferred to another agency, and if the employee, if not absent, would have been transferred with the function, the gaining agency shall retain the employee in his or her position or assign the employee to a position of like status and pay, and shall assume the obligation to restore the employee in accordance with law and this section.

 

827.13If an agency is abolished and its functions are not transferred to another agency, the following shall be done:

 

(a)The agency shall furnish the Director of Personnel a list of its employees with restoration rights under this section;

 

(b)For each employee, the list shall state the employee’s name, date of birth, position, grade and pay, and the name of the organizational unit in which the employee’s position was located;

 

(c)The agency shall note in each employee’s Official Personnel Folder that notification in conformance with §§ 827.13(a) and (b) was made; and

 

(d)The Director of Personnel shall place such employees who apply for restoration to duty in accordance with the requirements of this section.

 

827.14If an employee returning from military duty submits an application for restoration within ninety (90) days after discharge from service, or from hospitalization continuing after discharge for a period of not more than one (1) year, the employee shall be entitled to be restored to duty as soon as possible, but in no event later than thirty (30) days after the application is received.

 

827.15An employee covered by § 827.1(b) who has fully recovered within two (2) years from the date of commencement of compensation, or from the time compensable disability recurs if the recurrence begins after the employee resumes full-time employment with the District government, shall be entitled to resume his or her former position (or an equivalent one) immediately upon cessation of compensation.

 

827.16An employee covered by § 827.1(c) who recovers from the disabling condition for which he or she has been retired, prior to reaching his or her fiftieth (50th) birthday, and applies for reinstatement in the department from which he or she retired, shall be evaluated to determine whether he or she meets the current entrance requirements of the department as to suitability, and if, so, shall be reinstated to a position in the nearest equivalent grade and salary as that received at the time of disability retirement.

 

827.17An employee covered by § 827.1(a) or (b) shall be entitled to be restored to duty in a position determined in the following order, unless that position is then occupied by an employee in a higher retention group under chapter 24 of these regulations:

 

(a)To the position to which promoted while absent or, if that position is not available, to a position of like status and pay;

 

(b)To the employee’s former position or, if that position is not available, to a position of like status and pay; or

 

(c)To the next best available position for which the employee is qualified. For purposes of this subsection, the next best available position shall be one that most nearly approximates in status and pay the position to which an employee is entitled under either § 827.17(a) or (b).

 

827.18A returning employee who, because of a disability sustained during military duty, is disqualified for a position to which he or she has restoration rights shall be entitled to be restored to another position in the agency for which he or she is qualified that will provide like status and pay, or the nearest approximation thereof consistent with the circumstances in his or her case.

 

827.19An employee covered by § 827.1(b) who, because of compensable injury or disability, is disqualified for a position to which he or she has restoration rights (including an equivalent position), shall be entitled to be restored, within two (2) years from the date he or she began receiving compensation, to another position in the agency for which he or she is qualified that will provide like status and pay, or the nearest approximation thereof consistent with the circumstances in his or her case.

 

827.20If two (2) or more employees are entitled to be restored to the same position, the employee who left his or her position first shall be entitled to the prior right of restoration.

 

827.21An agency shall make every effort to restore, according to the circumstances in each case, an employee or former employee who has partially recovered from a compensable injury and who is able to return to perform useful and efficient service.

 

827.22An employee who was separated because of compensable injury and whose recovery takes longer than two (2) years from the date compensation began (or from the time compensable disability recurs if the recurrence begins after the injured employee resumes regular full-time employment with the District government) shall be entitled to priority consideration for restoration to the position he or she left or an equivalent one, provided he or she applies for reappointment within thirty (30) days of cessation of compensation.

 

827.23When an agency refuses to restore or determines that it is not feasible to restore an employee under the provisions of law and this section, it shall notify the employee in writing of the reasons for its decision and of his or her right to grieve such determination in accordance with the provisions of chapter 16 of these regulations.

 

827.24When an agency restores an employee in accordance with § 827.18, it shall notify the employee that he or she is entitled to appeal to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under the provisions of its regulations.