2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 1 - Government Organization › Chapter 6 - Merit Personnel System › Subchapter XXIII - Public Sector Workers’ Compensation › § 1–623.47. Modified work program

§ 1–623.47. Modified work program.
(a) On a monitored, progressive basis, the Mayor may direct employees with temporary or partial disabilities to participate in a modified work program designed to provide consistent and appropriate assistance to employees to return to work quickly and safely.
(b) Agencies shall provide employees who sustain an injury during the course of their employment with a modified duty assignment, if available.
(c) The modified duty assignment shall be temporary. The modified duty assignment may have a minimum duration of 2 basic nonovertime workdays, as that term is defined in § 1-612.01, and a maximum duration of 180 days (assigned in 90-day increments) in any 12-month period. For those employees whose basic nonovertime workday may exceed 8 hours such as police officers or firefighters, the basic nonovertime workday shall be the shift, or tour of duty, worked on a regularly recurring basis for the 3 months immediately preceding the injury.
(d) An employee who is able to perform the duties of his or her pre-injury position during the modified duty assignment period shall be entitled to receive compensation at the same rate of pay as received prior to the injury.
(e) An employee who is not able to perform the full scope of duties of his or her pre-injury position shall receive a modified rate of compensation closest to the rate prior to the injury, without exceeding it. A partial disability benefit shall be applied if appropriate, at the rate of 66/23% difference between the pre-disability rate and the modified duty rate.
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(f) The pre-injury rate of pay shall not be exceeded during the modified duty assignment.
(g) The District of Columbia government shall attempt to place injured employees within their pre-injury agency, or within another agency when modified work assignments are not available within the pre-injury agency.
(h) Employees shall have the appropriate medical release from their treating physician to perform modified duty. The essential job functions of the modified work assignment shall be clearly described. The medical release shall include any specified restrictions and their anticipated duration.
(i) Employees with disabilities who are offered a modified duty assignment and elect not to accept the modified duty assignment shall forfeit any further disability compensation benefits.
(j) The employee shall be given written notice of the available temporary modified duty assignment.
(Mar. 3, 1979, D.C. Law 2-139, § 2347; as added Oct. 3, 2001, D.C. Law 14-28, § 1203(j), 48 DCR 6981; Apr. 24, 2007, D.C. Law 16-305, § 5, 53 DCR 6198; Sept. 24, 2010, D.C. Law 18-223, § 1062(b)(17), 57 DCR 6242.)
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 16-305, in subsec. (a), substituted “employees with temporary or partial disabilities” for “temporarily or partially disabled employees”; and in subsec. (i), substituted “Employees with disabilities” for “Disabled employees”.
D.C. Law 18-223, in subsec. (c), substituted “180 days (assigned in 90-day increments) in any 12-month period” for “90 calendar days”; and added subsec. (j).
Cross References
Merit system, effective date provisions, see § 1-636.02.
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 day) addition of section, see § 1103(j) of Fiscal Year 2002 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-124, August 3, 2001, 48 DCR 7861).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 1062(b)(17) of Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-463, July 2, 2010, 57 DCR 6542).